My Sister's Keeper: A Novel

The story is about the Fitzgeralds. Brian and Sara have two kids: a boy Jesse and a girl Kate. When Jesse is 4 and Kate 2, she is diagnosed with cancer. She needs a bone marrow transplant. Her brother is not a match genetically for her, so a doctor suggests something called: Savior Sibling. That is a child specifically conceived (in vitro) and somewhat "designed" to be as close to a genetic match to the cancer stricken child so the baby can donate cord blood, bone marrow, tissue, regular blood, and possibly even organ donation. This actually does happen medically in real life. It is a huge moral dilemma with a lot of potential for good, but with a lot of potential for abuse.First, let me say I am not a parent so I do not know what I would do or to what lengths I would go to save my cancer stricken child, but I will say, have read this book, watched the movie, and done my own research into Savior Siblings, I do find the concept very problematic.In this book specifically, the Fitzgeralds do genetically design their third child, Anna, to be a genetic match to Kate with the hope that the cord blood at birth could be used to help Kate and that would be that. In a lot of Savior Sibling cases, I am sure that is that all that is required: cord blood, a one and done thing, and that's all she wrote, but that was not what happened in this story and that is not always the way it works in real life too. Anna was needed repeatedly throughout her life to provide blood, bone marrow to her sister to help prolong her life and in the end, they want 13 year old Anna to provide a kidney to her sister as the sister has gone into renal failure due to all the cancer treatments she has had in her life.Anna wants to be medically emancipated from her parents because she does not wish to continue to be a donor to her sister. There is a court hearing on this matter, and in the end Anna does become medically emancipated from her parents, but then Anna dies immediately in a car accident and so her kidney is harvested for her sister and her sister goes on to live her life.This ending I did not like. I know the author wanted to "shock" the audience, but I just ended up feeling sorry for Anna. She was used the entirety of her life for the sake of her sister, and in the end, she just dies.I honestly felt the author did not portray any real parental love the Fitzgeralds may have felt for Anna. It is made very clear the parents love Kate, but to me, I just never felt like the parents cared all that much for Anna, and they didn't care all that much for their son Jesse. Kate's cancer was the big issue in the family and nobody mattered in that family but Kate. Jesse was not a match to help his sister with her cancer, so he was of no signifigance to his parents, and Anna only mattered to them because she was supposed to save her sister. She wasn't a person to either parent. She was a bought and paid for commodity and they were going to use her up to save her sister. That's how I felt anyway. The parents just never seemed even to consider Anna's wants or needs to any degree. That is what left a horrible taste in my mouth.And that is also why I think Savior Siblings can be so horribly abused in these type of cases: they really are a bought and paid for commodity who are being used for the medical benefit of their sick siblings. Most people want to help their siblings in similar situations, but you know, being designed so you specifically genetically match that sibling for the express intent of being used medically thereafter, is a distasteful prospect. Providing cord blood, regular blood donation, even bone marrow, wouldn't be that horrible a thing, but what happens when the treatment to save the sick child continues on for years into the future. Are Savior Siblings expected to provide what is necessary every time the sick child requires it? At what point, is that trading one child's life for another child's life? That to me is the real dark underbelly of creating a Savior Sibling, and why some regulation needs to be in place in cases like this and why parents may not always be the best arbiter for their children in these cases. A third, disinterested party, may need to be assigned to speak up for the Savior Sibling, because the parents have a real conflict of interest in these type of decisions. The duty of care parents have to their children is huge and in a case where you have a sick kid who can be medically benefitted by the healthy kid, how do you determine the parents are exercising an unbiased duty of care to both children when the interests of these children are polar opposites! That to me is a real problem, as highlighted in the book.Just my two cents.

As an avid reader and fan of Ms.Picoult's stories, I recommend this story of a family that could be your neighbor or family. A regular couple living in ANYTOWN, USA, Dad,a firefighter, a stay-at-home Mom and 3 kids....a boy, and two girls. However, the 2nd child, a girl is very ill and needs constant medical care, hospitalization and surgery. Their lives revolve around this child and story takes place over a few years. No Spoiler here. Ms. Picoult draws us in to their lives and all the drama it entails.

Three stars for Ms. Picoult's courage to write on such a difficult subject, and for her mostly appropriate portrayal of the various age-groups and the genders. Minus two for what came across as sometimes a juvenile writing style (her book Plain Truth was much better imho), and for the cutoff at the end that left too much gap between what occurred throughout the story and the abrupt ending she left hanging for some of the characters. She tried to tie it all up in the final chapter, but it did not answer many questions, nor did it do justice to the buildup during the story.

This an awful novel. The underlying story itself isn't bad, but every typical Hallmark movie character stereotype is on full display here: the rebel son who likes crime and chaos, the odd girl who wears rock t shirts and has messy pink hair, the overprotective angry mother, the calm and collected emergency response father, the lawyer who gains a conscience, etc. On top of all of this, the chapters are told intermittently and convoluted by changing characters and timelines, as if to complicate it because the writing itself is so terrible.Hard pass on this one. Had to read it for a Nursing Ethics class and hated every minute of it. Very disappointing.

I remember reading this book in high school. Part of my ethics class. A bit more than 10 years later I still remember the story, I haven’t watched the movie. But when you remember a story, all the characters, and how you felt years later, you know it was a good book. I bought this book for my collection and for my mother to read. You know a book is good when it got my mom mad at a fictional book mom. My grandmother is now reading this and I’m sure the book will be a bit tear stained after she is done.

This is my favorite Jodi Picoult book. While it may not necessarily be realistic (keep in mind this is found in the FICTION section), it certainly draws you in. This was the most thought provoking. I do have complaints regarding her books though. Jodi, there are more than just a few names to pick from! Sara and Kate were also used in "Plain Truth" and "My Sister's Keeper"...Same with the name Sam and Patrick...She used those a couple times and I've only read 3 of her books. As for this book, I felt it was done well but you will be broken-hearted at the end. I felt like my heart was ripped out I was so into it...and no, the Hollywood movie MASSACRED this book so it is completely unrecognizable. If you like this book, I would also suggest "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult. That's my second favorite book of hers. I wouldn't suggest "Plain Truth". Long, drawn out story that was completely predictable. I called out the "twist" as soon as I was done with the 2nd chapter.

I downloaded this book to my Kindle. This is my second time reading this book. Although the movie brings My Sister’s Keeper to life, within the book there’s an unexpected turn of events that leaves the reader on the edge of their seat. Jodi Picoult put a lot of time in doing medical research to ensure accuracy in depicting the unfortunate health journey that Kate went through as well as her sister. This is definitely a must read book, it’s puts you on an emotional roller coaster and is a tearjerker. I’m an admiring fan of Jodi Picoult, she’s an amazing Author.

I didn't finish this. The most annoying multiple point of view usage. Taken a while with each chapter to work out who's talking. Too many characters, too fast a pace, too many back stories. It seems to break all the rules in a way that it is written and I have finally gave up on it. Couldn't finish it as writing got worse, too much. An interesting topic though and a valid ethical issue explored. Very sad to read in places, a lot of conflict, but sorry writing got to me.

I'm getting fed-up with Jodi Picoult. Her books (I find) follow a formula which goes - here's the problem - this is the backgound - this is the denoument - there's a court case - until finally at the end you realise you've been led up the garden path once again and nothing is all as it seems so what? Not buying another one of her books again - ever and I'm sure she'll be really upset at that!!!!

I was expecting great things from this book after everyone's hype over it! I decided i wouldn't watch the film until i read the book, both the film and the book were an utter disappointment. Yes, i suppose it does have a clear interesting story line, but it just wasn't to my taste, and the ending was just a quick fix ending, the author probably couldn't be bothered to come up with a better one - "Oh its meant to show that anything can happen in life" Yeah..no. A better ending could have been made! It could easily be said that i dislike this book purely because of the ending, but lets face it a books ending leads to our overall opinion on a book, no matter how good the start of the book was. Who wants to waste time with a promising start, when the end was just merely a scratch of what it could have been. Thats all i have to say, 2/5*

My Sister's Keeper is quite possibly my favourite of Picoults books. I love the controversy she brings with her novels but the way she writes is wonderful also. One line of the synopsis is, "The only way to save your daughter is to sacrifice her sister". This made my heart drop the moment I saw it and from that moment I had to have it. I could write for hours about how wonderful this novel is but I honestly can say that you should read this and I would be surprised to learn that people don't like it. Despite it's controversy I think it's fantastic and actually the controversy may be what makes it so gripping.It is difficult to choose who is right/wrong which side to take/not to take and who you agree with the most. I found myself wanted Anna to have the right to her own body but at times, when her sister was exceptionally sick, I possibly changed my mind. I did find myself asking friends and family, "What would you do?". This is exactly what I imagine Picoult wanted to happen.

I loved the way this book was written, the stories coming through the eyes of each individual character, it really added to the story! It's just a shame that the film didn't keep to the same story and ending as the book, this version was much better