Wish You Were Here

This book was an ‘extra, optional' book club book, and I'm SO GLAD I read it. I'm beginning to realize that I love everything I read from this author. The premise - a woman gets stranded on vacation in the Galapagos and away from her significant other who is a front-line doctor in NYC at the beginning of the Covid-19 Pandemic in March, 2020. The story swept me along as she got her footing in her new surroundings and became a part of that community, while having limited contact with NY and her life outside of paradise. Meanwhile, her boyfriend is drowing in Covid patients in NY and hoping she is ok. I saw an interview with the author where she mentioned that she interviewed front line workers while writing the book, and that they were so grateful to tell their story, and the truth of what it was like in the hospitals in 2020. I can't go into more detail about the turns the story takes without major spoilers, but it's a great read with so so much to discuss. Things like - what if we step off the path we are on and really look at it to see if it is still what we want, or what we would choose? Examine if we believe in things we can't understand, or that don't make sense. What would we risk to have a last chance to speak to a loved one? I can't wait for book club to discuss alllllll of it. Highly recommend. First five-star read of 2023!

2.5 stars.

Picoult did a great job of capturing the fear and complete floundering we experienced during the beginning and worst of COVID. One scene in particular struck me as especially poignant and I was reminded of how difficult it was to sometimes have different stress levels in a relationship. But, I really kept feeling the entire time that it's too soon to release a book about the pandemic. 

I mostly enjoyed the storyline in the Galápagos, though it felt like a Hallmark movie and the way she wrote about Beatriz's self-injury felt pretty cringe, though I can't articulate why.

But then after the twist, I became increasingly more frustrated with Diana and the book became repetitive. I didn't understand what she wanted from people or what she was trying to accomplish when she kept insisting her time on the island was real. Like, how? Eventually an explanation was concocted but then it felt like a really unconvincing, woo attempt at sci-fi. Plus, so many paragraphs kept ending with, "He said this but if only he knew I thought that."I thought the ending was appropriate and am glad she ended the relationship with Finn. Real or not, her experience showed her that her heart was not in it anymore. The pandemic really did change so many things for us, even if we were privileged to stay healthy and employed. So, despite my grievances with a lot of the book, I do support the end.

4.5 stars. Loved the narrator. I could listen to her all day. And Jodi Picoult did not disappoint. Great story and her perspective on Covid and what a lot of people went through during the pandemic is worth reflection and a desire to live life fully.

I know my reading speed has slowed considerably this year, and despite this actually taking me a whole week to read, I felt like I couldn't put this down.

And. I am so glad I didn't read this earlier. The descriptions of symptoms Finn was seeing in the ICU were terrifying, and I am very freaked out by descriptions of medical things, and if I had read this before having (a mild case of) Covid myself, I know I would have worried way more. Even though things were way worse in the early days, before we knew anything about the virus, before Delta and vaccinations and Omicron. There is a lot of trauma revisited in this book, so take care of yourself if you do choose to read this. (I know I wouldn't have if I had not been gifted this by my MIL. And if we weren't moving, and had literally less than 10 books on my nightstand that aren't packed yet. It was pretty serendipitous, I guess.)

I know Picoult has a reputation for being kind of a preachy issues-writer, but I didn't feel that this was super preachy until literally the epilogue. I am a little mad at the epilogue, even though I knew it was inevitable, I just didn't like the implication in the last few lines; it felt counter to everything that had come before it.

I feel like I can't really talk about this without spoiling major plot points, but I did enjoy learning about art in regards to Diana's job at Sotheby's, and about the Galapagos islands.

I was as impressed with the author's note as I was with the book and that was very impressed.

I didn't think I would like a pandemic-themed book because, well, I'm living the pandemic—STILL. Boy, was I wrong!

This book definitely has three acts. It's a little hard to describe them all without giving away the plot, so if my review sounds vague, it's intentional.

ACT 1 - The book begins just as the pandemic is starting and before anyone knew what COVID was or how it would impact our lives. (Remember those days?) The main character, Diana, has a surgeon boyfriend named Finn. They had planned a trip to the Galapagos Island, where Diana is sure he will propose, as planned. In fact, she basically has her life planned and so far, it's playing out just fine. However, at the last minute, he must stay in NYC to care for the increasing number of COVID patients at his hospital, but he encourages Diana to go on the trip without him. She does and manages to be quarantined there, making her one week trip last several months. Life back home goes on without her and there are several “life events” that happen that she has no control over. It doesn't help that Internet connectivity is nearly non-existent.

ACT 2 - By some miracle, she ends up back in NYC, but she's not the person she used to be. Her time in the Galapagos changed her. Poor Finn is the same, only horribly exhausted and struggling to cope.

ACT 3 - Sorry, I can't give details. All I can say is I loved the ending.

Picoult does an excellent job of taking her pandemic-weary readers to a tropical island for a break and then taking them back to the pandemic and letting them know they are not alone. All and all, an amazing read.

Earlier, I mentioned the author's note. It helped to know that the author was as paralyzed by the pandemic as a lot of us. And that, before she could even write again, she managed to start reading. . . but only romances, because she could only handle happy endings. I feel less embarrassed by all the Hallmark movies I watched because I needed stories that had happy endings.

It was cute, for me a revival of things like if it were true by Marc Levy and a more recent one whose title I can't remember now: how to live between two choices you didn't even know you had or wanted? It's a good question for the end of year reflection...

So, i wasn't aware that COVID patients were hallucinating when they were sick and also, despite this book having such a bad storyline, the way the author simply talked about breaking rules and the main character meeting her covid-positive mother without a mask because she couldn't recognize her and goin for a stroll in the park while they were supposed to be quarantined?!

I enjoyed the first half of this, but the second part not so much. Unfortunately I just wasn't as invested with the second half of the book.

I should say though, that it was beautifully written in parts.

Thank you to PH and Jodi Picoult for the chance to read this book.

Not a fan of this story, doesn't even seem like it was written by Picoult.

I DO NOT WANT TO READ ABOUT COVID!!!!!!!

A note to any and all authors and publishers, up front: I ABSOLUTELY, 10000%, DO NOT WANT TO READ ABOUT COVID!!!!! I READ FICTION TO ESCAPE THE “REAL” WORLD!!!!! Write the stories if you feel you must. Maybe for your own mental health, you need to write COVID stories. For the rest of us, PLEASE do NOT publish them for a while. It is still TOO real, no matter what one thinks about the virus or any of the politics around it. (And remember, no matter your own thoughts on it, there are large segments of your potential customers who will disagree with you.)

All of the above noted, the actual story here is well crafted and well told. Picoult manages to bring in, from a more mysticism side, one of the aspects of Bill Myers' Eli that made that book one of the most influential of my own life - even as he approached the concept from a more science/ science fiction side. The scenes in the Galapagos in particular are truly viscerally stunning. You feel yourself being there as much as our lead character is, in all of the messy situations she finds herself trapped in on this paradise as the world falls apart. Indeed, had the entire book been based there, to me it would have been a much better book overall - even though I objectively rated this story as a 5, I must admit the latter third of the book, while still strong and compelling storytelling objectively, was less interesting to me (other than the mysticism mentioned above, as this is where those aspects come into play). At the end of the day, I write this review roughly six weeks before publication and this book has nearly 600 reviews on Goodreads - at the time I began writing this, it looked as though this one will be number 569. Which speaks to the marketing reach and prowess of its publisher, and Picoult's own status as, as I described her on Facebook earlier this morning “a grocery store book section level author that seems to occupy half of said grocery store book section”. And the mystic hook being so rarely used is perhaps reason to rate this book as more compelling than others, but overall the tale here and the level of the writing... as I mentioned on my review of Taylor Jenkins Reid's Malibu Rising: there is absolutely *no doubt that this is a strong tale strongly crafted. But I really have read oh so many authors from less powerful publishers that are at least as good, and thus I truly don't understand the hype.

For those that do want a “real” look at COVID in their fiction, whether that be in 2021 or later, this book is absolutely must read. For those that want island escapism and don't mind COVID being a central part of the tale, you're definetly going to want to read this one, even if you've never read Picoult (as I had never before this book). But for those who, for any reason at all, just can't deal with COVID “realism” in their escapism/ fiction... maybe hold off on this one until you're at a point where you can. And then read it, because it really is a great story overall. Recommended.