I'm not sure if this is in the right section but i consider novels are "entertainment" so I am posting it here. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake muffins, get a tooth filled by a dentist, you can fold laundry for a family of five. In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world. Or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge. I don’t think I have read many books that stuck on my mind weeks after I am done reading several other books. The exception to that seems to be Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes. The story revolves around the lead and the aftermath of what had happened during the nineteen unforgettable minutes on an ordinary-turned-extraordinary day at Sterling High School which resulted in death of 10 people and injuries to several others. The fact that you can see the perspectives of various characters helps to broaden the facts and the realism in the story. There is no “main character” to speak of. I have discussed this book with several people and to everyone, one character seems more important than the other. There is Lacy Houghton, a midwife and mother of Peter, who couldn’t understand how her loving child could pull off such an act. She constantly questions herself whether she could still love Peter after what he had done. Peter Houghton, a victim of severe bullying by the jocks at school, was at loss wherever he goes. Ever since Peter started school, he was being bullied and that made him dread each day. As he got older, things only got worse for him as the only person, Josie Cormier, who stuck up for him “joined” the group of jocks. Not only that, even in his home, his elder brother got the bigger piece of cake from his parents. Being good at computer, which ironically was the safest refuge he could find from life, made him feel a little better. Peter created a game on his own in which the goal was to kill all the jocks, who would try to shove you onto the lockers in the process, and finally the cops after all the targets were dead. Incidentally, that is the exact thing he tried on the unforgettable day at Sterling High to stop the Jocks from bullying once it for all. Josie Cormier, the State’s best witness, was found lying beside her boyfriend Matt Royston, the only person during the incident to be shot twice, unconscious. She constantly admits that she does not remember anything that transpired on the dreaded day. Or does she? If you have happened to read Jodi Picoult’s other works, then you would like to know that the characters Jordan, the lawyer, and Patrick, the detective, make a return in this novel. I have to say that I found this book absolutely thrilling and couldn’t put it down even when my eyelids refused to stay open. While reading the lead to the desperate act by Peter (the “Nineteen Minutes” incident happens before the lead-up), you will come across times when you will think of the bullies as jerks and Peter as the main victim, only to realize a bit later that it was the other way around during the event. The only little flaw in this book is the introduction and description of unneeded characters and occurrences. Even though everything seems important when you read it first time, but after you know the ending, you’d find that the story is a bit dragged at some parts. Either way, everything, relevant or not, seems interesting enough to keep you reading this bestseller by Jodi Picoult. Rating: 9/10.
