I was completely enthralled by this book. It was so so good! Jodi Picoult did an excellent job yet again capturing the many sides and perspectives of a controversial topic. She always makes me think about my own beliefs and where they may fall for whatever issue or societal controversy she tackles.

I feel removed from the issue of abortion in my everyday life as it not something I have had to deal with myself, and I haven’t known anyone close to me to deal with it either. I didn’t realize that abortion is still so frowned upon in Mississippi, with only one abortion clinic in the entire state! Nor did I know that these clinics are a known target for violence, and that there is still ongoing anti-abortion protests that happen right outside their doors. So, thank you Jodi Picoult for opening my eyes to this.

The writing style is different from any book I can recall, where the novel unwinds backwards in time over the course of the day. There is an intense hostage situation that unfolds, and I found I was drawn to many of the characters portrayed. Most importantly I found the book hard to put down as I was anxious to see what precursors led to the events at the beginning of the novel unfolding. It’s a riveting and eye-opening novel, and I haven’t felt this captured by a book since Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alone which I read very early this year.