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NINETEEN MINUTES | 
 enlarge | Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Atria Books
Category: Book
Buy New: £34.74
New (2) Used (3) from £6.32
Rating:  84 reviews
Media: Paperback
Pages: 480
ISBN: 0739487787
EAN: 9780739487785
ASIN: 1416585109
Publication Date: 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 79 more reviews...
 Disappointed Jodie Picoult fan November 7, 2008
Glamour Girl (UK)
Like most people, my first introduction to JP was My Sister's Keeper - an excellent book, which had me in tears throughout. But the more I've read of JP, the more disappointed I get. Her work is very formulaic - a tragedy occurs (the kind that shocks middle America), then we have flashbacks to explain why it occurred, some kind of court case, and then the inevitable twist at the end. Nineteen Minutes repeats this formula - and a little lazily, in my opinion.
To me, the main problem was that it was overly long - cutting a good 100-150 pages would have quickened the pace, and I almost found myself forgetting how close Peter & Josie were as children. There seemed to be an awful lot of unnecessary padding, such as the relationship between Alex & Patrick (whose name was far too similar to Peter's!)
Something I've always liked about JP's books before was the way they change perspective - showing different people's viewpoints on the same subject. But I think that technique was overused in this book. There were some unnecessary characters - Patrick! - whose opinions didn't seem to add very much. I think this was reflected in the structure of the book, where there weren't proper chapters, but whole chunks of text (50 pages at a time), just swapping from one person to the other every one and a half pages. Also, there seemed to be less dialogue and scenes, and too much internal monologues repeating the same point.
In general, I think the writing techniques that JP has employed so well in other books were overused here. For example, at the end of certain scenes she'll put a "deep" conclusion: "he... pushed through the front door of the school, as if he might be able to save them both"; "a gun was nothing, really, without a person behind it". I could go on - but you'll be familiar with the technique if you've read her books. And, this time, it just got too much for me.
I agree with others that 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' is a superior book to this. But I would also add that, while both books are based around school shootings, they really are about different things - "We Need to..." is really an examination of nurture versus nature (Lionel Shriver originally wrote it because she was trying to decide whether to get pregnant), while '19 Minutes' is very much about bullying. This theme of bullying seems to be an obsession with JP - The Tenth Circle is also all about high school popularity. I would just question how conscious the popular kids are of their popularity - Matt basically says he picks on others to secure his own place on the hierarchy, but personally I think teenagers like that just ARE popular, it's something they just accept. But I guess that is the thing about JP as a writer - and why I've still given this 3 stars - she does have that ability to make you think about her topics long after you've finished them!
 Brilliant read October 30, 2008
Andrea Smith (London, UK)
I have read several of Jodi Picoult's books now and some of them have been excellent while others (Keeping Faith springs to mind) I couldn't really get into, This falls into the former category - Ms Picoult has a natural talent for storytelling and writting and her ability to tell the story from the point of view of many different characters is second to none. She will make you sympathise and shed a tear for the murderer as well as his victims, and really get you thinking. Genuis. This book is in my opinion best read in large chunks as not only is it difficult to put down but you lose the fantastic flow of the novel slightly if you leave it untouched for, say, a few days or a week as I did!
I have given the book five stars as I couldn't really find a fault in it at all, let alone one that would warrant the deduction of a star. A recommended read, definitely. If you've enjoyed this author's other novels then you will enjoy this. Well done Jodi Picoult!
A real page turner September 15, 2008
M. McDyer (Ireland)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Nineteen Minutes This has to be the most disturbing book I have ever read but I was absolutely hooked from the begining. Piccolt has managed to protray a school shooting in a most realistic manner, her characters were believable and the story addictive. I was unable to put this book down. I have read quite a few of Piccolts books and found some brilliant and some just so so, I totally recommend this book.
Another Perfect Read by Picoult September 10, 2008
J. Lucas (Lancashire, England)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the third book by Jodi Picoult that I have bought and all have been fantastic reads. Jodi's books are easy to read, hard to put down and all so far have encompassed a brilliant unforseen 'twist' in the tale.
Highly recommended author.
Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult: A fantastic and gripping novel September 8, 2008
Ms. H. McLennan (Scotland, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was the first book by Jodi Picoult that I have read. Because of this, I didn't know what to expect. So I sat down with an open mind, which ended up being blown away by this page-turner.
It's a story of a boy who has put up with a life of bullying from his peers, a boy who feels the only way out is to go to school one day armed with guns to kill his tormentors. The book takes you back in time to the events that lead up to that fateful day, and takes you into the courtroom for his trial.
What I really loved about this book was that I could hardly put it down, and when I did, I was still thinking about the real life issues of the story and characters that Picoult has created. This book is very thought provoking in my opinion. It is a tightly-woven tale that I recommend to anyone.
I felt very involved in the book, it made me really appreciate the amazing family members and friends that surround me, and how fragile life is.
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