An extraordinary story of love, life and the devastation that came with the pandemic!
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
352 Pages
Out Now
Description
If your life was going perfectly to plan, would you risk everything to change it?
Diana O’Toole’s life is going perfectly to plan. At twenty-nine, she’s up for promotion to her dream job as an art specialist at Sotheby’s and she’s about to fly to the Galapagos where she’s convinced her surgeon boyfriend, Finn, is going to propose.
But then the virus hits New York City and Finn breaks the news: the hospital needs him, he has to stay. But you should still go, he insists. And reluctantly, she agrees.
Once she’s in the Galapagos, the world shuts down around her, leaving Diana stranded – albeit in paradise. Completely isolated, with only intermittent news from the outside world, Diana finds herself examining everything that has brought her to this point and wondering if there’s a better way to live.
But not everything is as it seems . . .
Review
Jodi Picoult is one of my favourite authors and she’s not let me down with her newest release. It was immediately given five stars as soon as those tears started streaming down my face and I was left ugly crying!
This is very different from her usual style of books and it is quite difficult to review without giving anything away as there is a pretty huge twist halfway through that completely floored me. All I will say is that this book left me in mourning, I think that’s why I was crying so much due to parts that happen at the beginning to then hitting the twist. (That’s all I’ll say!)
I’ve read a number of books now that are set during the pandemic which can sometimes feel forced, however with this it is the main focus and really explores how it has affected everyone especially those on the front line. We see this through the character of Finn who is a surgeon at the hospital as we read about what he was facing every single day and how exhausted he becomes.
Whilst there is a lot of focus on COVID, there is also the glorious chapters on Diana’s time on Isabella Island in the Galapagos which were beautiful to read about but also explored that feeling of isolation during the pandemic with the lockdowns.
This book is about living your life, taking chances, reaching out to those who need us and ultimately remembering that life is short and to make the most of it!
Overall this book is stunning from start to finish with one of the most epic twists I’ve read and something that I will be thinking about for a long time. I loved it and my heart is still trying to process everything that just happened!
A Cup of the finest MrsJTea! 