Well written story...I enjoyed it over all.
Character development on the girl could have been better, more believable.

This is probably my 2nd favorite Picoult. It's well written and gripping. I read the book a while back, but grabbed the audio when I saw it on sale. The audio is fabulous, the narration is perfectly executed.

My previous thoughts from early last year:
How well do you know your child? How many parents knew their child was suicidal before they killed themselves? As parents, we like to believe we know our children, that we are close to them and that they tell us everything. Those of that remember being teenagers ourselves, know that isn't actually true ;)

I was up until 3am finishing this book. I could not put it down. In typical Picoult style, there's the "shocking twist", but the deeper levels of the book - how much you really know about your kids - is what kept me interested. I have a 4 and 6 year old. The fact that they will one day be teenagers scares the heck out of me.

This was the first of a growing line of books I have been reading by Jodi Picoult. Out of all of them, this one was the one that really got me thinking.

Chris and Emily, the two main characters in the book, seem to have everything going for them. Loving/supporting family, a relationship with your best friend, good grades leading into college. Your left wondering why they would want to kill themselves.

This book focuses into the personal thoughts and experiences of a young high school girl that has hit the end of her rope. You slowly begin to realize that Emily has been so emotionally eaten by the time she dies, there was nothing anyone could do.

Chris loves her as much as any high school aged boy is capable of, yet becomes frustrated with her depressive persona. He almost appears to be uncaring and cold towards her many times in the book, but it also illustrated how Emily was having severe difficulty with something as simple as sexual maturity. Chris simply didn't understand.

Her destructive behavior becomes apparent to Chris who is too late to fix it. He is left with no choice but to become the best friend he has always been and be with her to the end.

Personally, I found this book to be touching.

The Pact by Jodi Picoult was very fast moving in some parts and slow moving in others. It's an exhilarating and emotional story, where the characters in the book were very real to me and I thought that the story could have been based on a true one.

The story line of this book is mainly based on two families, the Hartes and the Golds, who lived next door to each other for eighteen years. They shared everything together. Chris and Emily, their children, grew up together and their friendship grows into love, which is no surprise to their families and everyone around them. In fact, their families support and sometimes even push their relationship to happen. Then one day, Emily winds up dead by a shot to her head and Chris is accused of murdering her. Now, the Hartes and Golds have to face every parent's worst nightmare: how did they never see this coming? What did they do wrong? What exactly was going on with Emily? These questions are the ones that we all want answered as we read this book.

During the murder case, the book goes back in time to when Chris and Emily were little to show how they developed as friends, as a couple, and were always with one another. This book is also about suicide and depression and the minds of two children growing up by spending all their time together.
I read this book with a book club and had a hard time stopping at our stopping points to discuss what was happening. I constantly wanted to get to the end and experience some resolve. Overall, it was a very moving and sad story, but entertaining to read. After I got going, it was difficult for me to put the book down. I read the book in only three sittings.

It may, in some cases, be disturbing for some people, because of the suicide and depression side of it, but overall it is a brilliant and outstanding story. This kind of thing can happen in real life in my opinion. If you are looking for a fluffy, feel good love-story, this book is not for you. Jodi Picoult challenges readers to expect the unexpected and leaves a lot to the imagination as you close the book at the end.

The Pact, was my first Jodi Picoult book that I've read, so I wasn't sure what to expect about her writing style. I was definitely taken for several loops and twists while reading this book. I did enjoy the book overall it just left me with so many unanswered questions about the characters and wondering why some of the plot was put in the storyline.

The Pact, is a love story about two teenagers, Chris and Emily, who have grown up together. Their families lived next to one another and had a close friendship, well relationship with one another. The book starts off with a bang! Right away Emily is dead from a gun shot wound and Chris is there by her side. The only question now is what truly happened? Throughout the book you learn bits and pieces from the past while experiencing what is happening in the present. The author does a good job at leaving you at the edge of your seat, wanting to continue reading on and on to figure out what is happening. Once you do come to the end of the story and find out some answers, you will still have so many questions running through your head. I feel as if the ending of this book, it almost leaves you with a whole new set of questions. I gave the book 3 stars out of 5 because I felt as if Picoult could have either made some more connections with the misleading plotlines she put in the story, or she should have just left some of them out. Overall, I would say if you have the time to read this book would be a nice choice, but it wouldn't be one of my top choices.