This story is about a family dealing with a potentially terminal illness, leukemia. Sara and Brian have a perfect family, with having both a boy, Jesse, and girl, Kate, blessing their life. Until Kate is diagnosed with acute version of leukemia. Their world falls apart and they look desperate for answers and above all a possible cure for Kate.
That's when their third daughter, Anna, came into the world. Designed to be a perfect match for being a donor for Kate, she's hardly born when the first procedure is done. Most of her life is shadowed by the illness of Kate and her giving blood, stamcells and more to keep the disease of Kate at bay.
When she turns 13 she suddenly doesn't want to keep giving her own blood and body to her sister, who keeps deteriorating. When Kate is in need of a kidney, she seeks help to stop her parents leeching of her and try to live her own life.
This is the beginning of an heartbreaking struggle to be heard, a struggle to survive whether you're suffering from leukemia or suffering from being a parent, sister or brother of the one slowly dying.
I've heard a lot about Jodi Picoult, before I picked this novel of her up. It's my first of her novels and she writes painstakingly emotional and realistical. I both loved and hated this novel. I loved it because every novel that evokes emotion from me, aside from disgust, is a winner according to my standards. I cried a lot through the novel and was thoroughly intrigued with how the story unfolded. Sometimes it lacked a little pace, but in life patience is a good virtue.
The reason I hated it, is because since I've become a mother myself I'm especially emotional when it comes to children and losing them. Losing my daughter is losing myself and even reading about someone else possibly losing their child hits me in a very personal way. I can't ignore it, since I've got a kid, I'm very sensitive towards any kind of human suffering, especially children. Even in fictional form, because at this very moment someone is dealing with this in real life. My heart goes out to the parents whose children are seriously sick or injured, and my sympathies for those who are surviving without their children.
Personal rating: 3,5 stars
