Saturday, April 10, 2010

Book Review: House Rules by Jodi Piccoult

House Rules

After I saw this reviewed on a couple of other blogs, I had to grab it when I saw it in the library. I have to admit I've only read one other Piccoult (My Sister's Keeper) and really struggled with it - the story was really well written, just very confronting.

House Rules is the story of an 18 year old boy, Jacob Hunt. Jacob has Aspergers Syndrome and is obsessed with forensic science. He turns up at crime scenes and solves the crime for the police, and is obsessed with a crime show. When his tutor is found dead, his Asperger's traits like not looking people in the eye, and showing little emotion, lead to him being arrested and charged with her murder.

The story is told from the points of view of Jacob, his mum Emma, brother Theo, the policeman Rich and his lawyer Oliver. I don't know how accurate the portrayal is of someone with Aspergers - I suspect some of the characteristics were emphasised for the sake of the novel. I found it quite a compelling read, though I had to put it aside for a few days half way through as it got a bit intense.

Recommend.

2 comments:

karisma said...

Oh I love Jodi, she is absolutely brilliant! The first book I read was 19 Minutes....I normally would not have read something like it but was roped in with her writing skills. She really makes you understand every character's point of view.

I have not read House Rules yet and I saw a couple at the shops the other day too which I would like to read. I really enjoyed My sisters Keeper but was very annoyed with the way they made the movie. Great acting but not living up to the book. (I hated the way they changed the ending, it really spoiled it!)

Risa said...

Thanks for the review. I'd seen other folks blog about it (briefly) and was wondering about mentioning it to my book club as a possible future read. Definitely will now!