Change of Heart
Fiction
By Jodi Picoult
Reviewed by Jennifer Waterman
4 out of 5 stars
June Nealson, an overprotective hardworking mother, has had about all she can take. First her husband gets killed by a drunk driver, leaving her a single mother. Believing in second chances, she marries Rick, a loving and supportive cop, who helps her get through the death of her first husband. Just when things seem to be turning around disaster strikes. Her husband and daughter are shot to death. The only thing that’s keeping her going is her precious baby and a thirst to avenge her family against a man named Shay Bourne. Now, 12 years later, things still seem to be going all wrong for June. Shays execution date is looming around the corner and she’s nervous. Strange things are happening in his jail. There are supposed miracles that Shay is performing like turning water into wine and rising the dead. People surround the jail shouting, screaming, and saying that he is God. To top that Clare, her daughter, is in dire need of a heart and the only heart that is available for her is from the last person she wants one from, Shay Bourne. Without the heart her daughter won’t live but with it she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to live with herself. Will she be able to overcome the pain for the sake of her daughter? Is Shay really performing miracles?
Change of Heart is the type of book that keeps you guessing, that makes you wonder, and once you start reading you just can’t seem to stop. It’s about love, loss, faith, justice, and the ability to open yourself up to new possibilities. Picoult does a great job of developing the characters. Throughout the book you feel as if you know them and can feel the pain and suffering their going through. As I got drawn into a new world I found myself wishing certain things would happen and thinking up solutions for all their problems. I would recommend this book to someone who likes thrillers, dramas, and doesn’t want a happily ever after ending, but a real life one. If you read this book I hope you like it much as I did and learn as much too.
