Customer Reviews

Worth reading but not her best
Change of Heart, like many of Picoult's other works, deals with an ethical dilemma told through the subjective accounts of several characters in the story. Add in a twist at the end and you get Picoult's formula for success. The story focuses on Shay Bourne, a man on death row convicted of murdering Policeman Kurt Nealon and his Step-daughter, seven-year-old Elizabeth. After watching a piece on the news, Shay requests to donate his heart to eleven-year-old Claire, a girl desperately in need of a transplant, and the sister of Elizabeth.

The story is told through the voices of each of the main characters from June Nealon, Claire and Elizabeth's mother, to Lucius, an AIDs sufferer in prison with Shay. As ever, Picoult's ability to make each character relatable displays a sensitive and sympathetic understanding of the many issues involved in the story delivering a thought-provoking, captivating read guaranteed to keep the reader hooked to the finish. Fans of Picoult's books will not be disappointed and should look out for a small reappearance of some character's from Keeping Faith. This being said, the book never quite reaches the heights of brilliance displayed in some of her previous works such as My Sister's Keeper and her current bestseller on the paperback charts, Nineteen Minutes. One cannot help feeling that, having exhausted scenarios that are not outside the realms of possibilty, the author has moved on to scenarios that are, at best, highly implausible and therefore less socially relevant. Despite this, it's an easy read with substance - perfect for bedtime reading

Another incredibly brave book by this author! Well worth a read.
Jodi Picoult is not afraid to tackle ideas that other authors would draw right back from - and she always tackles them well! This book is certainly up to her usual standards, and kept me engrossed during my recent holiday.

In this book we encounter a young widow - whose second husband was murdered along with her young daughter. Tragically, the second daughter (whom she was expecting when her husband and elder daughter were killed) is seriously ill and is in urgent need of a heart transplant. This is offered by ...


... the murderer! Not just any murderer, but the very man who murdered the rest of the family!

What should they do? How could they possibly accept - and yet, how could they possibly refuse? To refuse would be to kill the child ... but to accept ...? Could they possibly put the heart of a murderer in a child's body? How could it possibly fit? And how can it be arranged? Lethal injection stops the heart - so death would have to be by hanging - but thousands of pounds have already been spent building in an execution chamber for the lethal injection! How much is the life of a child worth?

Elements of The Green Mile mix into this book, particularly in the scenes of death row, where the inexplicable begins to occur. Is this young man a miracle worker? Is there something special about him? As the crowds gather outside the prison, the plot develops!

The twist in the plot didn't catch me by surprise - I was beginning to suspect something on those lines - but it is cleverly written and works convincingly.

If you have previously enjoyed Jodi Picoult's books, give this a try.

If you haven't tried her books before, this is a good place to start. (If you enjoy it, you might like to try 'My Sister's Keeper' or 'Nineteen Minutes' next! - they're both very good!)

"Would you give up your vengeance against someone you hate if it meant saving someone you love?"
This is about the fourth book by Picoult that I have read, the first being MY SISTER'S KEEPER. Although I loved MY SISTER'S KEEPER, a couple of her others fell a little flat with me, so I was not sure whether I would enjoy CHANGE OF HEART or not. Now that I have finished it, whilst I cannot say that it is one of the best books that I have read, it is certainly one which makes you think.

The story follows Shay Bourne, a young man who is on death row. The crime that got him there is the double murder of a police man and his step-daughter. June Nealon, the wife and mother who has her life ripped apart by Shay's action is pregnant at the time of their deaths; she has a little girl called Claire.
While Shay is on death row, he sees on T.V that Claire needs a heart transplant. In this instance, Shay decides that he wants to donate his heart to Claire. He sees it as the only way he can 'make up' for what he has done and what he has taken from Claire and June.
But for Shay to do this it would mean that he would have to be executed not by lethal injection but by hanging, so that the heart could be used. This of course throws up moral / ehtical dilemmas; does Shay have the right to change the course of his execution? Should he be allowed to donate his heart? And, perhaps most importantly for June, should she accept the heart from the man who killed the other two members of her family?

As with most of Picoult's books, the story is narrated by various characters - although you never get to 'hear' Shay's voice. And, as with her other books that I have read, while she may not be the best writer of prose around, she does manage to put just enough in to make the book worth taking the time for. The above quote, used as the title for this review, is illustration of this.
Other reviewers have said that they felt CHANGE OF HEART had echoes of "The Green Mile" - well, this is true. A prisoner who seemingly can perform miracles, who just so happens to be on death row, is defintiely an echo of the aforesaid novel/film. But, in CHANGE OF HEART, Picoult has used this to underpin the religious overtones that the book has. While you may think that this either gives something else or takes away something from the book, will largely be down to your way of seeing the world. While it gave some more interest, for me, I am not sure what it really brought to the novel.

Recommended as a quick read.