Change of Heart

In a review of Change of Heart, Bookreporter.com's Kate Ayers wrote that it's Jodi Picoult's "most thought-provoking novel to date. You may not believe in the death penalty, or you may scoff at religion, but you cannot deny the astonishing power this story holds. It will force you to look at the issues from all sides."

What did RGG.com contributor Heather Johnson and her fellow book club members think of Change of Heart, their latest selection? Read on to find out...


On Sunday my book club met to discuss Jodi Picoult's Change of Heart, which deals with both the death penalty and organ donation. The member who nominated the book is a defense attorney, and she hoped the book would spur discussion on the topic of capital punishment. Our club is always up for a good debate, but unfortunately, this book did not deliver as we hoped.

Picoult is famous for raising controversial issues in her books. Several years ago my club discussed another of her books, My Sister's Keeper. The big topic in that book is whether it is right to use one of your children to keep your other child alive (through blood transfusions, organ transplants, etc.). It was amazing how clearly defined the opinions of the gals in my club were: those of us with kids came down on one side of the divide and those of us without kids came down on the other, with no divergent opinions to be found.

Although Change of Heart raised some equally controversial issues, my club wasn't able to connect with this story as we did with her previous book. I don't want to give away any spoilers and so I can't tell you what we discussed, but if you really want to know you can click over to our blog for the details.

There are times when your club will read a book that you are not a fan of. There may even be times when the entire club dislikes a book. But that same book you disliked can possibly lead to the very best discussion your club has ever had. Explore the issues raised by the book even if they make you uncomfortable. List the things you didn't like and see if anyone disagrees with you. Can you convince the other members to come around to your opinion or can they convince you to change your mind? Compare the book to others your group has read and determine why this one wasn't a success.

Most of the gals didn't care much for this book, but our meeting wasn't a failure by any means. We spent time dissecting what worked for us, as well as what didn't, in the book. Sadly many of us had more dislikes than likes, but it gave us the chance to converse about these in an objective manner. One of the subplots we enjoyed was that of the female attorney's stressed and often humorous relationship with her mother. There are three mother/daughter duos in our club and every single one of the mothers had something to say about this topic...go figure!

Perhaps the best part of the meeting was seeing what food item each gal brought. Our theme was "What would you want for your last meal if you were on death row?" My contribution was Reese's Peanut Butter Cups...in bulk.

Has your club ever read a book that just didn't go over well? How did you handle this at your meeting?

---Heather Johnson