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A review by kricketa
All We Know of Heaven by Jacquelyn Mitchard
2.0
two lookalike best friends are in a terrible christmas eve car wreck, and the one in a coma is mistaken for the one who died. the mistake is discovered much later, after the funeral of one girl and beginning recovery of the other. one mother discovers that her dead daughter is alive, another mother discovers she's been keeping a bedside vigil with a different child while her own has been dead. the one who lives recovers from serious injuries with the burden that she is alive instead of her best friend.
in a way, i'm surprised jodi picoult didn't get to this plot first. the book was inspired by at least two real events where injured but alive victims were mistaken for dead victims after car accidents (both involved teens from michigan, incidentally, though one accident was in indiana)and it seems like just the sort of sensational situation that picoult would be all over.
the book also reminded me a bit of 'we were the mulvaneys'- a small, close-knit town affected by a tragedy in which people take sides and things are never the same. and the families were irish.
and, since i do not care for jodi picoult's work or 'we were the mulvaneys' it probably goes without saying that this book was not my cup of tea. i found the characters one-sided and shallow; the dialogue at the story's most dramatic moments was almost laughable. the story goes on for the complete recovery of the girl who lived, and it's just kind of...boring. probably realistic enough, but boring.
still, there's enough teen girls at my library who are really into picoult or tear-jerker stories (before i die, lurlene mcdaniel) and i think they would enjoy this.
in a way, i'm surprised jodi picoult didn't get to this plot first. the book was inspired by at least two real events where injured but alive victims were mistaken for dead victims after car accidents (both involved teens from michigan, incidentally, though one accident was in indiana)and it seems like just the sort of sensational situation that picoult would be all over.
the book also reminded me a bit of 'we were the mulvaneys'- a small, close-knit town affected by a tragedy in which people take sides and things are never the same. and the families were irish.
and, since i do not care for jodi picoult's work or 'we were the mulvaneys' it probably goes without saying that this book was not my cup of tea. i found the characters one-sided and shallow; the dialogue at the story's most dramatic moments was almost laughable. the story goes on for the complete recovery of the girl who lived, and it's just kind of...boring. probably realistic enough, but boring.
still, there's enough teen girls at my library who are really into picoult or tear-jerker stories (before i die, lurlene mcdaniel) and i think they would enjoy this.