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Name: The Pact: A Love Story: Jodi Picoult: 9780060858803: Amazon.com: Books
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Rating: 4.4 (18745 reviews)

Jodi Picoult

The Pact: A Love Story Paperback – February 21, 2006

by Jodi Picoult (Author)

4.4 18,745 ratings

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“Engrossing...The Pact is compelling reading.”—People

In this heart-rending tale of love and friendship, Jodi Picoult brings to life a familiar world, and in a single terrifying moment awakens every parent’s worst fear: We think we know our children . . . but do we ever really know them at all?

The Golds and the Hartes, neighbors for eighteen years, have always been inseparable. So have their children—and it’s no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily’s friendship blossoms into something more. But the bonds of family, friendship, and passion—which had seemed so indestructible—suddenly threaten to unravel in the wake of unimaginable tragedy.

When midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the truth. Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There’s a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris pilfered from his father’s cabinet—a bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris describes.

This extraordinary, poignant novel paints an indelible portrait of two families in anguish . . . and creates an astonishingly suspenseful courtroom drama as Chris is put on trial for murder.

Print length

389 pages
Language

English
Publisher

William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication date

February 21, 2006
Dimensions

7.97 x 5.46 x 0.98 inches
ISBN-10

006085880X
ISBN-13

978-0060858803
Lexile measure

760L
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“It’s hard to exaggerate how well Picoult writes.” — Financial Times

“Picoult is a skilled wordsmith, and she beautifully creates situations that not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us.” — Boston Globe

"Picoult always tells both sides of a story not with judgment, but with grace.” — Washington Post

“Picoult is a writer who understands her characters inside and out.” — Roxane Gay, New York Times Book Review

From the Back Cover

From Jodi Picoult, one of the most powerful writers in contemporary fiction, comes a riveting, timely, heartbreaking, and terrifying novel of families in anguish -- and friendships ripped apart by inconceivable violence. Until the phone calls came at 3:00 a.m. on a November morning, the Golds and their neighbors, the Hartes, had been inseparable. It was no surprise to anyone when their teenage children, Chris and Emily, began showing signs that their relationship was moving beyond that of lifelong friends. But now seventeen-year-old Emily has been shot to death by her beloved and devoted Chris as part of an apparent suicide pact -- leaving two devastated families stranded in the dark and dense predawn, desperate for answers about an unthinkable act and the children they never really knew.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks (February 21, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 389 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 006085880X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060858803
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 760L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.97 x 5.46 x 0.98 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #94,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,691 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
- #3,380 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction
- #7,351 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 18,745 ratings

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Jodi Picoult

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Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-eight novels, including Wish You Were Here, The Book of Two Ways, A Spark of Light, Small Great Things, Leaving Time, and My Sister's Keeper, and, with daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. Picoult lives in New Hampshire.

Her next novel, Mad Honey, co-written with Jennifer Finney Boylan, is available on October 11th.

Follow Jodi Picoult on Intagram, Twitter, and Facebook: @jodipicoult

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

18,745 global ratings

5 star		60%
4 star		26%
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2 star		2%
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DemiAmorae

Not the cover pictured

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 13, 2023

Verified Purchase

This is one of my favorite books. Which is why I bought a second copy when my original was old and in bad shape. I thought this new copy would also have a different cover. Since this Amazon listing shows a picture of a guy in a girl in like a field. The book that arrived does not have the same cover as the product listing. I'll keep it though as I love the book. But the product listing should reflect the proper book edition.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Jodi Picoult's The Pact

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 5, 2023

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As usual, Jodi Picoult does not disappoint. Her story shows the effects on all of her characters. You can never predict what happens; therefore this one, altho a serious subject, doesnt disappoint.

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Kindle Customer

Jodi Picoult Does Write Difficult Stories

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 5, 2022

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Which is why I read this book: I have read others of hers. After reading her comments afterwards I would say she achieved her goal. But I only gave her 4 stars: today there are so many authors who deal with difficult subjects, manage to be uplifting but are far less contrived.

Everything fit too conveniently here: the too close family, the exclusive relationship between Emily and Chris, the brief sexual abuse encounter Emily shut up about and was the real catalyst for what happened, but only beknownst to her. Too many convenient truths, not quite realistic to me set up in order to fit the narrative.

I wouldn't have had the book banned, but I don't think I would praise it so much. Today children have to deal with traumas on an hourly basis: shootings in schools, an indifferent society, self-serving politicians, climate change, the possibility of WWIII, a world that offers them no protection at all. Emily and Chris were very much protected, so the book seems a little too indulgent and pretentious.

However, it is a page turner.

2 people found this helpful

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Tsanche

One of Picoult's Best

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 28, 2009

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Originally released in 1997, "The Pact," is probably one of Jodi Picoult's best known works. It has garnered a pretty strong cult following. As a result it's one of those books we can say has a love it or hate it relationship. There are few who will find themselves in between. Love it or hate it, one can't deny how much Picoult's novel opens the door to a very serious issue.

The Golds and the Hartes have been friends for a long time. They're next door neighbors who have become close. Their children Emily Gold and Christopher Harte have become close over the years, and it comes as no surprise to their parents. Then, out of the blue, Emily Gold kills herself in what was apparently supposed to be a suicide pact between Emily and Chris. Now Emily is dead, and Chris is alive and well, and he's the only one who has any answers. Now Emily's parents are trying to find out what happened to their daughter, and are also wondering just how well they knew her, while Chris is up to his neck in a legal squabble. The friendship between the two families that seemed eternal suddenly comes crashing down, as both sets of parents come to the realization that they didn't know their children quite as well as they thought.

Needless to say, there's a lot of drama in Picoult's novel, and a lot of emotional turmoil. Jodi Picoult is no stranger to dealing with tough issues and exploring them. The Pact is no different, but here Jodi Picoult goes further into the heart of the matter. By exploring not just how the character cope with Emily's suicide, but also what lead Emily to do it in the first place. The book plays out by alternating between the past and the present. The reader literally gets to know Emily's life story. We're there from the moment she is born, to the moment all the way to her death. As a result, the reader really gets to know Emily Gold. And not just Emily Gold. We get to know Chris Harte as well. In fact, we get to know every character and they all become incredibly well developed. Sometimes a little too much. We learn a little bit more about some characters than we'd care to know. At times Picoult can carry on about a character, but at least she keeps it interesting.

However, the story moves at a smooth pace. The read is, overall, a fairly quick one. And the drama keeps coming with all the twists and turns. It's hard not to feel Picoult pulling at your heart strings. All the drama and characters lead to a pretty big conclusion. In the past, Jodi Picoult has sometimes come to implausible conclusions. You might get a similar feeling here. The book is very enjoyable, and the conclusion is even alright, although it isn't entirely believable.

The writing stands firm. It's very well written with elegant prose and vivid descriptions. Sometimes you get the sense that Picoult is providing too much description. At the very least you'll never feel drowned out in it. The dialog is also nice, coming off as very natural rather than scripted.

The Pact is a very nice book that's filled with very lovable characters. Its sure to spark a bit of discussion among readers. It's a very likable book that is filled with it's own charms. It is one of Picoult's best.

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Phil.MacKenzie

Disturbing and Thought Provoking

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 14, 2013

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Another interesting read by Jodi Picoult. It took me back to my own teen years and the thought process of a young adult. Jodi did a great job of explaining how intertwined these 2 teens' lives were, to the extent they felt each others physical & emotional pain. However, despite the self-centered nature of this age, I wasn't convinced that with their level of intelligence, at least one of them wouldn't have been able to reason out that Emily could have received counselling and possibly medication to help her overcome her depression and suicidal feelings, instead of drawing the conclusion that suicide was Emily's only option to end her pain (particularly since Chris had received some counselling of his own and had benefitted, even though he was skeptical and resistant at first). In addition, even though I don't need every book to tie everything together in a neat package at the end of the story, being a parent myself, I would like to have felt some closure with this story. I'm sure it was intentional on Jodi's part, but I couldn't decide why Emily felt so hopeless that she couldn't go on. Was it because she'd been molested at age 9, suppressed that memory and then had it come to light when she became sexually active with Chris? Was it because she loved Chris so much, she felt as though she was half of his whole and couldn't live without him, but she often felt their relationship seemed incest-like, since they'd basically been raised together and yet, when she got pregnant, couldn't endure the thought of a "forever" with him, for that very reason? This story brings the characters to life so well, I felt emotionally invested enough to want an answer to the question,"why?" Since Emily could not seem to verbally articulate her reasons to Chris while she was alive, perhaps she was able to explain it in her diary, leaving me to wonder if Emily's mother got answers when she found the diary. As a parent, I can only imagine the grief felt by the parents and their need to have a reason for this tragedy, with someone to blame. Saying that, they knew Chris since the day he was born, lived next door to his family and helped raise him as their own child. Emily's mother, Melanie, found some answers (possibly all?) in Emily's diary (the full contents were not shared with us) How could Melanie then burn the diary & let Chris take the blame for murdering Emily?

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LB13

Important & Powerful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 16, 2019

Verified Purchase

I absolutely adored this book. It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve spent much of my day just wanting to get home to read more. This is a compelling read which leaves you wanting more each time a chapter ends.
Although this isn’t a new release, I think it’s actually quite an important novel for where society is right now. Mental Health and Suicide is being talked about more than ever and I think this book highlights the sad fact that parents do not always know what is going on in their children’s mind and what is apparent on the surface isn’t always what’s going on inside. A painful reminder to many, I’m sure, to ensure that you are asking your kids the right questions and spending the right amount of time.
Brilliant, powerful book.

13 people found this helpful

Ms. J. Carpenter

Riveting.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 9, 2020

Verified Purchase

Again I started reading this novel and everything goes to hell in a hand basket. (The same happened when I was reading 19 minutes). Dinner doesn’t get made, the dog is abandoned, I don’t go to sleep until really late. I love to read, but it is much easier to read something that you don’t feel so invested in, they are not so difficult to put down. I always avoided Jodie Picoult’s books, thinking they were ‘chick lit’. I now know that they are not. She tackles hard subjects that are not written about by many authors. I shall carry on ploughing through her books, the dinner, dog and my sleep be damned!

8 people found this helpful

Misskin

Slightly disappointing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 19, 2019

Verified Purchase

As with any of Jodi's book, this was well written and pulled me in from the beginning. Was this a murder, a suicide pact, a double suicide pact? And if so, why, and who was guilty of what? Unfortunately, as the story began to unfold, I found I couldn't accept the basic premise upon which the whole drama/mystery depended. I won't reveal the ending, but the more I learnt about the true character of each of the main protagonists, and the motivations behind their actions, the less I believed in them. Sorry, Jodi, but the book left me cold.

6 people found this helpful

Thanagma (book-reader)

Complex and realistic characters with a great story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 19, 2018

Verified Purchase

I have really enjoyed all the Jodi Picoult books I have read, and this was no exception.

What starts off as a childhood friendship between neighbours Chris Harte and Emily Gold develops into a mature teen romance, but maybe not as idyllic as it seems. There is a deep mutual love between them, but some other more complex and complicated emotions on both their parts.

The story develops in dual time-line, through the history of the Harte and Gold families and in their present, in which Emily is dead and Chris is a suspect. The legal side is both accurate and gripping, and the story pulled me in. I stayed up till silly-o’clock to finish the last section because I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended.

7 people found this helpful

Claire

Engrossing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 11, 2020

Verified Purchase

This seemed to take me a long time to get into it, but I stuck with it over a period of time and it began to grab my attention and wonder what really did happen that fateful night. It's really quite heartbreaking and is a very important story told about teen suicide. The court chapters are the best, they had me reading late into the night wondering how it was going to pan out. Only issue as a kindle reader I would say would be the long chapters and knowing how much you have left (some chapters were 45 mins long) caused many late nights needing to finish a chapter. Worth a read.

2 people found this helpful

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