A Spark of Light: A Novel

This book took me a long time to read, and I am not sure why. Maybe with the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe vs Wade it was too hard for me to grasp that our choices are being made by the government and not by our own selves. I liked both perspectives of the book and felt it was very well researched, but it wasn't a story I was eager to pick up each day.

This was a tough subject. IS a tough subject. But the author did a good job of presenting all the sides and galvanizing arguments. I listened to this one, and sometimes had difficulty making transitions from one female character to another. The other degree of difficulty was the narrator did not announce the timestamp on the chapter titles - which was confusing, as the timeline jumped around. At one point a character was dead. But in a later chapter, which it turns out was earlier in the timeline, she was alive. This was done to delve into the backstory of each person who came into the clinic that day. This book isn’t all that old, but now seems eons ago, given the state of politics now. And not to the betterment of women’s health.

I really like Jodi’s books, but this one was hard to follow. A lot of moving around to different character’s experiences and the time sequences were a lot to follow.

I’ve read a lot of Jodi Picoult books, one of the things that is stand out to me is the level of research done by the author. This book being centered around the topic of abortion is really well written. It’s very clever in the way it is written as it’s telling the story backwards, something that must have been extremely challenging to do. It sends you as a reader in different directions and each chapter you have to remind yourself that the things you’ve just read haven’t happened yet. I’m not sure I feel that I’ve had the satisfaction of knowing what happens in each of the characters lives which is my only criticism and why I’ve given this a 7, but it is refreshing and a lot of work has clearly gone into writing this one. Thank you Jodi, will continue to read your books.

Loved thinking of the spirited debate this will stir among book clubs. Not a fan of the book’s structure, but each character was wonderfully written. Guessed both “twists” early on and being proven right was almost as good as experiencing a Picoult twist in the real time. Would have liked to hear from all characters in the final chapter. Ending felt incomplete.