Wish You Were Here A Novel

I enjoy the adventure that she’s on. I just don’t care to read through someone’s rehabilitation of Covid.

         I used to absolutely love Jodi Picoult.  I would blow through every book she wrote the day it was released.  After a while, however, I got a little burned out because her stories had always been so damn sad.  While there was an air of “happy,” the overall themes were always tragic.  I had to take a break (you know, to read some Stephen King, something more uplifting) from the endless sad in her books.  I’m sorry Jodi, I still love you though. 

            In 2022, I finally picked up a Picoult I hadn’t previously read, and I was floored.  While it contained a slight air of tragedy, the overall message ended up being pretty positive and the ending didn’t make me sad.  When this one rolled around on my TBR queue, I didn’t dread reading it like I might have prior to reading Mad Honey.  This book blew my mind.  It was a storyline I was absolutely not expecting, and I applaud Picoult for the shock value alone.  I REALLY hate giving spoilers, but I can’t really talk about this one without spoiling…so if you haven’t read it yet, stop reading this review immediately. 

            Diana ends up taking the trip of a lifetime entirely on her own, despite the plan having been to go with her boyfriend (and she was certain he was going to propose during this trip).  She left for the Galapagos in March of 2020, and in hindsight, we now are well aware that was likely the worst time to take a vacation.  The entire world went into seclusion that month, leaving travelers stranded around the globe.  Diana, of course, ends up stuck on a remote island with few people and little to no internet.  She wasn’t able to communicate with her boyfriend back home, so her only interactions were with the small number of people still on that island.  To nobody’s surprise, she ends up falling for the brooding man (and also his daughter and his mother, she loves them all). 

            Cut to the spoiler:  she never went to the Galapagos, she got covid and ended up in a coma.  Her trip existed only in her coma-fugue.  She beat the odds for covid patients on vents and managed to survive.  However, everything about her life changed because of the experience she had while in said coma.  Her relationship with her boyfriend unraveled, and she decided to go ahead and make the trip to the Galapagos in hopes of finding the connection she had in her dreams.  Another spoiler alert: it’s the last thing that happens in the book. 

            I kinda wish Picoult had gone in a different direction with Diana’s story, but I’m not the bestselling author…and I assume she’s pretty good at what she does.  This is a great “coming of age” tale, proving that “coming of age” doesn’t just happen when you’re a young adult.