The Pact- By Jodi Picoult

Last night I had roughly 100 pages left. It was 4am in the morning and I decided to read. By 6am(with 5-10 minute break somewhere in there) I finally put down the book after reading the end.

First off. This is the first book I can remember that has captured both my attention, my emotions, and has left me hanging on the edge of my bed over 2 words I so desperately wanted to read.

The Pact is a novel by Jodie Picoult about 2 teenagers named Chris Harte and Emily Gold. They were in diapers together and they were childhood friends, and would later become lovers. Their parents were best friends, and they were almost family. When Emily's life begins to crumble... she begins to think more and more about suicide. Then on November 7th 1997, everything would change for Chris. Emily laid dying, Chris bleeding from the head with the Gun nearby. When asked what happened he tells the police that it was a Suicide Pact.
(yay for horrible summaries!)

The story is told as it alternates from the present to the past. The Present focuses mostly on the upcoming Trial, and how the Harte and Gold family try and survive what their teenagers had done. Melanie(Emily's Mother) believes Chris killed Emily. Michael(Emily's Dad) is conflicted on whether or not he wants to believe its Murder or if she was Suicide. Gus wants to recapture their friendship with the Golds and James is trying to forget and deny whats happening. All the while Chris tries to adjust to life in Jail waiting for his Trial.


The Pact takes on several issues: Incest, Selfishness of Suicide, and the Truth. To name a few.

Incest: While no actual incest happens. Emily is conflicted with this issue. She had grown up with Chris her whole life. They were like a brother and sister. The issue is also brought up when Gus and Michael reconnect months after Emily's death and almost becomes a romantic affair. Gus observes her conflicting feelings about having feelings for someone she might very well consider part of the family.

Selfishness of Suicide: At the time, I don't think many people who commit suicide realize how selfish it is. While they might be able to escape their pain, they leave behind friends and family confused, angry, and turns their lives into chaos. Wondering if there was anything they should have noticed. There is a particular scene in which this is mostly addressed. Chris is sitting in Jail and is thinking over something about that night. If she had loved him... why would she try and leave him with the pain, the guilt, the shame, that would come with this?

The Truth: Jordan McAfee is Chris's Defense Lawyer. He believes that the Truth has no part in a court room. Its to subjective. There is the Defenses's Truth and then there is the Prosecutors Truth. Each with their own side of what happened on that day. The Truth is subjective, it all depends on who is telling the story. Which perspective you take. There are many different sides to a story. I guess. *shrugs*

Now I loved all the characters(actually I hated the prosecutor. I wanted a Not Guilty verdict just to wipe the smug smile off her face) But I loved Emily's character and everytime I thought about how she was dead. I felt sorry for Chris. The Parents were interesting to watch as this tragedy unfolds. Jordan, who I first met in 19 Minutes, was fun to watch in the court room again.

Chris: The one character I can relate to the most would be him. Towards the end of the book he describes how he could take the pain. How he can endure 0 degree weather while hunting. How he can take the pain and hardship that is thrown his way and can deal with it. Its then he talks about Emily's pain. How he couldn't stand to see her in any pain at all. He also talks about how he would do anything for them. I don't think it was mentioned, but I believe that if Chris had a choice, he would have shouldered all of Emily's pain for her. Just to see her smile. This is more or less how I feel. When I love someone I put myself second to them. Nothing comes before their happyness. When they are hurting, I would gladly steal it away from them even if it meant suffering for it.

The writer. I suppose I should mention the writing.

Jodi Picoult really is a great writer. As I read her work(so far only The Pact and 19 Minutes) I can easily fall in love with her characters. They can be a student who goes on shooting rampage through a school... and I can still feel sorry for him. They are so real you could probably bump into them on the street.

The Ending.

The ending... *the lights go out and you hear a struggling sound and when the lights return you find my body laying in a puddle of blood* Damnit Phil!!!

You know. I really can't say much about the Ending. I do know as I was halfway through. I didn't want to finish it. This is different then the way I felt about 19 Minutes. I wanted to continue reading about these characters lives, that somehow a new page would appear as I finished one. In The Pact, I didn't want to know what the Jury would find him. I know that just about anything can happen in Jodi Picoult's writing. I also didn't want to find out what exactly happened on November 7th 1997. Anything could have happened and I wanted to just be ignorant.

Spoiler:

Anyways if you ever get a chance to read this book. Do it. Seriously. DO IT!!!

Now! If only I can find the botched movie adaptation!

I can't wait to read it! I've had a few people now tell me this was a great book, but I've got like 5 to read before I can justify buying anymore books

brown eyes sp wrote:I can't wait to read it! I've had a few people now tell me this was a great book, but I've got like 5 to read before I can justify buying anymore books

Holy crap someone decided to actually read this post!

You should definitely pick it up. Its an incredible story full of heart breaking moments(of couse thats to be expected by Jodi Picoult lol)

Unit7 wrote:

brown eyes sp wrote:I can't wait to read it! I've had a few people now tell me this was a great book, but I've got like 5 to read before I can justify buying anymore books

Holy crap someone decided to actually read this post!

You should definitely pick it up. Its an incredible story full of heart breaking moments(of couse thats to be expected by Jodi Picoult lol)

Haha so I've heard. I'm hopefully about to get a job at a bookstore, so I might be able to get it for cheaper.

i loveee Jodi Picoult.
she is an amazingggg writerr!
The Pact is one of my favs by her