The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

This book was a little disturbing to me. It's about a girl who gets raped (or did she?) and the effects it has on her and her family. I really like Jodi Picoult's writing - she has a way of digging deep and bringing out the best and the worst of her characters. I always hesitate to recommend her books because, while very gripping and discussion worthy, there is usually some material that might be objectionable to some. Of the four Jodi Picoult novels I've read, this one was my least favorite. I found a review that expresses my sentiments exactly:

March 24, 2006
Reviewer: K. Corn "reviewer" (Indianapolis,, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
There is so much I love about Jodi Picoult's writing and I always look forward to each new book of hers. I was intrigued that this one combined traditional writing with parts that were portrayed in comic book form (she got an actual professional comic book artist to do the drawings and they are nicely done.

However, I found the story to be very convuluted and the premise (was a young girl raped? Or not?) to be unbelievable in the way it played out, taking the whole thing to court. The case was far from clear cut and there were all sorts of potentially incriminating circumstances (at least, from a jury's point of view).

Picoult's greatest strength is her ability to glean insights about human behavior and the darkest, most hidden parts of people...and then bring them to light. In that regard, she doesn't disappoint this time around. I was intrigued by each character, from Daniel, a man who spent a great deal of his life in Alaska and had a dark, troubled past...to his wife, Laura, a woman who'd been drawn to the rebel spirit in Daniel and then grew disappointed when he became more conventional.

At the heart of the book is Trixie Stone, the 14 year old daughter of Daniel and Laura, a teen who may or may not have been raped by her ex-boyfriend. I believe Picoult skillfully portrayed all the emotional highs and lows of today's 14 year old girls, half women, half girls...and growing up far too fast. I felt for Trixie and parts of the book were almost too painful to read as her heartbreak and pain shone through so clearly.

Where the book failed me was in the plot which veered and teetered close to soap opera material. There were just too many "over the top" moments and that's when I started to lose interest. I found myself saying, "Oh, come on!" with each moment of high drama, from suicide attempts to screaming at a funeral. There were far more moments like that and I didn't find them believable. I couldn't help contrasting this with other of Picoult's books (Her Sister's Keeper, for instance), books which stayed much more true to form.

While I always finish Picoult's books (for, even at her worst, she is very, very good in fleshing out characters and gleaning insights about human behavior) I was hoping that she'd create a tale that seemed believable in both tone and plot.

This one did not. Still, she gets kudos for taking risks, for combining comic book form with straight narrative and for making comparisons to Dante's Inferno in much of the situations. This time, however, she just couldn't seem to pull all the various parts together...but she came very, very close.

I'll be looking forward to her next book, just as I have so many others of hers.