Customer Reviews

The Tenth Circle

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(68)
3 star:		(88)
2 star:		(62)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

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.

With each book she writes, Jodi Picoult comes down a level in terms of quality. Rather than narrowing the scope and developing it well, this novel is a pinball machine of ideas, people and issues that never come together. I kept holding out for an ending that would redeem the rest of the story but was disappointed till the final word.

The plot of this page-turner is worthy of 5 stars.

Summary, no spoilers: Trixie, 14 years old, is despondent because her boyfriend Jason broke up with her. Thinking she can win him back, Trixie lies to her parents and goes to a party with her best friend, hoping she will see him there.

Picoult does a wonderful job of explaining the party life for teenagers today, and it is upsetting. We learn the concepts of "hooking up" and "friends with benefits." Woman's lib has taken a big step backwards.

Trixie drinks at the party, is involved in a game of strip poker, and engages in some sexual activity with one guy. Then she sees Jason.

The next thing we know is Trixie is accusing Jason of rape.

The conversations between the DA and the detective are terrific, as the DA explains the problems with even attempting to file rape charges under these circumstances.

The problem, and I cannot say more than this without giving way a spoiler, is that Picoult later has the authorities behave illogically, in order to proceed with the story.

The chapters involving Trixie were provocative and interesting. Picoult does an excellent job of making us feel empathy and sympathy for both Trixie and Jason. I was much less interested in reading about her parents, and found some of their story and actions less believable and reading more like filler.

Still, recommended, especially for book clubs. Boy is there a lot to talk about.

I haven't read a Picoult book in a while because her formula was bothering me but I saw this in the airport and decided it would be a easy yet entertaining read for the tedious 3 hour journey.

It was entertaining to the extent that I finished it. Unfortunately - it was still formulaic and completely predictable.

Elements that I liked:
- Rape is very rarely easy to sort out and date rape cases involving drugs, ex-boyfriends and alcohol are especially difficult. The confusion and obfuscation that Picoult writes (whether that was her intention or just poor writing) surrounding the issue can be representative of an actual rape.

- Teenagers are notoriously melodramatic and self pitying and Trixie, though a little over the top, seemed like a typical teenager... the reaction of other students at her school to the rape and Trixie also seem plausible.

- I liked the graphic novel. The melodramatic aspects are typical of the genre and it was a great way to try and illustrate Daniel. The hidden word bit - hokey.

- I liked learning about the native cultures in Alaska. I would like to read a whole book that takes place there and explores the themes though maybe not by Picoult.

- I liked the idiot's guide to Dante that was incorporated into the book.

Things I didn't like:
- Picoult tries to incorporate too much into this book and thus wasn't able to fully develop it all. Though I liked the native Alaskan bit, it was too jumbled and it didn't really add to the plot. Like another reviewer I wasn't left with the impression that Daniel's haunted past resurfaced. I was expecting a lot more. Murder? That's too much to add to this already overburdened plot.

We lose threads here and there like Daniel's career and the wife's affair - he just disappears after his admission. Cutting is a very real phenomena for many young women and Jodi doesn't explain or develop it.

I don't know that it was at all believable. Could the myopic Trixie have had the wherewithal to make it to Alaska when she could barely see beyond her own break-up and tried to commit suicide multiple times?

The cop, the DNA analyst, the lawyers, the parents, the twist - I've seen them all before in Jodi's other books... it's part of her formula.

I wonder what would happen if Jodi spent maybe three or four years researching a novel and devoting time to its plot. She could excel in character development and careful analysis of difficult topics. I feel like this novel writing machine is doing herself, her readers and literature a disservice.

I just finished reading The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult. This novel is supposed to be a metaphorical journey through Dante's inferno and which culminates in a battle in the ice depths of "hell," which, interestingly enough, is Alaska in this novel.

Trixie is the main character - she is a 14 year old junior high school student whose heart has just recently been broken when her older boyfriend, Jason, decides to break up with her. At home, her father Daniel turns a blind eye to the pain that Trixie is in, even though she has begun self-mutilating herself in the girls' room, as well as the affair that his wife is having with a younger man that is also her T.A. in the classes that she teaches at the local college. However, at a friend's party, Trixie allegedly gets raped and this forces the family to confront not only Trixie's emotional and physical fallout from the rape but also their own issues and the fallout from those issues.

There were some weaknesses in this novel - the story was really twisted and confusing in parts. It was hard to follow. Did a rape happen or not? Maybe that was part of Picoult's plan - to keep us guessing. The way that it played out was more unbelievable than anything - in the real world, a case like this may have been withdrawn completely or changed to something other than a rape case.

I loved seeing how the characters morphed and developed over the span of 400 pages. I also loved the comic inserts. I felt that they really helped me understand Daniel Stone and how he viewed himself and his role as Trixie's father.

By the time that the stroy line got to Alaska, I wsa hoping that the novel would end quite frankly. I felt like it was an over the top tale in parts and I was happy when it ended.

At first, as I was reading the book, I wasn't sure I'd like it. The confusing background of Daniel, and the seemingly nonchalant affair that his wife was having; it really threw me off. I was hoping for something, and I got it. Trixie. She was a brilliant character in the book, and although I constantly questioned her throughout it, she was one of the only characters that actually felt real. The plot was great, with a few twists, like the rest of Picoults novels, but otherwise, haunting. I wasn't sure about one part in the book, where we find out what really happened. I think (out of the three that I've read), Jodi Picoult's books have a weak beginning, an awesome middle, and an out-of-left-field ending. This one follows the mold. I do love her books, or I wouldn't want to read all of them, but it might take you a little while to really get into the story, or even after you've read it, it might be a while before you decide if you liked it or not. The plus-side of this book is the comic book/graphic novel within the pages, I thought that was really neat and tied in well with the story's plot.

I have read everything that Jodi Picoult has written and have loved many of them and felt sorry that a tree was killed to print others. This book falls into the latter category. First I do have trouble relating to characters with names like Trixie, Dutch and Zephyr. But more importantly the story seesaws back and forth so rapidly not only between characters but between the present and the past that is hard to know who you are reading about and if it their present or their past! And finally you simply begin to not care. And the comic book insets did nothing to enhance the story line as far as I can see.
Hard to believe this book was written by the same person as Second Glance and Salems Falls. Save your money.

I've always been captivated by Jodi Picoult's writing style and by the unique stories that are present in her books. I was very excited about the Tenth Circle. However, once I began reading it, I realized that this book had fallen short of Jodi's previous books.

I found the comic book distracting and its presence took away from the overall story.

I still admire Jodi and her writing, but I feel this book was not one of her best.

I liked it. I wanted to love it. Having just been introduced to her this past summer with 'My Sister's Keeper' I couldn't wait to get my hands on this. The idea that a graphic novel was incorporated into the narrative made it even more fascinating to me. It's a great device, especially at the start of the novel but one that like the book itself petered out by the end.
Jodi Picoult writes great characters with the most raw and naked display of emotions your going to find in contemporary literature. Yet in this for some reason it left me disconnected. The police detective investigating the rape which is the centerpiece of action in the book has a very underdeveloped backstory which I kept thinking was going to inform his actions more. Additionally the ending was of little surprise to me, and in fact seemed telegraphed two thirds of the way through the book. That's not to say I ultimately didn't like the book, and believe me, there's plenty to like. I just had high expectations and was left a bit cold.

I have read every one of Picoult's books, and in all honesty, I've enjoyed them all on some level. They allow me to get away from my more serious reading without guilt as they always have some research behind them, and I learn something while having fun.

Picoult made an ambitious effort on this one, and there are parts of it I absolutely loved. I read Dante in college, and found the storyline and even the interwoven graphic novel intriguing. I found the father/daughter relationship moving, and I could feel for both of them . . UNTIL.

The last section of the book makes a bad move. I have had a group of high school students read the book (one of the two characters is a teen accusing someone of date rape), and they all agreed in writing without knowing what each other or I thought on this point. This traumatized girl who runs from her old life to hide from the world by fleeing to Alaska decides almost immediately to get naked with a strange man to stay warm. This whole relationship is underdeveloped and really ruined the book for me.

This had a fantastic concept, and some great characters, but it just didn't work in the end part.