Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult

        

Published: 2008

Publisher: Hodder

Format: Paperback

Page count: 417

I hadn't read a Jodi Picoult novel in forever so i decided to dive into vanishing acts. I usually find Jodi's novels really easy to get lost in but sadly this wasn't the case here.
I had read a few reviews on goodreads before starting. I usually try not to do this as I find it effects my experience too much. I'm glad I did though. I agree with every other review that says the Hopi element added nothing to the core story. Sometimes I feel like when Jodi find a new subject to obsess over she'll do anything to stick it into a novel regardless of whether it really fits or not.

There are quite a few characters in the story but I didn't have the same trouble others did at keeping up.


*Spoiler Warning** 
Delia was taken as a child. Now she helps others who are lost with her bloodhound Greta. The difference here is that she was kidnapped by her father in an effort to protect her from her alcoholic mother. I could reason with Andrew to an extent but I found the lack of concern for Delia's mother unnerving. Yes she made mistakes but her punishment was incredibly cruel. He just decided to declare himself judge, jury and executioner .
As the prosecution argued why couldn't Andrew have let her know that Delia was safe when she was 18? She couldn't have forced her to come back then as she would have legally been an adult 
*Spoiler Ends*

Unlike other readers I actually enjoyed the jail scenes. They added some life to the story. It would have been really dull otherwise. The events inside the prison, for me, just enforced the fact that Andrew had a dark that Delia never really knew of.

I found Eric (Delia's Fiance and her fathers lawyer) a bit daft at times. He never really made sense nor was he ever actually believable. I also think there was a missed opportunity for more tension between him and Delia over the facts of the trial

Unlike her other novels there is no big twist here. If you've read her other novels then you'll probably be able to guess the ending.

I found vanishing acts pretty underwhelming on the whole.

Rating:

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆