Review: Sing You Home

Sing You Home: A Novel by Jodi Picoult

Summary (from Goodreads): Zoe Baxter has spent ten years trying to get pregnant, and after multiple miscarriages and infertility issues, it looks like her dream is about to come true – she is seven months pregnant. But a terrible turn of events leads to a nightmare – one that takes away the baby she has already fallen for; and breaks apart her marriage to Max. In the aftermath, she throws herself into her career as a music therapist – using music clinically to soothe burn victims in a hospital; to help Alzheimer’s patients connect with the present; to provide solace for hospice patients. When Vanessa – a guidance counselor – asks her to work with a suicidal teen, their relationship moves from business to friendship and then, to Zoe’s surprise, blossoms into love. When Zoe allows herself to start thinking of having a family, again, she remembers that there are still frozen embryos that were never used by herself and Max.

Meanwhile, Max has found peace at the bottom of a bottle – until he is redeemed by an evangelical church, whose charismatic pastor – Clive Lincoln – has vowed to fight the “homosexual agenda” that has threatened traditional family values in America. But this mission becomes personal for Max, when Zoe and her same-sex partner say they want permission to raise his unborn child.

My Thoughts: Jodi Picoult quickly became one of my favorite authors. I can’t remember exactly which book was the first of hers I’d read, as I remember a flurry of Picoult books being read in succession when I discovered her. She is a fabulous author, and her ability to get to the heart of controversial issues is amazing. This book reminded me of why I love her writing so much. Her ability to make the reader see past the issues and see the people instead is remarkable. Believe me, that is especially true with this book.

Full disclosure: I am a born-again Christian. Grew up in an evangelical-type church. Still hold fast to most of those beliefs. My Christianity is the very heart of who I am. I cannot be separated from it. I might have times of faith crisis or questioning some of the smaller points of my beliefs, but I still believe the main bits: That God is real, that the Bible is Truth, and that Jesus came – and died – to give us life. As such, this was a hard book to read. And not because of my beliefs in regards to the issues central to this book. Rather, it was because of the portrayal of the Christians in this book. The worst part about it is knowing that it’s not an altogether wrong portrayal. There are Christians like that out there. They tend to be the most vocal, the most visible. And they make the rest of us look bad. I liked that there were a couple of Christian characters that kinda balanced it out a little. And I loved what Liddy said about love. Jesus said to love our neighbors. He didn’t say love them 90 percent of the time. He said just to love them. (This is a paraphrasing.) I do wish that Picoult had more of the compassionate Christians in the book to help balance out the ones who showed no mercy or even love.

I do feel like this helped me further sort through my own opinions on the subject of gay rights. And while I will never believe that it’s OK, I do believe that gay people should be treated the same as anyone else. Sexual orientation shouldn’t determine anything other than who one loves. Gay people are no less deserving of acceptance than African-Americans, Muslims, or any other “minority” group in the country. Especially in the eye of the law, wherein “all men are created equal.” (And, of course, extending that to all women, as well.) In short: this book really helped me see the error of my own thought patterns, and how I needed to become more accepting. Thank God for His grace, as that’s the way it’ll come to pass.

While this book was fabulous and I found myself reading this in the span of a few hours (stop-and-go, thanks to the kiddos, of course), I didn’t feel it was Picoult’s best. To me, her best are Nineteen Minutes and Vanishing Acts. This didn’t pack quite the same punch as those did. I did like the way the courtroom stuff played out and how things played out. But, I want to know a few things. Namely, I wanna know more about what happened with Lucy after the trial. I also want to know about Max’s brother. Clearly things come to light, and I want to know how he copes and where he ends up. I also want to know about his relationship with Max. In short: too many unanswered questions for me. While the court part played out in a satisfying manner, everything else did not.

Finally, this book apparently comes with a CD, which was absent with the ARC I had. (This was a tour book that is shared amongst many, so it makes sense.) I would love to get my hands on a hard copy of this book simply to get a copy of the CD. I want to hear the songs that go with the different sections of the book. Although, my purpose for telling you I didn’t have access to the music was simply so you’d know why I didn’t review that component.

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Source: Received through Crazy Book Tours for review.

Read It: Sing You Home is scheduled for release on March 1, 2011. You can pre-order it HERE. (This is an Amazon link, and purchase through this link will result in my receiving a small commission. Your support is appreciated!)

Challenges: Counts for 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011.

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FTC Disclosure: All items reviewed were either obtained by me for my own enjoyment or sent (from the author, publisher, publicist, via tour sites, etc.) in exchange for an honest review. I receive no monetary compensation for my posts. All opinions expressed are my own.

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