I'm not ordinarily a huge fan of Picoult, but I really enjoyer this book and will highly and frequently recommend it to my customers! Thank you, NetGalley, for the advance copy!

Well done. A little bit too overwrought at times, but an excellent job or portraying very many challenging perspectives in a cohesive format.

I love Jodi Picoult books and I was excited to read this one, due to it's controversial subject matter. I find her more controversial works to be the best. Overall, it was a good read.I really liked how the book showed the different angles of the abortion debate. It showed the various reasons why people visit women's health clinics and what these women typically go through to get treatment. It was an enjoyable read and it was never dull or boring. Jodi Picoult showed all of the different angles of women's health issues while also painting an interesting and memorable picture to go along with it.

Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult
Book Review by Dawn Thomas

381 Pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books / Random House LLC
Release Date: October 2, 2018
ASIN: B07B73H2BX

Suspense, Women’s Sagas, Literary Fiction

All I can say is WOW. I stayed up all night to finish reading this book. Although this is a work of fiction, the events described in the book could happen in this political climate. It is a hostage situation at an abortion clinic in Mississippi. When Hugh the police negotiator arrives on the scene, he discovers his daughter Wren and his sister Bex are hostages. He should have removed himself from the case.

The book begins at 5pm and goes backwards in time for one day. The story is written in first person from different points of view. The story is fast paced, and the characters are well developed. The author did a fabulous job researching for this book especially the information on self-managed abortions. As the reader moves through the story, we learn a little bit more about each character. If you are pro-choice, you will appreciate this book.

I have always found Jodi Picoult to be hit or miss. Her books are typically what I consider "easy reads," in that they go quickly and don't require a huge mental load. After I had my son, and was up in the middle of the night, I needed something like that, and Jodi Picoult fit the bill.

That being said, this one was a miss for me, mostly because I didn't feel like reading a social commentary about abortion. She isn't preaching either pro-life or pro-choice, but it's just...a lot. I also didn't like reading it in reverse and knowing what happened first and then going back to find out how it happened. Just not a format I love.

I have not always been a Jodi Picoult fan. I read My Sister's Keeper years ago and then another one or two of her books before I decided that they all kind of felt like a cheap pull on emotion without enough substance to make the tears worth it. I have since just avoided her books. When I was given an opportunity to read A Spark of Light, I was hesitant but the synopsis was intriguing enough for me to give Picoult another chance.

Hugh is hostage negotiator called out to an active shooting at the last remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi. When he discovers his own fifteen-year-old daughter and her aunt are inside, he should hand his post over to someone without a conflict of interest. Instead he continues in his duties, determined to get her out alive. Inside, the shooter is George, a father heartbroken by the abortion his daughter sought at the Center, who seeks revenge for what he calls a murder factory.

Perhaps you have strong feelings one way or the other about the legality and moral correctness of abortion and perhaps you fear this book is meant to persuade you to a particular viewpoint, but not so. At least from my perspective, this book is fairly balanced and doesn't shy away from details or condemn any of the decisions made by the characters, excepting only those of the violent shooter. This is a book that will make you think about where you stand. One of my favorite things about reading fiction is the opportunity to experience someone else's life from their unique point of view. We may think we know what someone should do, the decisions they should make, but there is a whole story behind them we don't know. When we get to read that story, we learn to have more empathy for the people around us.

Laws are black and white. The lives of women are a thousand shades of gray.

The only thing I didn't love about this book was the way the story was told. It was backwards. The book begins at the end and then moves back in time in one hour increments. This is a great way to get to understand each person's backstory and motivations, but I kept wanting to know what would happen to them all at the end. We learn a little, but for me it was not enough. I appreciate what Picoult was trying to do, but for me it didn't work. Otherwise, this was a book I really enjoyed and found compelling.

Typical Jodi Piccoult excellence. I was intrigued from the beginning and it carried me through to the last page. Her characters are multi faceted and interesting. I couldn't put this book down.

Really good but not my favorite of her books. I did like it and thought the character development was good and found it to be enjoyable.

A Spark of Light was a page turner for me. Not only did I enjoy the characters, the plot was controversial but had you not siding one way or the other. I really didn’t want this book to end. Looking forward to her next book.

I always like her books. This one addresses what is going on inside of an abortion clinic when a gunman is inside. She tells the story from back to front, so you hear the story starting at (I think) 6:00 p.m. with a chapter, then the next chapter is 5:00 p.m., then 4:00, etc etc. I think starting that morning would have worked just fine.

Contemporary and timely novel set in reverse over a 24 hour timeframe, with each chapter being an hour of the day.
It’s a day in the life of the characters, as well as a terrifying examination of toxic masculinity taken to the extreme at one of the only abortion-provider clinics in urban Mississippi. The novel presents varying arguments through the viewpoints of characters. Well-written and well-researched, this thought-provoking novel is or more hard-hitting than most other contemporary mystery-thrillers. Read if you like: Kate Morton, Sally Hepworth, Kristin Hannah, Diane Chamberlain, Pairs well with Educated, The Great Alone, and The Book of Essie.

I can't say I'm a big fan of Jodi Picoult since, for me, a lot of books are rather hit or miss. "A Spark of Light" manages to be a bit of a soft hit for me. I didn't enjoy the way the story was told but I think I enjoyed piecing together what lead to the ending.

I am big Jodi Picoult fan and this book did not disappoint. The format was unusual in that you went back in time as the book progressed. It took away some of the intrigue since you started knowing the ending, but I did like piecing the events together as the story unfolded.

Wow! When I first started this book I had no idea what it was about. As I read further I realized what a controversial subject it really is. The opinions of people may have changed somewhat over time but it is a subject that I have heard discussions about for almost 50 years, since I was a teenager. I'm not sure that my opinions have changed since then, sometimes you just believe what you believe forever. I could relate to several of the characters. However, this book taught me things that I didn't know! I'm continually surprised by this author. Every book I have read by her has had an ending that was not at all what I expected. I will definitely recommend this book to everyone! It was an amazing book on the subject! Well researched!

Picoult is known for taking current, and often controversial, topics and examining through the eyes of complex and relatable characters. In 'A Spark of Light', she tackles the hot-button topic of abortion.

A gunman storms an abortion clinic in Mississippi, taking patients and doctors hostage. Picoult covers the topic abortion in quite a balanced and well-researched way, through the viewpoints of a variety of characters. There is the gunman, whose daughter recently had an abortion; a patient seeking contraception; a doctor who provides medical care for women; the hostage negotiator whose daughter is being held inside.

Although this is a worthy topic and the book well-researched and informative, I also found it rather slow-moving and boring at times. I didn't connect with the characters as much as I would have liked, and didn't find it as compelling as many other books by Picoult that I have read.

All the same, she remains an important author and this is a book worth reading, especially if this is a subject you find compelling.

I really liked this book! I was a little thrown off in the beginning because of the structure of it, but once I figured that out, I was hooked. I love Jodi's way of developing characters that you genuinely care about, even if you don't necessarily agree with their point of view. I also appreciate her way of taking a very controversial and divisive subject and bringing the human element into it. You can empathize with Jodi's characters and their situations, and that's something I've always loved about her as a writer.

This book is so controversial. I love that these issues are being brought out in public. Jodi Picoult is one of the best writers for being a voice for the public that needs to be heard.

I used to read all of Jodi's books but have not in ages so I was excited to try this on out based on the blurb. I will be honest and say I only got halfway thru. The book came across as very preachy which is a turn off for pro-choice people like me. It was also unnecessarily graphic which reminds me of the pro fetus nuts that are outside the clinics. Also the way the chapters and story line were put together just made it an all together weird read.

I have been a longtime fan of Jodi Picoult, but had a hard time making it through this recent release. It felt overly preachy to the point that I was drawn outside of the story and unable to lose myself in it. I had a hard time connecting with the characters or their motivations.

A comprehensive look at abortion in the day of a clinic in Mississippi where a shooting takes place. Both sides are presented through well drawn characters including a doctor, a nurse, a social worker, various patients and protesters. This didn't change my mind about where I personally stand on the issue but helped to see both sides. Well researched.

Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley