Poignant and heart stopping, A Spark of Light is one of Picoult's best. I couldn't put the book down until reaching the conclusion. I felt every emotion possible while reading this book!

I'm not sure this is aimed at your average Jodi Picoult fan for a couple of reasons - I generally don't enjoy her books but couldn't put this one down and I read a lot of disappointed reviews on Amazon. I thought it was intense and thought-provoking and particularly liked the reverse chronology of the narration. I'd definitely recommend it.

Powerful! As someone who has experienced one of the s enarios in the story it was personal. This was one of those books that I think everyone should read to understand the situations and emotions surrounding something so debatable. I don't want to say much so I don't give anything away.

A topic that is always heatedly debated, abortion. Jodi Picoult has never left a social melee open, and this book is no different. The thing about this book, is it gives not just 3 distinct perspectives like her previous book, but it encourages all perspectives, including all uses for women's health clinics. It provides all stories of people that encounter it, from the patients to the doctors to the gunman who is determined to splay his anger in bullets. Jodi's side is clearly defined on the side of pro-choice, but she is equitable to all sides which is appreciated and opens up a clean dialogue when used in a book club. A great book. And for those readers out there, just know that the timeline of the book goes backwards. It helps to know that up front.

This book was hard to read because of its subject matter, but it was also a fantastic book. Picoult always knows how to pull at my heartstrings. It's a difficult but important book about gun control and women's rights. There's so much packed into this book. This would be a fantastic book club pick because I'm sure the discussion would be endlessly fascinating.

I read this book ages ago, but Jodi Picoult took another hot button issue and blended it with her on-brand storylines. A great follow-up to Small Great Things. When Picoult writes and emerges hot button topics like this with her natural style, it always turns out to be well developed and intriguing. I have a whole bunch of her other books on TBR list, so this is a reminder to myself that I am ready to tackle those!

2.5 stars
Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Ballantine for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This one was a big disappointment for me, I love Jodi Picoult and her books, but this book just didn't deliver. I didn't care for the structure of the story and it ended so abruptly leaving me with a lot of questions. There were too many characters and because of that I didn't really connect with any of them. This had the potential to be an interesting story but ultimately just fell flat for me.

My first Jodi Picoult book did not disappoint!
Hello there, my name is Kristin, and I’m probably the last person on earth to learn that Jodi Picoult is a great author. I’ve heard about all of her books but hadn’t gotten around to them. That said, A Spark of Light was the perfect first read from Picoult. Surrounding the mighty controversial topic of all time, abortion.

A Spark of Light is the telling of many different facets of abortion.
Following the discovery of his seventeen year old daughter’s abortion, a father seeks retribution by gunning down the lone abortion clinic in Mississippi. We begin inside the hostage situation at the clinic. People have been hurt, SWAT wants to head inside and take over, and the hostage negotiator is holding them back. Thus, Jodi Picoult has started us at the end, and with each following chapter takes us to the beginning.

Each chapter is the previous hour from the chapter we’ve read. In each chapter we go deeper into the thoughts and memories of every complex character. A pregnant nurse, a freshman girl seeking birth control, a “pro-lifer” undercover, a woman who just had an abortion and the doctor who performed it, and several more. Everyone had a secret or some kind of obstacle in their life which wouldn’t be fair for anyone to endure. Even the gunman has a backstory that makes you want to sympathize, if for only a moment.

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This side, or that side …
As Picoult mentions in this book (in much better words) the stakes are too high for this issue to truly end. There will always be the pro-life and pro-choice camps. I didn’t feel that A Spark of Light was pushing too hard to persuade the reader in either direction. The book presents several viewpoints of abortion. Each woman who sought an abortion in this book had such different socioeconomic backgrounds. The doctor is a man of color who sees personally how race plays into the issue of abortion. In each of these narratives, I found myself surprised and considered these different ideas in comparison to my own.

When “every life matters” means protecting the rights of embryos, who is protecting the rights of women?
A Spark of Light was a very powerful book full of ideas that are so relevant and applicable to real life. The stories of these women are much like those of women we know. The women that we are. The story truly digs deeper into the depth of humanity. All of us are flawed human beings just trying to do better each day.

Jodi Picoult has taken a brave and bold step as an author.
I suppose it’s possible that Picoult has written other controversial books; however, anytime a public figure breaches such a controversial topic they stand to lose some fans. Picoult is very clear in cataloging how she researched for this book. I applaud her for sharing science based information. I thank her for taking what must have been a lot of time interviewing people on both sides of abortion. Hopefully all of her fans appreciate her effort to open our eyes to the varying lives affected by one deeply personal topic. Even if A Spark of Light doesn’t move the reader to a different stance on abortion, the content is moving enough to help the reader feel a little more empathy for their opposite.

I usually like this author but this book sucked. There wasn't one person in the book that I liked, the book went in reverse of events (totally stupid), white men are awful, people who want abortions are evil, people who don't want abortions are evil, omg it was awful.

The structure of this was amazing, I don’t know how else to describe her writing other than to say it’s beautiful and even poetic at times and she’s writing about this god awful tragedy and still hope and beauty shines through.

I received this e-book ARC of A Spark of Light through Net Galley from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine in exchange for a truthful review.

The novel focuses on a hostage situation in a reproductive health clinic in Mississippi and the abortion debate is viewed for multiple angles.

This novel is unique in that it tells most of the plot going backwards in time, except for the epilogue which closes out the story. At first, I thought this device would give away the story, but in fact so much is revealed as the day progresses backwards and it works and surprises do occur.

I wished the epilogue would have discussed more about what happened to some of the characters, Beth in particular.

I very much want to read this book. The premise sounds amazing, I've heard amazing heartwarming and emotion reviews. However, every time I go to start it I can't get through the first 20 pages. I believe this is a book I need to let sit for a while and come back to when I'm in the right mental states. This is a book you truly need to be able to reflect on and think about. Hopefully, one day I get myself to read it fully because I believe the topic is very relevant to women today.

A three and a half star book. I love a good Jodi Picoult, but this not one of her best. Still a decent book, just not one of the best.

I’ve been an avid Picoult reader from the beginning, entranced as she takes the most current societal challenges and turns them into compelling fiction. In her newest, staff and patients are taken hostage in an abortion clinic, and in a creative time bend, the story unfolds backward, with happenings revealed from the perspective of a nurse, a doctor, a pro-life protestor, the hostage taker, the police negotiator and his young daughter — a patient there unbeknownst to him. Gripping from first to last in trademark Picoult fashion. 5/5

Pub Date 02 Oct 2018.

Thanks to the author, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#AsparkOfLight #NetGalley

Jodi Picoult does not shy away from controversy, and in A Spark of Light, she tackles the difficult subject of abortion. This book begins at a pivotal point when a man enters a women's health clinic, shoots several and takes hostages. From there Ms Picoult takes us back to daybreak and shows us the story of the people involved and how they ended up in or around the clinic. That technique worked well for me. It gave me a chance to see each character as an individual, to know that they were more than just that pivotal moment. Her characters are layered and complex, some based on actual people she encountered during her research. I think that the thing I appreciate most about a Picoult novel is how thoroughly she puts a face on all sides of a subject. I must say that though graphic, the abortion process described was respectful and informative. This book is definitely timely, most definitely polarizing, but anything that encourages contemplation or dialogue is important. A Spark of Light might make a very volatile book discussion selection.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

Picoult does it again -- yet another heart-wrenching, dramatic, well-researched title by the queen of the drama. It was quite the emotional ride filled with suspense, secrets, and love, and written in reverse, which is a relatively new concept for this reader. It does take some getting use to... This one was perfect for our book club, though -- we definitely had plenty to talk about! Picoult's latest also is incredibly timely, focusing on women's rights, reproductive health, the right to choose, and how actions have lasting impacts and a ripple effect people don't see coming. I highly recommend reading this title with a box of tissues and a friend.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the free e-copy of this novel. I ended up reading it via audiobook, so my review is for that format alone.

This book fell a bit flat for me. It broached a sensitive subject, and one that I am definitely interested in, at such a perfect time. That being said, it felt like the sensitive topics of abortion and active shooter situations were manipulated a bit by using the multiple POVs and reversing timeline to make a more "interesting" read. This bothered me a bit. I personally feel there was adequate suspense without the need to work backward through the narrative.

I found the beginning of the book a bit confusing. Who were these characters? Where are they? Why are they there? How do they connect? Picoult slowly lets the reader know more about each character so that by the end (beginning) we have the whole story. That being said, this really felt like a novel that was written in chronological order and then was last minute put backwards. I'm sure it wasn't, but I felt like there was information that the reader needed to connect with the characters and it wasn't given until too late for me to care. Personally, this didn't work very well.

The book touched on such heated topics as abortion and active shooting, but I found myself bored at times. Maybe that is because I didn't connect to Hugh or to George at ALL. These men did not feel real to me and I just had trouble caring what happened to either. I wish more focus had been placed on the female cast.

I'm guessing this could be a pretty polarizing book. It has a lot of trigger warnings. It deals with two sensitive subjects. I found some of the abortion descriptions a bit unsettling and I rarely have issues with these topics. Just my thoughts. Overall, it felt well researched and told a unique story. Just not the best fit for me as a reader I guess!

A difficult-to-read novel about a man who takes hostages in an abortion clinic - and what happens when the hostage negotiator's daughter is inside.

I always have to approach Picoult's books knowing that they will require a lot of thinking. In a way, her books read like non-fiction. Picoult always takes controversial topics and puts great characters in the middle of them. Her characters always seem very relatable. This book is told in reverse chronological order, which is odd, but works well for this story. The story centers on a gunman opening fire in a Mississippi abortion clinic who takes doctors and patients hostage. I found this book to be more informative, rather than a story. I was looking for more to keep me turning the pages. Very well researched, just needed more in the story.

I loved this book and it sheds light on what goes on in the minds and thoughts of people during a trauma.