WOW! I absolutely loved this book! I enjoyed the character development and Jodi Picoult's twisty, turny storytelling. I was hooked right from the beginning and then after a certain point I just couldn't put it down and had to finish the whole book right then and there! I would highly recommend this one!

I loved this book. The theme was COVID, which as everyone knows, is still so timely. It had some perspective from a main character who was a hospital physician/surgeon. As much as we heard so many first-hand-tellings on the news of individual experiences working on the front lines, this was still so jarring and honest. Classic Jodi with a twist I never saw coming! When I read the twist, I literally paged back about 3 pages and reread them to make sure I hadn't missed an "Easter egg" and I most certainly had not. It took me by surprise, but set up the second half of the book so well. This book sort of addresses or considers the idea of are we really where we are intended to be and what happens when life disrupts plans... Jodi is one of my favorites and I always look forward to her books! Thanks Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

LOVED. This was so good and the twist? OMG. Didn't see it coming. Jodi Picoult never disappoints. I wish there would have been a bit more after the twist but it was so satisfying.

Jodi Picoult always delivers and this book is no different. I thought it might be too soon for a book that deals with COVID but turns out it was just what I needed. When I say I gasped at the twist, I am not exaggerating. It has been a long time since a twist in a book took me by such surprise. Really incredible story, so well written and I think most all readers would enjoy.

“It’s not having the adventures or crossing off the line items of the bucket list. It’s who you’re with, who will help you recall it when your memory fails.”

I’ll keep this review short and sweet. I absolutely loved this book! It was such an emotional read for me, which I was not expecting. I didn’t want it to end and yet couldn’t put it down! I loved it!

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Wish You were Here Book Review- or what the pandemic taught us
by tatabau
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult


Goodreads blurb: Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world. She’s not engaged just yet, but she knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galápagos—days before her thirtieth birthday. Right on time. But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It’s all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. You should still go, he assures her, since it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes.

Almost immediately, Diana’s dream vacation goes awry. The whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone. Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father’s suspicion of outsiders. Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself—and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different.

My take: This was a 5 stars reads. It was so good I'm doing a full blog post about it because this book needs a lot of discussion. First, in terms of the story, but also its implications as to how to navigate the world we are living in, the experiences we just had and how to look as a post pandemic world. This book is not easy to read. I started it 5 months ago, because I got an ARC for review, and went 8% and decided to drop it. It was too much. A woman alone in an island in the pandemic? i was still in pandemic blur I think and needed escapism in my reading. So i let it go. Then, plenty of bookstagramers were recommending it. Not only recommending it but singing its praises, so I decided to give it one more go this month and see if i would get more than 8% more in. And boy did I ever.

I couldn't put it down. It kept getting better and better. From the action, to the psychology of it all, I was 100% in. Also there was so much character development and questioning that you can feel you are going through their aha moments with them. And I do love me an aha moment. And the twists, they were so good! i don't want any spoilers here, but when you do read it please let me know, I need to talk to people about it. That is all I'm saying here, just this book is so much more than what you expect and I am here for all of it.

The beauty of the book is more the questions it poses, rather than those it answers. When life changes, when you are forced to revaluate a lot of things, how does one go back? should one go back? what does it mean to go forward after a big life change. Also what should we be striving for? Are we working towards achievement or happiness. We tend to join those two together an they are quite different things. I think i was one of the people who felt they were interconnected and life has thought me that its really not. They can coexist if the right paths are taken but one can have them individually . I've had a lot of negative reactions to many an article and conversation to going back to pre pandemic times and back to the old normal - but should we do that? should we go back to our old normal or create better and new normals? As many a negative thing this pandemic has brought us, There have been some positive shifts in paradigms, what we can do and our own personal understanding. From how we handle our time and our flexibility ( i am loving my partial work from home flexibility) to how we handle our health care. How we spend our free time, and who we spend our free time with. And what is most important to us. This books questions a lot of this, what we want to truly be and how can we emerge from really dark times into a better version of ourselves (and of course I love this topic and can talk endlessly about it).

So the conclusion is, if it is not too triggering for you right now, go and read this book! if it might be, save the name and read it down the line as a way to reminisce on these times and what we have been going through as a society.

Final note lighter note, i absolutely adored the Toulouse Lautrec painting storyline (which is a total sideline of the book but I loved it!) . Even if it was fictional (and as a lover of a good piece of impressionist art and historical fiction I really wished it was true) how amazing would it be that a piece of art was connected to to some of the biggest love stories of our time? I think that could be a book all onto itself.

I was a little apprehensive reading a book about Covid, especially with a husband in medicine, but overall it was done really well. The big twist in the middle really threw me, and I'm not sure I loved the ending, but it was written beautifully and took me back to those first few weeks of Covid.

Diana has always known what she wants in life. But, when a global pandemic hits the country while Diana is planning a getaway with her resident boyfriend, Diana has to choose to travel alone. Once she is there though, she realizes she's trapped on an island for longer than anticipated due to travel restrictions. The time away makes Diana question where she is in her life. And when she returns to New York, she questions even more.

The plot twist in this was completely unexpected! I haven't read Jodi Picoult in a while and this one was much different from her other novels. I liked that it was all from Diana's perspective and didn't alternate characters like many of the others.

#bookreview #bookreviewer #adultfiction #JodiPicoult #WishYouWereHere #NetGalley #covid19 #pandemicfiction #worldpandemic #islandvacation #newyorkcity

I enjoy Jodi Picoult novels and Wish You Were Here was no exception. I have to admit I didn't read the summary so was quite shocked by the mid-story twist and the direction it took me as a reader. I was emotionally ready to read a story that unpacks the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and was interested in how different it looked in New York City versus where I live the suburbs of a southeastern metropolitan area. Diana's journey and subsequent epiphany were well conceived and written, but for me almost secondary to the settings and plot twist. Picoult is such a talented writer. I am already looking forward to her next story. Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to preview #WishYouWereHere by Jodi Picoult. I really enjoyed it!

Trigger Warning: Wish You Were Here is about the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and involves isolation, illness, and hospitalization, so I would not read this book if this topic is sensitive to you as a reader.



Diana O'Toole knows that her life will turn out as planned: she is (almost) engaged and climbing the professional ladder at Sotheby's, a prestigious art broker company. While Diana isn't engaged just yet, she knows her boyfriend, Finn, will propose on their trip to the Galápagos. Diana has been her Finn's biggest supporter as he goes through his surgery residency program at a New York City hospital, and now that he's almost done with it, she's ready to take their relationship to the next level. Just as the two are getting ready to vacation, COVID-19 cases begin popping up in New York. Finn is concerned about this new, unknown virus, whereas Diana doesn't think it is going to be a huge deal. When Finn's hospital says that all hands need to be on deck, Finn tells Diana that he can't go to the Galápagos, but encourages her to go as the trip is nonrefundable and one of them should enjoy it. Reluctant to leave Finn behind, Diana decides that if Finn supports her, she should go. Almost immediately, Diana's trip is derailed when the Islands go into quarantine thus leaving Diana trapped on an island where she doesn't speak the language and amenities, such as WiFi and a hotel to stay at, are not available. Completely isolated and detached from her life in New York, Diana begins to question her life's purpose, including her relationship, choices, and career.


I can't think of another book I've read in the last year that has resonated with me so deeply as Wish You Were Here did. Starting days before the world shut down, Wish You Were Here brings readers back to the onset of anxiety yet misplaced hopefulness before taking a deep-dive into the fear, crushing grief, and loneliness so many people felt during 2020. I think the presentation of the book is beautifully done as I could actually feel myself living Diana's situation and emotions. For context, in 2020, I was close in age to Diana, in a similar place career-wise, questioned my relationship, lived in a major city (Chicago), and was furloughed and alone for a majority of the year, so her character and development was one I could connect with and relate to. Outside of enjoying Diana, I loved what Jodi Picoult did with the story because it gave the book a sense of realism. Without giving too much away, the book takes an extreme turn about halfway through that actually made me want to throw my Kindle across the room (I didn't, but I was absolutely tempted haha). However, once I got over my initial shock, Wish You Were Here had me heartbroken with each page putting my heart back together until it was full at the end. I think if you're ready to read a book set in 2020, I would highly recommend Wish You Were Here. However, I don't think this book is for everyone because it is intense and covers such a broad spectrum of human emotion during the pandemic, so it could be tough to read.


4.5/5

This was not what I expected, and it almost feels like two separate books. It went in a direction I wasn’t expecting and that made it all the more interesting for me. I would definitely recommend it. I have not read a lot of books by Jodi Picoult, so I am not sure if regular readers will be anticipating a twist.

Without giving away any details, it is a book that takes into account the Covid pandemic and human resilience. The research of both Covid (especially when it first broke out) and the Galapagos (definitely on my bucket list) is incredibly detailed and interesting.

I read this in audiobook format. I love Marin Ireland as a narrator, and thought she captured the voices and emotions really well.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As usual, Jodi Picoult has done it again. Fantastic writer, fantastic book. If you're a Picoult fan, this should definitely go right at the top of your list.

I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.

By the time I read this book, I had heard a lot of hype about it. It has been highlighted by many on Instagram and been the subject of some book clubs. I wish I had read this earlier, because it simply did not live up to the hype for me.

I think it’s important not to spoil the plot in this review. I will say I found it a bit disjointed, and I had a hard time sympathizing with Diana or understanding her romantic relationships. I do think one great storyline was her relationship with her mother. In a stark contrast to most books, I liked the ending more than most of the book and thought it tied things together well.

I think this book was “good” but not great.

Wow!!! First I’d like today thank you, to Ballantine Books and Jodi Picoult for providing this ARC book.

Back to the WOW. I stayed up half the night to finish this book. It had me hooked from the getgo. At first glance I thought maybe I was still too raw because we are still in a pandemic 2 years later but this book gave such grace, class, and honors to our front line workers. It was the first book I’ve read that spoke of covid in the present state. I was blown away. I will refrain from going too in depth in the book as to not give it away but you truly can not stop reading.

Thank you, this one will stick with me a long time.

To me, this book unfortunately did not live up to my expectations. While I appreciated the Covid connection, I felt like the book lacked character development and therefore it made it hard for me to connect with the characters.

It's hard for me to properly review Wish You Were Here without giving away much of the story. I will say that I really liked this book despite not really 'liking' the main character, Diana, which says a lot about the rest of the story. I'm also not sure 'enjoyed' is the right word either for my reading experience, as it's such a weird thing to be fully living now during the pandemic that Picoult centers this book around. I didn't find the first half of the book as slow as others who've read it, but things really amped up a bit halfway through with a twist I didn't see coming. The second half of the book is really what carries my high rating. I also want to note that I'd only recommend this book if you're prepared and emotionally ready to read about the early days of Covid and the experiences of both healthcare providers and patients.

I had mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed parts of it, I loved the alternate life concept. I guess it is a little soon to “love” a story based on the Pandemic. I have the utmost respect for this author and love all of her books - this was just my personal opinion. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wish You Were Here is about Diana, who is ideally on track with her plans. She also knows that her boyfriend, Finn, is about to propose on their romantic trip to Galapagos, but then he backs out at the last minute. Although she's disappointed to be alone on her trip, Diana decides to travel anyway. When she arrives, the island is under lockdown, and hotels are shut down due to the pandemic, but a kind lady, "Abuela" lets Diana stay in the apartment attached to her house. As she begins to meet the locals and becomes entangled in a family drama, Diana starts to question her pre-planned life and her future once the pandemic is over.

Then, with an extraordinary twist, Jodi Picoult changed the course of the entire story, and I was absolutely blown away. Wish You Were Here is a fantastic book that I would definitely recommend. With an actual topic, relatable characters, and a unique writing style, this novel is a must-read for Jodi Picoult fans and a great place to start if you're curious about her.

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult was a fantastic book that was full of surprises. I did not know what I was getting into when I started the book. First, I loved all the characters and how relatable all of the characters were. Jodi Picoult just has a way of developing her characters that make you feel like you are right there with them as the story progresses. I also really enjoyed the description of the Galapagos and I felt like I was right there with Diana exploring the island. This book had a super shocking twist that I thoroughly enjoyed. Overall, if you are a fan of traveling, twists, and character-driven plots I would recommend this book. It is important to note that this book is centered around COVID-19 and all of the heavy feelings that come along with it. If you aren't ready to read about COVID-19 just yet, I would put this book on the shelf until you are. Thank you to Penguin Random House publishing for giving me an e-book copy in exchange for an honest review.

I haven’t read a novel this engrossing in such a long time. From beginning to end, Wish You Were Here is an absolute gem of a novel.