4.5
Always thought provoking, Jodi Picoult’s books explore relatable and current issues. This was an interesting book - I don’t want to give any spoilers - but there are some unexpected shifts in this story. Picoult’s writing draws in the reader with vivid and realistic characters and scenes. This was a very apropos read, given how recent quarantine was for all of us, and for how much Covid is still a part of our lives today.

I read this book on a recent flight, it had me engaged the entire time! Jodi provides a thought provoking book as usual. I will be recommending this to all patrons who walk in the door. I found myself rooting for Diana and Finn's story. So pleased with the ending!

I was not sure how I would feel about this book since it was about Covid. This is my first book by Jodi Picoult and it is very well written on a very difficult subject. I think I would have enjoyed it more in a couple of years since we lost family members to covid last year.

That said, Wish You Were Here is a very moving book and it makes you think about life.

Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is actually the first book I read by Picoult and I ended up loving it. I went into it not having read the synopsis, and judging from the cover of the book, it was not what I expected! COVID is reaching New York city and Diane's boyfriend announces he has to stay behind and work the front line. He encourages her to still head to the Galapagos without her. When she arrives, she ends up stranded on the island.

This ended up being a beautiful story and a reminder to always examine relationships, choices, and ensure you are doing things for you.

I may very well be the only reader of this book that feels this way but I truly disliked this latest effort by Picoult. Perhaps anyone who might feel as I do wouldn't have bothered reading it n the first place. Yes, it felt rushed and ill-formed. Leveraging Covid and all the drama that goes with it felt cheap and greedy. The twist is a ludicrous concept and felt like a sugar rush with no substance. Finally, though Picoult may have her own belief system based on personal experiences regarding Covid, none of what she believes is anymore than just that, unsubstantiated belief. Nothing about her novel rings true or accurate. It's a lot of sensationalism and this might just be the last from this author I read. Frankly, the parting of ways is well-timed. This author has shown herself to have little depth and maturity.

I was unsure about this book, as I knew reading about the Covid-19 Pandemic, while still living in it, would not be easy. And I was correct, it was not easy to read, but I also thought it was incredibly well done.

Diana has a plan - married by 30, kids by 35, living in the suburbs of NYC and climbing the ladder in the art auction world. She is on track to hit all her goals, once her boyfriend, Finn, a resident, proposes on their trip to the Galapagos.

And then a virus hits that changes the world forever. Finn is required to stay at the hospital to help with the influx of patients. He tells her that she should go on this once in a lifetime vacation without him - and so she leaves NYC for the Galapagos. When she arrives on the Island, the borders shut down, isolating Diana until she connects with a local family and examining her life - career, relationship, and personal choices.

For obvious reasons, this book was incredibly relatable. Over the course of the past 20+ months we have all had time to reassess many aspects of our lives. Although we have all had different experiences - both good and bad - relating to the pandemic, it is something that we have all lived and can understand. Any fans of Jodi Picoult will like this book, however, it is definitely not an easy read!

Thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy!

I have been looking forward to Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult ever since I first read a description of it early 2021. Thanks so much to the publisher for providing me an advanced ecopy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

Well, I wanted to read this fast before any spoilers got out because that is the one tip I tool away from early reviews: DON"T GET SPOILED. And I am glad I heeded the advice. Having a book with a big part of its impact dependent on readers not knowing much about the book makes it hard to write a review about, though. I am going to give it my best shot, though.

Diana is a millennial with a plan. Her career with Southeby's as an art buyer is on track to skyrocket as she has single-handedly landed one of the most sought after art pieces for auction. She has a solid relationship with surgical resident that may be heading toward marriage. Finally, she and her boyfriend actually have the same goals and dreams for their futures: where they want to live, how many kids they want to have, etc.

Diana and Finn have a dream vacation scheduled in the Galapagos Islands. This is where Diana knows Finn is going to propose to her and she is ready to say yes. But when rumors of Covid-19's potential impact on NYC, Finn is ordered to cancel any vacation plans in case there is a need for all hands on deck. He sends Diana on the trip without him as there is no need to lose all the money they already paid. She goes, and almost immediately upon arrival, the world goes on shutdown. For the first time in Diana's life, she is forced to make a way all on her own. There is very poor cell and internet service on Isabella Island. The hotel she has booked and paid for has closed its doors for the shutdown. She doesn't even speak the same language as locals as she had been depending on Finn to be the translator for her. Diana is forced to rely on the kindness of locals for food and shelter until she is cleared to travel back home to New York City.

It is during her time stranded she learns to live without a plan. She rediscovers her first passion: creating art, not just appreciating others' art. She develops a joy in exploring the unknown and a deeper appreciation for nature. The lack of communication between herself and Finn brings about some confusion about even that relationship she had been so confident in before: Why would he send her off on this trip if he genuinely thought the world was about to be in the chaos caused by a pandemic? Wouldn't he want her near him?

The theme of self-evaluation and self-discovery are strong in Wish You Were Here. I loved the idea to encourage us to reexamine life plans one sets before they even know what they are missing by going with those plans. Diana is a likeable, relatable character and the themes she is forced to explore during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, are themes that will resonate with all readers. Really good book.

Wish You Were Here Review by Jodi Picoult

This was the book I wanted In Five Years to be. I admittedly have been skeptical in the past of Jodi Picoult’s novels- I always think the premise look amazing, but the subject matter of many of them ended up being too upsetting for me.

Wish You Were Here also deserves a major content warning, because it’s set during the spring of 2020, so the major storyline centers around the pandemic. I have had no interest in reading any of the pandemic novels that have been released up until now because it felt too soon to read something we were living and most of them seemed really cheesy.

After reading the author’s note on Wish You Were Here, it makes sense Jodi wanted to write this book while it was all still fresh in her mind- and I suspect several decades from now someone would find this book to be a fascinating insight our lives during these years. All this to say I thought it was well done.

The premise of the story is that Diana and her boyfriend Finn have planned their dream vacation to visit the Galapagos Islands, but as the threat of a global pandemic looms over them, Finn stays behind to work at his NYC hospital, and Diana opts to go on their tropical vacation alone.

The pacing of the book was a little off, because the first half sort of meanders by and you find yourself wondering how things are going to work out. Then there is a shocking twist at about the 65% mark that I just did not see coming, and from there I had to finish it in one sitting.

Diana goes through an emotional arc I think many of us experienced during the last year, learning more about her true priorities and what really matters. I can’t say too much more without giving it away, but wow so good!

Trigger warnings: ICU, near-death experiences, dementia, death of loved ones, pandemic content

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult is about being apart from loved ones during the spring pandemic of 2020. The story follows Diana, a twenty-something associate at Sotheby’s auction house, so she is immersed in the art world. Her boyfriend, Finn, is a young doctor in NYC. It starts in early March 2020, with stay-at-home directives being put into place. Diana and Finn had planned a trip to the Galapagos Islands to start around that time. Finn encourages her to go, while he stays home, expecting his job will require a lot more of him in the coming days.

Diana arrives, but is quickly isolated and without cell service to contact home. She begins building relationships with a kind family that lives nearby. The story was a bit slow for my taste, so it took me a while to get through the book. Picoult well-described what the pandemic was like, people suffered in extremes and personal overwhelm. Diana is physically isolated with tons of down time while her boyfriend is overwhelmed and incredibly busy.

The second half really drew me in. I really liked the ruminations about determining what is truly important to us and what gives our lives meaning in precarious times. My favorite parts of the novel were the descriptions of Isabela Island in the Galapagos and the wildlife and the harrowing first-hand accounts from Finn battling COVID-19 in the height of the early pandemic. These accounts really drove home the seriousness of the disease and how exhausting it is to help patients when burnout is constant and supplies are limited. The book had me questioning my own priorities since, even though we're not through the pandemic, the grind of every day life often makes me blind to its beauties. Overall, a compelling and thought-provoking story.

Thank you Random House / Ballantine Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

I. Loved. This. Book.
I feel like this is old school Jodi Picoult writing and boy, did I miss it. This was definitely an emotional roller coaster with twists and turns that I never saw coming. It was tough to read about the height of the pandemic while still in a pandemic, to bring back those emotions and I had to put the book down for a few hours because it was so real; but I feel this is just a testament to her writing. I highly recommend this book to any one looking to read about the pandemic from the human/personal experience.

Diana and her boyfriend, Finn, are planning a dream vacation to the Galapagos, but their plans are sidelined when COVID hits New York right before they leave. Finn, a surgical resident, has to stay, but he insists Diana take the trip. She makes it to the island just as the world shuts down. Stranded for months, she gets only spotty updates about the horrors Finn and others are facing as the virus ravages thousands. On the island, she forms a bond with a teen girl, her father, and her grandmother–one that has her rethinking the entire course of her life.

I’ve seen many readers say that it’s too soon for a COVID novel, but I think Picoult’s comes at just the right time. It’s not the story you think it is, and it succeeds in bringing close so many different aspects of this virus. It’s exactly the empathy-building book we need right now and I loved it.

This book was charming, delightful, sweet, fun, sorrowful, sad, and gut wrenching all in one. The twist in the middle shocked me (which is HARD) to do and all the way to the end I was holding my breath. This was a quick read but held my attention from beginning to end. The first story I’ve really seen that captured the intensity, uncertainty, and mayhem that was the beginning of the pandemic. I wasn’t super familiar with Jodi’s work before this was kindly sent to me as an ARC through the publisher and NetGalley but WOW I will be checking out more of her books now.

This was so, so heavy. I think if you're in a place where you haven't lost someone to COVID or if you're able to stay in a good mental health space and read about COVID, this would be an okay book for you to read. If, however, you're experiencing this pandemic the way so many of us are, it's just too heavy and not a great moment for this one. Jodi Picoult is obviously an outstanding writer, but I found that the story was dragging and then I found that I needed to skim just to process. I'm reading to step away from the world, so I'm not super interested right now in reading more about it.

Diana and her boyfriend, Finn have planned their dream vacation to the Galapagos Islands, where she thinks he will propose. But when the Covid-19 virus is starting to peak in New York, Finn has to stay behind as he is a surgical resident, but he tells Diana she should still go. Her vacation starts out wrong with her luggage getting lost, no internet and the island shutting down due to the virus. Being stranded on the island she begins to meet the locals and starts to interact with a teenager that needs to open up to someone. While on the island she begins to examine her relationships, her job and the choices she has made. This is a very timely and thought provoking book.

Capturing COVID…

𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫: Diana O’Toole is the proverbial New York “has it all” girl: amazing job, dedicated boyfriend, a wondrous, goal-oriented life planned out in pristine perfect detail. Until she doesn’t have anything. COVID interrupts and Diana is separated from it all - stranded on the Galápagos Islands where the virus has shuttered the island. Diana makes due, makes a few friends, adapts to her new life, and in the process questions every one of her life choices…

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: Picoult has done an astonishing job of recreating what COVID has been like for many. Reading the author notes - she focuses on the word “isolation.” The weird thing is for me? I don’t relate to most people’s experiences during the past few years. I spent 2014-2019 out of work as a teacher with a mysterious illness. I returned to work full time in 2020 after diagnoses (5 chronic health conditions)- yup, smack dab in the middle of COVID. I was isolated BEFORE COVID and then again during. I’m single and self-supporting. I may have been the only person who DIDN’T feel the sting of shutdown as badly as others, but more like an old friend had returned -the one you politely let in but secretly wish would leave after 2 days? That’s COVID isolation for me.

Picoult opens up our collected experience of strange we’ve all managed, coped with, and wrestled with the past 2 years. And man, she nails it. Who hasn’t considered changes or been forced to make them? Who hasn’t looked at their partner during COVID and thought, “Should I be with this you?” Darn you Picoult - you’re making us all ADMIT it!

This book is one that rattled my brain, made me think deeply about the past 2 years and realize how lucky I am that my family made it through unscathed. My illness shored up my resolution to be an amazing teacher and I fought like hell to get back to the classroom. COVID was just another hurdle in my long race. Many of my colleagues have faced opposite decisions and realized they were done teaching. We all share the EXPERIENCE, and for that I applaud Picoult because she absolutely captures a unique time in our history where we all shifted our foundations and questioned what the heck we are doing with our lives.

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Contemporary Fiction
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: All the book clubs HAVE to discuss this. For all the readers…

𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: If COVID is too raw for you it might feel “too soon.”

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for my advanced copy in exchange for my always-honest review and for making me analyze and think - like a good teacher should.

A really unique story centered around C0vid-19, it's aftereffects and the results of the pandemic. This book took a big twist that caught me by surprise leaving me hanging on every word! I really enjoyed this one and highly recommend it. Easily one of the best books I've read this year.

Happy belated pub day to Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult! Thank you Ballantine Books for my ARC and @librofm for my ALC in exchange for an honest review!

In one sentence: Diana and her doctor boyfriend Finn are set for the trip of their lives to the Galapagos - but when COVID hits, Finn stays behind, leaving Diana to make the trip alone.

Jodi Picoult is known for emotional, tearjerker reads, and this book is no exception. You can feel Diana's fear and isolation in the Galapagos, as well as Finn's desperation as the COVID situation grows more dire in NYC. Picoult fuses multiple aspects of the COVID experience: the armchair trips many of us took through books coupled with the harsh reality of widespread suffering, as well as the self-exploration and questioning of the status quo that Diana experienced.

Marin Ireland is one of my favorite narrators, and she did a great job with the audio here! I'd recommend this book to audio readers or all kinds; since the story is told primarily from Diana's perspective, it's easy to listen to without getting confused. You can really immerse yourself in the world of the Galapagos on audio.

If you like emotional reads and can handle reading about COVID, I'd recommend this one! I ended up reading/listening in one day because I had to know how Diana's story would end.

Review of Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow. Jodi Picoult is a genius. I have loved her books since I first read one about 15 years ago. She always approaches the most delicate, controversial subjects with beauty and spot on research. Her characters, story telling, and writing style are flawless. This book was no exception. It will be an extremely important book in years to come for people to read and get a small piece of understanding about what our world was like during the Covid pandemic.

Quick synopsis: Diana is living her dream life in NYC. She has a great job at Sotheby’s and is in her way to a promotion. She has a great boyfriend named Finn who is a surgical resident and they are shortly to leave for a dream vacation to the Galapagos where they will surely become engaged. But then Covid hits and Finn must stay behind to work. He tells Diana to go anyway. She does and ends up stranded there. Finn sends frequent emails describing the utter horror of working in a hospital during this terrible pandemic. I will not write much more because I don’t want to spoil the story with hints. But there is a big twist with this one and your jaw will drop.

This book was just amazing. About 75% of my loved ones and friends and family are in the medical field. I’m a PA but staying home with my children as my husband is often exposed to Covid at the two hospitals where he works. My friends are nurses, CRNAs, NPs, fellow PAs, and physicians like my husband. I have talked to them all for countless hours as they lament everything they have had to witness and do during this past almost two years now. Many have PTSD and exhaustion is an understatement. Healthcare workers and all who support them as well as all essential workers are utter heroes. Jodi Picoult nailed this.

This book is extremely Covid heavy. It’s not the entire story, but it’s the largest portion. But it’s also a story about living your best life and how you have to follow your heart in all decisions. If you can handle the Covid part, please read this book.
I am so happy to be reading this as a buddy read with some of my best booksta friends.

A huge thank you to @netgalley, @libro.fm, @jodipicoult, @prhaudio, @randomhouse for the e copy and listening copy. I read and listened and will be purchasing the hardcover for myself to keep and re read.

#wishyouwerehere #jodipicoult

This was my first book from Jodi Picoult; it certainly will not be my last. It tells the story of Diana O’Toole who works at Sotheby’s, and her boyfriend Finn, a surgical resident, both living together in NYC. They are scheduled to travel together to the Galápagos Islands when the pandemic hit. Finn is stuck at work caring for sick patients while Diana travels to the Galápagos and gets stranded when all travel is halted.

Then there’s a massive twist.

I loved how the story came together. It’s really difficult to read about the effects of the pandemic while we are still in a pandemic, however, I loved the message Jodi sent.

Thank you to Penguin Random House, NetGalley and Jodi Picoult for an ARC of this title.

For as much as I read, I have not read a book by this author - by choice - as I didn't think I would like her writing style. In this book she tells the story of couple who is about to take an international vacation just as COVID is hitting the US. Finn, a NY hospital resident is unable to take the trip and so Diana goes on her own at his suggestion. Diana ends up being stranded on the island for two months as she is unable to return to the US. Interesting premise for the book and dealing with the year 2020.