Thank you netgalley, publisher, and Jodi Picoult for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

W O W! This book has left me speechless. It grabbed me from the beginning and I couldn’t put it down. I am SO SO invested in this story and the ending was just … wow!!! This book has also taught me a few things about life. This will sit with me for a long time. My 100th book of the year will always be one of my favorites.

Probably like many of you, I wasn't sure I wanted to read a book about the pandemic that we're still living through; but this is Jodi Picoult after all, and I know and love what she can do with a story. After a bit of debate, I decided to read it and I am SO glad I did. The book is magnificent, better even than I as a faithful reader have come to expect of her. I'll pause now while you add this to your MUST-read pile. . . . Back yet? Did you put it at or near the top of your list? Okay, I'll wait while you do that too . . .

Diana O'Toole has had her life planned for a long time and it is all coming to fruition as she has worked hard for it to do. An associate specialist at Sotheby's, she's on track for a promotion following a upcoming sale that will stun the art world. Nearing 30, she's pretty sure she's also on track to be married to boyfriend Finn Colson. Finn, a surgical resident at Presbyterian hospital, is planning to propose to her on their upcoming trip to the Galapagos Islands, a vacation that they've saved towards for four years. Diana and Finn feel they're the perfect match; they're both ambitious, and they both have life plans that the other can see themselves in. They are ready to live the lives they've dreamed.

Then Covid starts. All leaves for hospital personnel are cancelled as they prepare for the expected influx of patients. Finn tells Diana she should go anyway, he really doesn't want her to stay if things are going to be as bad as they say; he wants her to be safe. So Diana goes to the Galapagos Islands, making it there (without her lost luggage) only to learn that the island is closing down too. Should she stay, or return to NYC to be holed up in their apartment for the duration? She decides to stay, and finds housing with a local family.

What follows are two extremely well told and rich stories within the story as Finn writes heartbreaking letters to Diana about his experiences on the front line, and Diana explores the beauty of the islands, grows close to her host family and writes post-cards to Finn. They are each having experiences that will alter their souls, cause them to relook at their priorities, at who they are, and who they want to be.

This book is just filled with the essence of what it is to be human, and all the emotions, fears, joys, and trials, that come with it. A most memorable read, I really don't want you to miss it. This book earns 5 stars from me.

My thanks to Balantine Books who allowed me to read an ARC through NetGalley. The book is scheduled to be published 11/30/21. All opinions in this review are my own, and freely given.

I find Jodi’s stuff to be very hit or miss for me. This was a miss. I did like how it discussed the current world events but it was a big too much.

I was very hesitant to dive into a book with a COVID plot but I found myself instead focused on the rich character development and island setting. Diana is traveling solo away from her boyfriend during the COVID pandemic. Following her journey leads to an ending that I couldn’t have predicted, and I couldn’t put the book down. It was an absolute delight!

This is a difficult one to review and it’s not really even because of the Covid inclusion. I actually thought it was really interesting to base an entire novel around Covid because even though it is recent, it’s something that we have all experienced and can relate to. Of course we all had our individual experiences with Covid so I would not recommend this book to anyone who is sensitive to this topic.
I was actually really enjoying the story and then around the 60% mark there is a “twist” that completely changes the course and tone of the book and I was not a fan. I can see what the author was going for with it but I almost felt betrayed by the complete shift in the story.

I was hesitant to read a book set during the start of the pandemic but this was highly readable/enjoyable. I much preferred the story of the first half of the book, I think because I hadn't really thought about the people who were stuck in other countries at the start of the pandemic so that was really interesting to me. The later story was much, much more familiar to me and I didn't like how the two parts of the book came together so that part wasn't as strong. Picoult definitely has another hit on her hands. ARC courtesy of NetGalley.

29-year-old Diana has her life perfectly planned out. Next on the list, an exotic getaway with her boyfriend to the Galapagos Islands where he will propose - right on track. But just as they're about to embark COVID shows up in NYC and Diana's surgeon boyfriend is needed at the hospital to help field the anticipated surge of patients. Diana is urged to still take the trip; bags are packed, non-refundable deposits paid, the plane leaving. She leaves with it.

By the time Diana lands at her island destination reality has shifted; people are panicking, businesses are shutting down, and flights out are grounded. She's stuck on the island, sheltering in place for the foreseeable future, her baggage lost somewhere in transit, lines of communication with the outside world spotty at best. Once she does make it back to NYC her life is barely recognizable.

Wish You Were Here is not the book I was expecting. It didn't end up being the book I anticipated even after I began reading it. But that experience tracks because Wish You Were Here is all about not knowing. Life not always unfolding according to plan. Life sometimes jumping the tracks completely in very unexpected ways like when COVID-19 hit. I don't know about you, but I never expected to spend years of my life living through a pandemic.

This story is much more rooted in COVID than I realized. I anticipated it being part of the premise, maybe occurring in the background, but it's actually very central to the plot. Picoult nails those early days and months of the pandemic. The fear, the uncertainty, the utter unprecedented nature of it all. One day our normal just became abnormal and people don't really know what to do with that. More than a year and half later we're just beginning to process things. Returning to those early days was an experience in itself, reminding me how far we've come.

The first half of the book was just okay, fine. Around halfway through I became deeply invested. Diana story is relatable on some level for everyone because we've all lived through the experience of reality shifting overnight. Her journey reminds us of the importance of adaptability, evolution, and allowing life to unfold in its own time. Wish You Were Here brings up very thought provoking ideas about identity, perspective, reality, and consciousness itself. A heavy load to tackle for a contemporary fiction novel, but in Picoult's experienced hands it all works. Definitely a book people will be talking about!

I picked up <i>Wish You Were Here</i> and could not put it down. The story immediately hooked me. It starts off in March of 2020, right as the world is starting to take Covid19 seriously. Diana O'Toole knows exactly what she wants out of life: from the career title and husband to the number of children she plans to have in which suburb of Manhattan. Then, Covid19 throws her plan off the rails. Diana is stranded in the Galapagos with no access to phone or internet. She occasionally is able to log on and receive emails from her fiancee, Finn, who is a surgical resident at a NYC hospital. As you might guess, Finn is under water treating patients who are dying at a rapid rate. The emails, interspersed in the story, give a snapshot of what it was like for healthcare workers in those early days of the pandemic.

I think it was a combination of great storytelling and the feeling of being so closely connected to this recent reality that hooked me. This was the first book that I've read that went into the firsthand cultural experiences of Covid. It was so tangible.

The characters all came alive to me. I rooted for Diana from start to finish. I had an early sense that I knew where this book was going, and I was right for a time... and then things shifted so drastically. I honestly cannot remember the last time a book shocked me like this. I don't want to spoil it, so I'll leave it at that.

Highly recommended. 4.5 stars rounded up. Thank you to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

MY RATING: 3.5/5 Stars

Usually we get a book every other year but this is her 2nd book in 2 years and we get another in 2022. Making that 3 books in 3 years! This novel couldn't have come at a more apropos time as we're still in the midst of this deadly pandemic. I've read other books about pandemics but this is the first novel I've read about COVID-19 specifically. I've wondered when we would start seeing the pandemic reflected in our media. I guess the time is now.

This novel follows Diana O'Toole from NYC to her dream vacation in the Galapagos just as the pandemic strikes and the borders are closing. Quarantined & isolated in a foreign country until the borders reopen, Diana is left examining herself, her choices, & her relationships.

Check out Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult and be sure to get this contemporary fiction novel wherever you buy books!

✦ Goodreads ➜ https://bit.ly/3lF925l
✦ Amazon ➜ https://amzn.to/3hMOHtV
✦ Apple ➜ https://apple.co/3nLEn9h
✦ Google ➜ https://bit.ly/3nNngnj
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✦ Nook ➜ https://bit.ly/3lDoGhM

TAGS: fiction, contemporary fiction, COVID-19

*Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group's Ballantine Books & Jodi Picoult for providing a free eARC in exchange for my honest review #WishYouWereHere #NetGalley @NetGalley #RandomHouse @randomhouse #AtRandom @atrandom #jodipicoult @jodipicoult

This was one of the most surprising reads of 2021!

Let me start by saying, that I had a rough time with the first half of this book. Diana went on her trip to Galapagos without her Fiance, Finn, who was stuck on the Frontlines of COVID at the hospital where he works as a surgical resident. Naturally, there is terrible cell service and the mail service is unreliable. Diana does get the occasional email from Finn where he is pouring his heart out on how awful it is to he battling COVID, and the heart wrenching things he has seen. How does Diana respond in her postcards? She never addresses it. At all. She just talks about the island, how she is doing and that she wishes he were there with her. I was FURIOUS!!!! I wanted to reach in the book and slap Diana for being so self-involved!

Then the book has a DRASTIC change in pace right before the 60% mark. No spoilers, but I feel that the book, as well as my opinions for it, did a complete 180 degrees. I would 100% recommend this to anyone. I know that we have all dealt with the challenges that this virus brought us (some more than others) but I feel that this book does a great job at addressing the struggles at all levels. From not being able to go out of your home to the massive death toll.

Note: this was my very first Jodi Picoult read. Why did I wait so long?

Jodi Picoult’s Wish You We’re Here takes place during our ongoing Covid Pandemic. Although this book is well crafted, it is way too soon for me to be reading a book set during our present crisis. This will be a good and informative read in the future.

As the immortal John Lennon once said:
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

And weren't we all smacked in the face with the truth of that statement in March of 2020 and thereafter? Jodi Picoult's new novel deals with how the pandemic disrupts one young couple's plans.

The plot: As her 30th birthday approaches, Diana thinks she has done well ticking off items on her life's planning list. She has a great job with Sotheby's where she is poised for a major career promotion, she's in love with Finn, a surgeon in residency at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and they are about to leave on a dream vacation to the Galapagos Islands.

But the night before they are to leave, Finn comes home with the news that all leaves are canceled as the hospital prepares to handle an influx of Covid cases. Their tickets are non-refundable so he suggests that Diana go without him.

And she does! However it's one problem after another for her, beginning with lost luggage. And as a water taxi brings her to the island of Isabela, there seems to be a mass exodus of tourists who want to get home before a lockdown begins. Diana makes the questionable decision to stay. It's a poor choice as even the hotel where she's booked a room is closing! Where will she stay, what will she wear, how can she even communicate with the outside world without a reliable cell phone connection?!

What she does have is the beautiful island with its incredible wildlife and scenery and luckily she finds she can rely on the kindness of the local people. As the weeks pass and life is stripped to essentials, she begins to rethink her life's goals.

However guilt intrudes as emails from Finn get through and detail the horrors he is facing at the hospital. Perhaps she never should have left him to deal with this on his own. And worse, she learns that her mother, who has early-onset Alzheimers, has contacted Covid in the nursing home where she's living. But there's nothing much Diana can do until lockdown restrictions are eased.

Then at about 60% into the story, Picoult delivers an amazing twist. No spoilers here but I LOVED IT!

If you are ready to relive what we went through during the worst days of the pandemic, then I highly recommend this book to you. Read it for the wonderful descriptions of life on the island of Isabela if nothing else.

I received an arc of this new novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks for the opportunity.

This is not your typical Jodi Picoult book, but it is fantastic. I loved it. I wasn't sure how I would feel reading about the pandemic, but it didn't make me feel bad. I loved the characters. Diana was an easy character to like. I felt her struggles with her relationship with her mother. I hurt for her and for their fractured relationship. Finn was easy to fall in love with. I imagine that if I were ill or in need of surgery, I would feel safe with him as my doctor. There were some surprises as with every Jodi Picoult novel and I don't want to give anything away. I loved this book and can't recommend it enough.



I received an ARC copy from NetGalley and Random House. All opinions expressed are my own.

I have such mixed feelings on this book. I started off really enjoying it, but after the twist partway through I found it confusing and, truthfully, off-putting. I normally love reading before bed at night, but this book had me tossing and turning - it may have just been too soon to try to read for pleasure about a pandemic that I am very much still living through as a healthcare provider. Between the twist and the cliffhanger ending, I found myself just shaking my head and not really feeling it. Glad to see others have enjoyed it more!

I am a huge Jodi Picoult fan and have read every one of her novels. I eagerly await every new novel and I was thrilled to receive an ARC in exchange for my honest review (Thanks #NetGalley and #Ballantine !)
I love how Picoult takes a current event, surrounds it with relatable characters, and weaves many different sides and perspectives of the story, always with a twist. Her latest title does the same, where she tackles the Covid-19 pandemic. I think readers are best going into the book not knowing too much about the storyline and just going along for the ride. Diana and her boyfriend have a bucket-list vacation planned to the Galapagos Islands but Covid-19 throws a wrench into their plans! As in real life, Covid-19 results in life-changing events. I highly recommend this book, other than to those who may have a problem with reading about the pandemic.

Who would have ever thought I’d love a book about the pandemic while still being in the midst of it!! Picoult has written a truly extraordinary book about resilience, life and how the human spirit navigates through the darkness to find the light.

Diana has her life all planned, and it’s going swimmingly. Her boyfriend is about to propose, right on time, she has her dream job and she’s about to embark on a vacation of a lifetime...BUT...on the eve of that trip a virus hits and Finn (a New York Doctor) is no longer able to go. Encouraging Diana to go without him, hopefully keeping her safe, she courageously goes ahead. The trip is nothing like she has planned and when a pandemic is announced she is stuck on an island where she doesn’t speak the language, without her
suitcase and extremely spotty wifi making communication nearly impossible.

Totally isolated, Diana is eventually befriended by a local family and as they draw closer, it leaves her questioning her life choices and when all is said and done Diana becomes a different person through the process.

So immerse yourself in this wise and wonderful book, filled with surprises and utterly captivating from start to finish! Picoult is in a league of her own among writers. The absolute best of the best!

(At the request of the publisher and author this is a spoiler-free review)

This is a very atypical review for me so I'm going to do my best with it. Not a lot of content in books shakes me so I'm not big on content warnings, but I feel it's necessary for Wish You Were Here.

I adamantly do not recommend reading this book if:
1. You are a current or former healthcare worker who worked the frontlines of the Coronavirus Pandemic.
2. You lost a loved one to Covid.
3. You have any sort of visceral reaction to the pandemic.

It's worth noting I have previously loved anything I have read by Jodi Picoult, but this felt like it was an exploitation of the pandemic that we are still very much in the thick of. It may have been a cathartic experience to write about, but it was completely the opposite experience to read about it. Having lost a loved one to Covid myself, reading about what these poor ICU patients go through on a ventilator or ECMO truly shook me.

As for the book itself, Diana, the protagonist, is an abhorrent main character that I genuinely found hard to root for. Without getting too deep into it, I felt she was ungrateful and had her head in the clouds. There is a big twist that happens about halfway through the book that I have to imagine has made several people want to DNF. While it didn't work for me either, I did stick it out to the end. I had a suspicion it would end the way it did but genuinely hoped I'd be wrong. Needless to say, I was more than disappointed in this book and the way in which it felt like it was written to capitalize on what we're all still going through.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Jodi Picoult for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Wish You Were Here in exchange for my honest review.

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult surprised me in a good way. I'll be honest that I was nervous about diving in to Covid-19 fiction, as I still don't know that I have the bandwidth or perspective on the pandemic to want to explore it from a fictional perspective. Reading Picoult's afterward offered a lot of interesting insight.

This is a layered story of a couple dealing with love and isolation and illness in the time of Covid-19. There's also an interesting subplot about the role of art in our lives.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

I wanted to love this. I started off loving it. Mostly anything Jodi Piccoult writes is aces in my opinion. However, the protagonist, Diana, really started to get on my nerves.
Diana O’Toole has her life together and planned. She is suppose to go on vacation to the Galapagos w/ her doctor boyfriend, Finn. Those plans go awry when COVID hits NYC. Finn, being a resident, cannot go and insists Diana still take that dream vacation. Diana goes and gets stuck there when the pandemic shuts down the island. She gets completely wrapped up in Gabriel, a tourist guide, and Beatriz, his daughter. However, we find out that Diana had actually contracted a serious case of COVID & “dreamed” the entire episode. She was actually in the hospital the whole time. But will she she be able to,I’ve in the real world or will she search for the dream?
Ugh, let me just say, Finn really gets the short end of the stick here. And of course we get another one of those cliffhanger endings. It’s really well written and really well researched but I was just not feeling it.

Thanks to a NetGalley & the publisher for an ARC of this novel.*

Diana's life is on track just the way she envisioned. She plans on getting married soon (helped by the fact she saw the ring her boyfriend, Finn, has stashed), she is in a profession she loves and is on track for a promotion. For her 30th birthday she is going to the Galapagos with her boyfriend. But this is mid-March 2020 and the start of the pandemic is coming to light, she lives in New York and her boyfriend is a Resident Surgeon. With all hands on deck at the hospital and bracing themselves for what is to come, Finn suggests Diana still goes on the trip and reluctantly she goes. Her luggage doesn't make it, the island is shutting down with no way to return, the hotel is closed and there is no wifi or cell service. Simultaneous to Diana's isolation is Finn navigating the exhaustion, pain & anguish from what he is dealing with and seeing first hand. Diana is forced out of her comfort zone and examining her own life - her relationship with her mother, her relationship with Finn, her choices and what she is truly looking for. She knows that even when she can return home, she will not be the same...... But, this is truly only the beginning, there are so many more layers to the story that Jodi Picoult impressively unveils to the reader. While reading, I felt the heartbreak, the anguish and had chills at the multiple twists I didn't see coming. I would describe this book as both heart wrenching and insightful. It wowed me even more than I anticipated and I can't stop thinking about this evocative and remarkable story.

CW: Covid, trauma, isolation, pandemic, loss of parent. dementia