I just finished this story. As usual, Picoult touches another tough subject that needs to be told. This story is based on the beginning of Covid-19 and the pandemic. In my opinion, this story may be a bit difficult for some to read who have been effected of losing a loved one and/or their own lives thru being ill or financial impact from the past 18 months. I found some of her detail on art selling and Darwin had me losing focus at times but I pushed myself thru because I wanted to keep following the main character. Glad I kept going because the story takes a twist I did not seeing coming. Found it interesting to be reading about time period that we are basically living in at the current moment.. Make sure you read the Author's Note section at the end of the book. Was well written and informative on her why she wrote this tough subject. Thank you #RandomHousePublishing for the invite to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. #WishYouWereHere # NetGalley #JodiPicoult

Set during Covid, Diana, an art specialist for Sotheby's lives with her finance Finn, who is a surgical resident in a New York hospital. Due to the hospital gaining more Covid cases, Finn has to back out of his and Diana's dream vacation to the Galapagos, but urges her to go and enjoy as they can not get a refund, she will only be gone for two weeks and then they will be back together.

When Diana arrives on the Island, there is a boat there taking vacationers off to the airport and she decides not to turn around and get on it, she will be able to leave in two weeks, but instead, she gets stuck on the island when it shuts down due to Covid.

I think Jodi Picoult wrote an excellent book with Wish You Were Here. It may be because we are barely out of the shutdowns and hardships of the virus but this book felt real, and at times was a hard read. It put you right back into the nightmare that is Covid. All the shutdowns, not being able to see the ones you love, the deaths, and the grueling work that the frontline medical workers had to go through.

Yet while the book is filled with the horrors of Covid, you also get a breather with the beauty that Diana is witnessing in the Galapagos. You get a beautiful look at the people of the island and their traditions.

Picoult has given us characters that are human, they have flaws and feelings, but they are also strong and resilient. Her writing is skillful and emotional and keeps you invested in the story.

It is easy to see why Picoult is one of the best writers there is, and I think she has outdone herself with Wish You Were Here.

Oh yes, be sure to keep a box of tissue handy, you will need it!

'Wish you were Here' by Jodi Picoult. Another Jodi Picoult with a twist midstream. I want a sequel. Written in first-person, this captured me from the beginning. An art curator goes on a trip to the Galapagos islands alone after her fiance hits the ground running at the beginning of the pandemic and must stay behind.. He's in the medical field in New York and the trip is nonrefundable. His fiance, Diana, gets stuck on the island as it's shutting down for 2 weeks minimum before even being able to check in to her hotel. Her L uggage has been lost. She's stranded. She also has an estranged mother with dementia sitting in a care facility back in New York and no way to contact anyone except the spotty coverage on the island, and Mom has taken a turn for the worse.

Diana meets the locals and forges strained relationships with a teen and her father and her abuelita. Everything is going fine until Diana gets a very rude awakening and she's tossed into another reality. Her new friends are gone, and it's like they never existed. The twist is perfectly placed and leaves you feeling sympathy for Diana. I enjoyed this story, but need a sequel. Maybe that's how much I didn't want it to end, or maybe it was the ending?

I was given an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Diana is set on fulfilling her life goals on schedule. And she might check more than one this time—she can finally go on a trip with her boyfriend, who seems to be about to propose to her, after closing a big deal that will earn her a promotion at work. But her plans fall apart one by one when the Covid pandemic starts. That's how she ends up without the promotion or the proposal, alone in one of the Galápagos islands, which was closed down due to the pandemic.

3+, just not enough to round up to 4 because of the second half.

The read itself was super quick, it kept you curious about where Picoult was leading us with all that. Even though I started the book on my busiest day of the week, I read exactly half of it and then finished it the next day. Picoult's books just has this magic that sucks you and glues you to the book until you reach the end and gives it a shake to see if there really isn't anything else.

The thing is... it was too early to talk about the pandemic. I'll skip the trauma from it all, the topic itself felt too alive in my head. While Diana is in the Galápagos she gets some emails from her boyfriend, who happens to be a doctor having to deal with all the patients. It's an obvious tribute to the healthcare professionals, made more prominent as the book goes deeper into the topic. You can pay tribute in other ways other than books, to be honest. It was way too soon.

Again, I'm trying not to go into how open the wound still is, I'm also saying it wasn't interesting. Each of the cases I'd read were still too fresh on my mind for it to be. All the treatments, all the precautions, it's still all part of our daily lives. Aside from from almost going into the nonfiction ground, it was also a cold shower every time the topic surfaced in the middle of a paradise like the Galápagos. I was reading the book to escape reality and not to be reminded of it every second. It almost made me feel guilty of taking a trip (via reading) to the Galápagos while people were going through hell.

This book brings up a major plot twist that still didn't make it all worth it. Actually, when it happened, I was so sure there would be another twist that I was disappointed about the whole thing. I know that's my fault for creating expectations out of nowhere, but as interesting as the revelations were, they were also another cold shower. So much for enjoying the end of summer in the Galápagos, huh? So when we finally understand the point of the book, it becomes even less appealing. It had been an almost 4-star read until way further than halfway and then it started dying.

If you want to finally read some fiction that deals with the Covid, instead of pretending 2020/21 were just your every year as most books are doing, this could be the thing for you. I just can't imagine anyone finding it interesting enough this early. Nonetheless, as I said, the read is super quick and will keep you turning pages as all Picoult's books do.

Thank you NetGalley, Jodi Picoult, and Random House Group/Ballantine Books for this ARC, in exchange for my honest opinion.

What a great book! With the current Covid crisis, this book reminded us how the virus is hurting many people in so many different ways. Thirty-year-old art expert, Diana, is living the perfect life—promising career with Sotheby’s, wonderful boyfriend, surgical resident Finn, and an upcoming dream vacation to the Galápagos Islands. Then, Covid strikes the world, and life is put on hold. Finn has to work nonstop at the hospital, so he insists Diana go on the vacation alone. The perfect vacation is off to a rough start when Diana realizes her luggage is lost, there is very sketchy Wi-Fi for her to keep in touch with Finn, and the island is locked down, including her hotel and local stores, because of Covid. Reader, the best is yet to come! The twists in the story are so thought-provoking, you’ll remember this story a long time!

I have never read anything by this author, so when this ARC came up, I jumped at the chance to see what all the fuss was about. I admit that this author is very good at what she does.

Unfortunately, I cannot reveal much more about this story than the synopsis because I might inadvertently give away a spoiler! And a heck of a twist it was! Plus, well, this I can tell you-we have a sort of cliff-hanger at the end. The very last page!

This was a very emotional read for me since I had lost a close family member to Covid. So if you have lost a close loved one, you may want to stay away from this book for now and let the rawness fade a bit.

These were complicated characters and, at times, very shallow and selfish. Yet, everything Ms. Picoult wrote was vivid -the pain, helplessness, scenery, all of it.

It was a page-turner for sure but, for me, a reluctant one.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Ballentine, the author, and NetGalley.

It's just too soon...

I wanted so bad to love this book but it's about the Covid. The pandemic. The virus that is killing so many. I've lost so many people and just can not read about it yet. If this author would have waited a few years this would have been a good book to read I'm sure.

It's well written but just too soon. I read as much as I could then just had to stop. To many tears for the loved ones I've lost. For the millions that have lost their lives worldwide. It's just too soon.

It's hard to rate because it's such a touchy subject for me.
Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book.

I recommend you read it for yourself and decide if it's too soon or not. I gave it 3/5 because I think it could have been good but should have waited. Two stars lost on timing.

I am really struggling to rate Jodi Picoult's new book. I really enjoyed Part 1, the experiences and story of Diana in the Galapagos. I thought the relationships Diana was developing there with Beatriz, Gabriel, and others on the small island was really the core of the story. I found the emails from the boyfriend (Finn) back home to be very heavy handed in the description of covid. It felt like Picoult just I have been a fan for many years and have read many of her novelstook every news article on covid and put it in Finn's emails. These emails end up not sounding like the correspondence of a boyfriend to a girlfriend who is struggling and missing his girlfriend. I have quite an issue with how almost all medical aspects of the book are handled starting from how Finn and Diana meet (sounds unethical to me) to the details in Finn's emails. In classic Picoult fashion she includes a 'plot twist' or some other complete turn of events. Typically she does this at the end of the book so you can at least enjoy most of the book until she spoils it at the very end. If she doesn't spoil it at the end, then she provides some type of ending that is not in keeping with the story she has just built. In this novel, Picoult's classic story wrecker comes smack in the middle of the book. I did finish it as all of Picoult's books as she has an easy writing style to read. .

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 2.5 round up to 3

I always look forward to a new book from Jodi Picoult, but this one disappointed me. I struggled through the first 40%, skimming through a lot of it. The early part was so predictable. Then the big event happened, and I thought, "Here comes the story," but that fizzled out quickly. I ended up skimming most of the rest of the book.

I do not want to give away any of the story for readers who have not read it, but it just did not read like a Picoult book. I understood the issue she was presenting. Then the ending destroyed that.

Maybe it is too soon for a Covid story.

A great story overall even though it had a major trope that I detest. This was well done and although I didn’t like the ending I thought it was a super compelling story.

Covid. Lockdown. Isolation. What can we control in our lives, and what are we forced to leave to the universe to determine? When is a good time to change directions, to make a move towards living a life that feels authentic and offers some sense of satisfaction? How do we adjust to the big losses in our lives? All worthy questions and topics which seemed right for a book by Jodi Picoult. But, the beginning felt too much like a love story, and the “big twist” felt like an amateurish way to move the story forward - it felt forced and clunky, and took me completely out of the story. After reading the Author’s Note, I appreciate that this book became a way for her to work through the mess that is Covid, and the research and details she included were just as graphic and disturbing to read in a fiction book as they were to hear about on the evening news. None of us will go unchanged by this pandemic, and we won’t know the depth of the changes to our psyches, or to our everyday lives, for years to come. Overall, I’m not sure I was ready to read a story that feels as though we are still living it - for sure this will become a good book club read with much to discuss!

I remember March 12, 2020 as distinctly as if it were yesterday. I was teaching and it was a long day with parent/teacher conferences directly after school. I was excited however, because after the conferences we would kick off spring break and my friend and I were taking a long-awaited trip to Disney World. I had planned this trip's itinerary with the ferocity of a travel agent, scheduling rides, shows, dinners, etc. It would be a trip to remember.

But we were told to go home after school and not report to parent/teacher conferences due to the "corona virus." Disney World closed. And I did not return to in-person school until August 2021.

Jodi Picoult's captures the confusion, the fear, and the uncertainty of Covid-19 in her new novel with insight and empathy.

Diana O'Toole has always had a plan for her life. Her career as an associate specialist at Sotheby's is right on track, Her relationship with Finn, an NYC doctor, is also going according to her schedule when she finds an engagement ring in his drawer and her plans to get married by 30 are seemingly falling into place. Their dream vacation to the Galapagos is also on the horizon and Diana can't wait to discover all that paradise has to offer.

But last minute, Finn gets tapped to work at his NYC hospital, as they are preparing to have an influx of patients stricken with Covid-19. He encourages Diana to go to the Galapagos alone, not wanting her to miss out on their nonrefundable vacation.

Hesistantly, Diana agrees. She journeys alone to the island-just as the world is shutting down. She finds the island closed and herself stranded there, unable to get back to the mainland or to get a flight back to the U.S. A woman whom she calls "Abuela" lets her stay in her spare apartment as her hotel has shuttered its doors. She meets her granddaughter Beatrice and her adult son Gabriel. Slowly, she begins to enjoy the rhythms of this beautiful, slower life, so different from her fast-paced, hectic life treadmill in NYC. Meanwhile, Finn is working feverishly around the clock, trying to save the thousands of Covid-19 patients flooding into the hospital. Diana and Finn have limited communication due to connectivity issues and in the pause, Diana begins to imagine a completely different life for herself, especially when Gabriel sparks her interest.

Jodi Picoult gives us a glimpse into life in NYC amidst the Covid-19 pandemic with startling clarity and compassion. Covid-19 has affected how many of us live our lives today and Picoult expertly captures the complexities of these transformations. Unlike her previous novel The Book of Two Ways that in my opinion was over inundated with excessive textual background, the information she shares in Wish You Were Here informs the story arc. She also delivers an amazing TWIST(!!!) that keeps the reader riveted until the final pages. This is a Picoult novel not to be missed.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House-Ballantine, and Jodi Picoult for an ARC of this book!**

Jodi Picoult delivers a timely and eye opening account of what life is like when things don't go to plan.

Diana, 30, has her life perfectly planned out. Married by 30, kids by 35, and a top art auction specialist at Sotheby's is all in her future. Or so she thinks. Days before her thirtieth birthday, the romantic trip to the Galapagos her and her boyfriend Finn, a surgical resident, have planned gets derailed by a virus that has hit New York. Finn has to stay at home because it is all hands on deck at the hospital. He tells Diana she should still go without him. Immediately, the dream vacation goes awry. Isolated, she finds herself examining her choices, her relationships, and what she really wants out of life if she ever gets back home.

Never has a book felt more timely with Covid. Jodi writes with such insight to how the virus touched everyones lives so differently. From the front-line workers, to patients, to the children who had to leave school and friends behind.

I have wondered when we’d start seeing books centered around Covid - and I’m glad this was the first one that made it to my bookshelf! In traditional Picoult style, the characters were well developed, and I felt like I was right in the story with them. The storyline flowed well, even with the twist that I DID NOT see coming about 2/3 of the way through. It was a quick read but stayed with me even after the last page.

Okay, I’ve never read a Jodi Picoult book, so I don’t know what to base this one off of, but…it was eerie. Reading about the early days of the pandemic made my skin crawl. Did any of us realize how close to a zombie-like apocalypse we were? I don’t think I really appreciated how the world truly stopped. Probably because I was so afraid.

I put off this book for a while after I was sent the ARC. But once I started it, I fell in love. With the realness, the rawness of Picoult’s words, with the depth, with the philosophy of “the other.” It was intelligent, well-researched, beautiful, sad, tragic. I’m pleasantly proud to scold myself for ever thinking Picoult would be overrated. I was very wrong to judge her as an author. If this book is anything to go off of, she is far from mainstream. There were so many things I could go on and on about this book, because it was one of the most unique reads I’ve ever experienced. I’ll just say, I think you should give into the hype and read it. It’s very, very worth it.

I really really liked this book. Yes it’s references living during covid and that feels a bit too soon but that’s ok because wow.

I stopped reading Jodi Picoult books because the twist at the end always irritates me. This twist floored me. I thought it was brilliant.

Oh my goodness...I LOVED this book! I was a bit skittish about it, since it is set in 2020, and Covid is very prominent in it. However, once I started it, it was very hard to put it down. Her writing is always excellent, and I look forward to recommending this to
our library patrons.

Covid hits New York hard and comes in between Diana’s vacation plans with her boyfriend. As a surgeon, he has to stay home to work in the hospital but he tells Diana to go to the Galapagos anyways… and she does, but she gets stuck there.

This book is pretty much two different stories. There is an unexpected twist a little more than halfway through and it becomes a completely different tale. Don’t worry, you’d never guess it. I enjoyed the latter half much more the the beginning half. The beginning half was a slow read; lots of art details and some science details. I did really enjoy the descriptions of the hospital during Covid but it may be triggering to some who lost a loved one. Please be aware that it is very detailed. While it wasn’t my favorite, I think this book will take a place in history for its vivid descriptions of life during the pandemic.

“But then there are people who say that requiring a mask is a gross infringement of their bodily rights. I don’t know how to make it any more clear: you don’t have any bodily rights when you’re dead.”

Wish You Were Here comes out 11/30.

Ow, my heart. It needs a bandaid, or a fluffy rom-com. Possibly brownies. It's not like I'm surprised, Jodi Picoult consistently plucks my heartstrings like no other. But this book really walloped me right in the gooey, tender feels. I had no idea I still felt so raw inside about the last two years until I saw myself reflected in these pages. I haven't wanted to read any books actually set during the pandemic, but there's no better author than Picoult to handle it with care and feeling, while still remaining searingly honest. Wish You Were Here also tackles exploration of the mother/daughter relationship, and all its complexities, as many of this author's other works do. There is passion, ambition, motivation, and the loss of all of those things. There is darkness, sadness, fear, and so much anger. There might even be something a little mystical. But most of all, this is a story of hope, second chances, and living your most authentic life. Thank you to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for the chance to review this advance copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Just when I was about to abandon the book, the plot twist got me. It sparked enough curiosity to get me to finish. I don't know if this is simply a case of "too soon" given we're still in the pandemic in which she writes. The author mentions in her notes that she set out to capture the events of the time so future readers can look back and have a better understanding of what we experienced and I'll give her that - from watching Tiger King to sourdough starter to handmade masks to all the terms (social distancing, flatten the curve, etc.), she captured it all.