Classic Jodi Piccoult yet, coming out of two years of Covid this book is so relevant. Will really have you thinking and wondering if this really belongs in the fiction section. Expect to be shocked. A great book - entertaining and thought provoking.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for a copy of Jodi Picoult’s novel Wish You Were Here.

Diana’s life is going according to her plan. She works at an auction house and is about to orchestrate a career changing sale of a famous piece of art. Her long-time boyfriend, Finn, is finishing his residency at a local hospital and will be a surgeon. Diana is confident that Finn will propose to her on their upcoming Galapagos vacation and soon, they will be married and buying their first home. Life is perfect in early 2020.

Finn’s boss cancels all vacation requests as pandemic worries begin to grow, but Finn presses Diana to take their vacation alone. Nervous to travel solo and missing Finn, Diana arrives in Galapagos, and is forced to make an quick decision; she can either stay on the island or head back to the airport, with no guarantee of making a flight, as the world is starting to shut-down due to the pandemic. She has no cell service and is unaware of the severity of the situation. Diana decides to stay and ends up stuck on a remote island discovering that the hotel where she had reservations, has closed. A kind local woman allows Diana to stay in a small apartment that used to belong to her son.

Alone, isolated, and unable to contact Finn, Diana begins to embrace being stuck in paradise. She befriends a local teenage girl and the girl’s handsome father, who happens to be the previous tenant of the apartment where she is staying. Diana finds a second family and an alternative life in the Galapagos, while Finn is fighting on the frontlines in a New York hospital.

When I started reading Wish You Were Here and realized it was yet another pandemic story, I nearly stopped reading. It makes sense that so many pandemic stories are publishing now and that so many authors would be compelled to write pandemic stories, but it also is a subject that I don’t want to keep revisiting. However, to would-be-readers in a similar state of mind, don’t give up on this one.

Picoult presents both a twist on the pandemic story and a huge, monumental, didn’t see it coming, surprise half-way through. I was just about to stop reading for the evening and I encountered the twist, which propelled me to read for another hour. It was a huge shock and even better, it ties to intriguing themes of the story which are not strictly pandemic related. Wish You Were Here is far more broad thematically and would have been a different story if the pandemic had not occurred, but likely still would have been written.

I’ve read many of Picoult’s books and I’m a fan, but Wish You Were Here, just may be her best one yet.

My favorite book of the year so far! What a fantastic read dealing with current events of Covid! I loved it!,

4.25 stars

While a little different from most Picoult books, still a fantastic read. This book was done very very well. I felt very invested in the journeys the main character takes. I am very immunocompromised so I stayed up to date on all things Covid as they were happening, but I did learn a lot reading this book... Mainly about The Galápagos. I was completely ignorant to this part of the world. The scenery and experiences on Isabel were written very well. I really enjoy Jodis books.

Diana O’Toole has everything figured out regarding her life and her future, but what happens when her plans go awry? Can Diana adapt and change to her new reality?

I have always been a huge fan of Jodi Picoult, especially how she is able to craft lifelike characters into intricate and realistic settings. The beauty of the Galápagos Islands, as well as the hustle and bustle of life in New York City, comes through in Picoult's capable hands. Diana's life story, the reasons for the decisions she makes, is unspooled a little at a time. Those in Diana's life: her mother, her boyfriend Finn, her best friend Rodney, and others are treated with wider brushstrokes.

The issue I had with the book was twofold: one, the author took too familiar of a path and the book was predictable. Two, the author did not dig deep enough into Diana's past and missed out on an opportunity to provide the main character more depth. I wished that the book dealt more with Near Death Experiences and the neurological explanations of what Diana experienced.

Jodi Picoult explained in the author's note how each one of us will have our own Covid origin story, not unlike the one that some of us have for 9/11. I do like how she tackled the issues from early on in the pandemic, especially how the protocols kept changing as the scientists learned more.

Overall, I found Wish You Were Here to be a little too repetitive and predictable, but I would recommend it to other readers.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy of Wish You Were Here by NetGalley and the publisher. The decision to read and review this book was entirely my own.

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult is an excellent novel that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It is about the experiences of a young couple during COVID. What happened to them and how they were affected by the turmoil that COVID caused is explored. The plot is very creative as one of the main characters becomes stranded in another country as her boyfriend is left behind working at a hospital as a physician. I would recommend this novel to anyone who is looking to read an interesting and worthwhile read.

This was like an old episode of Dallas for those of you who are familiar with that show. I am sure some will LOVE the plot twist and others will feel like it was bad form. I myself did not appreciate it. I typically like Jodi Picoult books, so this one was just a tiny blip on the radar. Willl look forward to her next book. Thank you to NetGalley, Jodi Picoult and the publisher for providing me with this ARC.

I am a big Jodi Picoult fan, but as a New Yorker, this book was a little too close for comfort and I need more time removed from the beginning of Covid to be able to really enjoy it. I got about 35% of the way through the book, but the memories it evoked were unfortunately too strong for me to appreciate the story, characters, and setting.

Maybe in a few years! Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This novel was SPECTACULAR! I have already recommended it to multiple people who have equally loved it as mhuch as I did. Without revealing any spoilers, I loved the twist. It came at the perfect moment, and completely shifted the trajectory of the story. I love Jodi Picoult, and am happy to see her returning to her effortless, intriguing story telling. I had put her on the back burner for a few years because I was not enjoying her books quite as much. This one brought me right back! If I could complain about one thing...it would be the blatant left leaning politics in the story. As a story teller, you really don't want to alienate any of your readers, and this could easily make someone put the book down.

I like this author & have heard good things. I will not be reviewing it since it is a 2021 book and I did not read it in time for our award program cut off, but I wish it all the best!

Ooooof. This one was hard to read. Well done in true Jodi Picoult fashion with her signature willingness to tackle real and timely issues. But as we're still in an active pandemic it hits a bit close to home. You'll feel many feelings while reading.

I’ve loved all of Jodi Picoult’s books so far, and this one is no different. The characters were wonderfully complex and the settings were beautifully described. The shift between Part One and Part Two caught me completely off guard, but in the best possible way. That being said, I definitely enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second half. And I wish the ending hadn’t been quiet so open.

If you're comfortable reliving the pandemic, this is the book to read. Throughout I kept thinking of the saying "man makes plans and God laughs" because it seemed to fit. Diana thinks she has her whole life figured out - the career path she'll be on, when and who she'll marry, the life they'll have together; all of it. She's scheduled for a trip to the Galápagos where she expects her boyfriend will propose marriage when the pandemic hits and everything she expects changes. The vacation isn't as she's planned; and everything that follows is unexpected. This accurately depicts life in the early days of Covid and I think it will hold up for years to come.

The main character luckily gets trapped on the island of Isadora in the Galapagos Islands right when COVID is tearing through the world. She manages to escape the death grab of NYC as the world comes crashing down while on vacation on a tropical island... or does she?

As we are still living in this world where COVID is very much present I have not been drawn to movies/tv/books that continue to remind me that it is everywhere. However, having been a Jodi Picoult fan for a while I knew that she would have an interesting angle that she researched far and wide before writing this book, and boy was I right! In a world where bad things happen every day she took us to another realm where alternate realities might exist and give new life, which fascinated me. While it was equally heartbreaking and beautiful, it makes you wonder who else might have experienced these dreams while on a ventilator and if they did so before the pandemic.

I, however, was not a fan of how she ended the book. I had grown to love Finn and felt the heartbreak for him after all he had gone through and continued to go through practically living in the hospital. I also know, as a nurse, how NDE can cause you to re-evaluate your life and where it is going. Shoutout to the strong females choosing their destinies!
While I felt like I was living in the Galapagos with Diana and loved the scenery that I was able to imagine reading this book, the ending bumped the final rating of the book for me. I would love to hear what happens when she goes back to the island and what she finds... sequel maybe? While I will recommend this book to friends and all Jodi Picoult fans, I do thing it should come with a trigger warning for those that have experienced loss due to COVID.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book thanks to Jodi Picoult and Ballantine Books. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you’re not in the headspace to read/hear more about covid then save this book until you are ready. This book is absolutely worth the wait.

This book is powerful and in a way is something everyone can relate to in one way or another. We all found ourselves living a perfectly normal life when covid first started and then all of sudden life around us shut down. This is exactly where Diana finds herself except, she and her long-term boyfriend (Finn) are planning their bucket list vacation to the Galapagos before everything begins to shut down. Finn is a surgical resident and his hospital is all hands-on deck, forcing him to cancel the vacation but he still urges Diana to go. Once she gets there everything seems to go wrong, the world shuts down, she has nowhere to go and no Wi-Fi. She luckily finds a family to take her in during this trying time.

Diana experiences the pandemic like everyone else, day by day and with a lot of uncertainty. She begins to reevaluate her career, her family dynamics and friendships. This book is an emotional rollercoaster from the very beginning to the very end.

If you know Jodi Picoult books then you know there’s always twist and I did not expect this one.

Oh this book. Maybe it was too soon to read about the pandemic? I didn’t feel that way until midway through when the entire book flips on you and you’re like, “wait a minute?!”

I really enjoyed learning about the Galápagos Islands and the island life there. I wanted to stay in that part of the book forever so I was a bit disappointed when there was a switch but I gathered myself and ended up really enjoying the way she had to process being back in the states. The art industry was fun to learn about too.

Fun twists and an easy book to follow. Definitely recommend. Thanks @netgalley for the free arc!!

Thank you NetGalley & Random House for the free review copy. Having just recovered from c*v*d, I thought this would be a good time to review this title that I read earlier this year. Diana is a professional in the art auction world and looking forward to a getaway to the Galapagos with her fiancé when the pandemic hits and the world shuts down. Diana choses to continue on the trip without Finn, who as a resident in a NYC hospital, stays to fight the influx of desperately sick and dying patients.

It was interesting to see Diana analyzing her relationship with Finn through the lens of the onset of a major global pandemic. It certainly brought to light thoughts and considerations she may not have broached otherwise. Picoult is so adept at writing to the human condition and heart. Nothing like a global pandemic to make you step back and assess the things and moments that truly speak to your soul, and realize that they are not monetary, but the basic comforts of life and love.

I switched between the kindle and audio versions and the audio is done very well. And enough time had passed since the onset of the pandemic so that reading about it did not cause triggers or panic, but the ability to look at how something momentous can affect our lives and outlooks in ways we never imagined.

I personally really enjoyed this one, I know a lot of people seemed to be hesitant because it happened in the world of covid, but personally it felt all the more real to me!

Thanks to #NetGalley for proving a copy of this ARC BUT unfortunately I was unable to finish this book. Just wasn't interested in the offbeat plot/love story. She winds up literally at the ends of the earth with wi-fi when it's convenient and guilt about a boyfriend she left behind in NY? The whole thing is so unlikely and strained credulity and I just couldn't finish. After reading about her "plot twist" I'm extremely happy I didn't because that would have made me angry--as if I'd wasted my time on the first half of the story.

rating: 5/5
genre: literary fiction

oh man. this was GOOD YALL. so good.

after hearing that WISH YOU WERE HERE focused around the pandemic i was unsure how i would feel. for me personally, i did not consider this plot point an absolute no but i can definitely understand how some may not be ready or desire picking it up for that reason. i must say that while it IS heavy, to me this is a necessary read and left me quite speechless by the end. Picoult gave some great perspective about the pandemic and it dug up a lot of emotions and realllyyy made me think. plus the character arc is superb and really resonated with me, as i think it will for a lot of people, who feel that while the pandemic has caused a lot of pain and suffering, there was also a lot to be learned.. this book made me really feel seen, and i just loved that. and can i say that we got one of the BEST TWISTS?!? like... mind blown.

i read other reviews claiming part 1 (prior to the mic drop) was slow for them, but i personally loved and devoured it. just goes to show - different strokes for different folks!

i ended up borrowing WISH YOU WERE HERE from the library - mostly because, as i said, i wasn't sure what my thoughts would be or how i would feel. i wish more than anything i owned a copy of this book so i could hug it and re-read my favorite quotes. like @emilybookedup said, Picoult's writing is like BUTTAH. chefs kiss. if you read this i would love to hear your thoughts!

so many great quotes but these are my favs:
“All of us are grieving something. But while we are, we're putting one foot in front of the other. We're waking up to see another day. We're pushing through uncertainty, even if we can't yet see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are battered and broken, but we're all small miracles.”

"When I try to make sense of the past year, it feels to me like the world pressed pause. When we stopped moving, we noticed that the ways we have chosen to validate ourselves are lists of items or experiences we need to have, goals that are monetary or mercenary. Now, I’m wondering why those were ever even goals. We don’t need those things to feel whole. We need to wake up in the morning. We need our bodies to function. We need to enjoy a meal. We need a roof over our head. We need to surround ourselves with people we love. We need to take the wins in a much smaller way.”