Book Review// House Rules by Jodi Picoult
Ok this is my first book review ever and it is going to take me ages as I am blunt and very opinionated so it's hard for me to balance my arguments and critical points. So bare with!
I attempted this book at a very fragile age of thirteen after reading and falling in love with Picoult's best seller, 'My Sister's Keeper'. Unfortunately, at this time, while I was reading 'House Rules' I didn't really have a broad understanding of law terms, a good vocabulary or a clear idea of what Asperger's syndrome (more on these themes in a moment) involved so I gave up about three quarters of the way through. But three and a half years later, in the summer of 2014, I decided to start again as I had absolutely nothing to read and no money to buy any new books. Just my luck, it was free in the kindle store!
'House Rules' tells the story of eighteen year old Jacob who has suffered with severe Asperger's syndrome since the age of three. His sudden diagnosis and recurrent breakdown's lead his father to walk out on himself, mother, Emma, and younger brother, Theo. The only contact kept with their father is the child support pay cheque which is sent around Christmas time each year. The story is told in Picoult's signature style, where we see the plot unfold through each character's perspective and learn all their back stories. This helps us take sympathy but creates a lot of confusion when we have to decide who's side we are going to take in the big court case...
So we start with this eighteen year old. We know a little bit about his back story and how his younger brother and mother have to 'bear the brunt' (as Theo says) of his Aspergers. Sympathy is taken on all three characters. Emma, as she has been left to single-handedly raise two children, one of which has a severe developmental disorder, and the other who has serious attitude problems and doesn't quite understand why his elder brother cannot be 'normal'. In the first few chapters, Picoult opens the door on how this syndrome causes distress on both the sufferer and their families. How the breakdowns occur when routine is disturbed, how the small things we barely notice can completley shake up someone with Asperger's such as being late for school or the colour orange. How these melt down's spark worry in the family, or the cruel but endless wishes that your brother/son would be 'normal'. It also highlights the early prejudice attitudes children can have when their parents do not educate them that people are different and that it is not their fault as the word 'retard'/'retarded' crops up quite a lot.
The book is not only purely fictional. Emma gives the reader an extremley interesting insight on the background of autism, the origins and the early research on the matter. Completley randomly as well, Jacob gives facts about his various obsessions such as forensic sciences, dinosaurs and dogs. Picoult sensationally adopts all the personas of each character. The testosterone induced mood swings and obsessive craving for belonging to a family of Theo, the constant worry and hatred within Emma and the rambling, blunt and literal world of Jacob. Every single character Picoult adopts has it's own distinctive characteristics leaving you wanting to know more as soon as you put the book down.
Now the law comes in and the author induces her readers into the world where mental and developmental disorders clash with law and social norms. This is where two new characters are introduced and we are welcomed into their worlds also. Rich, a senior police officer and crime scene investigator, and Oliver, an amateur lawyer who is new to the industry. They are placed into the plot as soon as readers start to develop an understanding of how Asperger's affects an individual. As soon as we take pity on Jacob and his family for what they have been through and their coping mechanisms, we are reminded that laws must be followed no matter who you are..whether you are asian, black, depressed, handicapped and so on and so forth. Throughout the last third of the book it seems like an endless battle for the law system to understand Jacob's difficulties despite being a legal adult but having the mental age of an infant which he cannot help. It is a gritty battle between justice and the social attitudes towards mental health, as well as a personal choice given to the reader by Picoult as to which victim should gain this justice. (*SPOILET ALERT*) The murder victim, or the victim of Asperger's syndrome and his poor, helpless family.
Now on to the personal stuff...
I'd give this book a four out of five. The author, Jodi Picoult, has an amazing and in depth knowledge on both law and the medical issues she discusses in her novel's. She also has the amazing skill of developing a "who dunnit" feeling in her books, as although the finger is pointing at a certain character for the unexpected murder which takes place in the book, readers are lead to question the innocence of some of the other characters. It is also obvious that she researches into the topics and themes, such as the history and conspiracy theories of the cause of AS and the heavy use of law and order lexis, of her novels which is a key trait needed to become an author. Personally, she would have gained extra credit from me if the law side of the story was a bit less heavy. It is realistic as to how much time the court case takes to see if Jacob is the real perpetrator of the murder, but as a reader I would have liked her to go further back into Jacob's past and get to the point a bit more quickly but without rushing it instead of *SPOILER ALERT* making Jacob's mum sleep with the lawyer who is about twenty years younger. But age is just a number, is it not?
Also, Picoult has played it too safe. It is an amazing read but she needs to start drifting out of her comfort zone. So, step away from the medical vs. law books and bring another controversial conflict into the limelight!
I attempted this book at a very fragile age of thirteen after reading and falling in love with Picoult's best seller, 'My Sister's Keeper'. Unfortunately, at this time, while I was reading 'House Rules' I didn't really have a broad understanding of law terms, a good vocabulary or a clear idea of what Asperger's syndrome (more on these themes in a moment) involved so I gave up about three quarters of the way through. But three and a half years later, in the summer of 2014, I decided to start again as I had absolutely nothing to read and no money to buy any new books. Just my luck, it was free in the kindle store!
'House Rules' tells the story of eighteen year old Jacob who has suffered with severe Asperger's syndrome since the age of three. His sudden diagnosis and recurrent breakdown's lead his father to walk out on himself, mother, Emma, and younger brother, Theo. The only contact kept with their father is the child support pay cheque which is sent around Christmas time each year. The story is told in Picoult's signature style, where we see the plot unfold through each character's perspective and learn all their back stories. This helps us take sympathy but creates a lot of confusion when we have to decide who's side we are going to take in the big court case...
So we start with this eighteen year old. We know a little bit about his back story and how his younger brother and mother have to 'bear the brunt' (as Theo says) of his Aspergers. Sympathy is taken on all three characters. Emma, as she has been left to single-handedly raise two children, one of which has a severe developmental disorder, and the other who has serious attitude problems and doesn't quite understand why his elder brother cannot be 'normal'. In the first few chapters, Picoult opens the door on how this syndrome causes distress on both the sufferer and their families. How the breakdowns occur when routine is disturbed, how the small things we barely notice can completley shake up someone with Asperger's such as being late for school or the colour orange. How these melt down's spark worry in the family, or the cruel but endless wishes that your brother/son would be 'normal'. It also highlights the early prejudice attitudes children can have when their parents do not educate them that people are different and that it is not their fault as the word 'retard'/'retarded' crops up quite a lot.
The book is not only purely fictional. Emma gives the reader an extremley interesting insight on the background of autism, the origins and the early research on the matter. Completley randomly as well, Jacob gives facts about his various obsessions such as forensic sciences, dinosaurs and dogs. Picoult sensationally adopts all the personas of each character. The testosterone induced mood swings and obsessive craving for belonging to a family of Theo, the constant worry and hatred within Emma and the rambling, blunt and literal world of Jacob. Every single character Picoult adopts has it's own distinctive characteristics leaving you wanting to know more as soon as you put the book down.
Now the law comes in and the author induces her readers into the world where mental and developmental disorders clash with law and social norms. This is where two new characters are introduced and we are welcomed into their worlds also. Rich, a senior police officer and crime scene investigator, and Oliver, an amateur lawyer who is new to the industry. They are placed into the plot as soon as readers start to develop an understanding of how Asperger's affects an individual. As soon as we take pity on Jacob and his family for what they have been through and their coping mechanisms, we are reminded that laws must be followed no matter who you are..whether you are asian, black, depressed, handicapped and so on and so forth. Throughout the last third of the book it seems like an endless battle for the law system to understand Jacob's difficulties despite being a legal adult but having the mental age of an infant which he cannot help. It is a gritty battle between justice and the social attitudes towards mental health, as well as a personal choice given to the reader by Picoult as to which victim should gain this justice. (*SPOILET ALERT*) The murder victim, or the victim of Asperger's syndrome and his poor, helpless family.
Now on to the personal stuff...
I'd give this book a four out of five. The author, Jodi Picoult, has an amazing and in depth knowledge on both law and the medical issues she discusses in her novel's. She also has the amazing skill of developing a "who dunnit" feeling in her books, as although the finger is pointing at a certain character for the unexpected murder which takes place in the book, readers are lead to question the innocence of some of the other characters. It is also obvious that she researches into the topics and themes, such as the history and conspiracy theories of the cause of AS and the heavy use of law and order lexis, of her novels which is a key trait needed to become an author. Personally, she would have gained extra credit from me if the law side of the story was a bit less heavy. It is realistic as to how much time the court case takes to see if Jacob is the real perpetrator of the murder, but as a reader I would have liked her to go further back into Jacob's past and get to the point a bit more quickly but without rushing it instead of *SPOILER ALERT* making Jacob's mum sleep with the lawyer who is about twenty years younger. But age is just a number, is it not?
Also, Picoult has played it too safe. It is an amazing read but she needs to start drifting out of her comfort zone. So, step away from the medical vs. law books and bring another controversial conflict into the limelight!
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