This book… ***Chefs kiss***

Disclaimer do not read while you are in quarantine from covid yourself. I read this when I was mildly sick with covid and it definitely rose my anxiety quite a bit.
So relatable, and has a beautiful Written POV of how Covid affected the character at the beginning of lock down. I would rather of been stranded in the Galapagos with a hot tour guide than fighting for TP in the USA during the beginning of the pandemic. From the very beginning this story sucks you in. I devoured this so quickly. Plot twists I didn’t see coming… I need a sequel it cannot end like this.

I wasn’t sure I was ready for a book about COVID, but this one wasn’t what I was expecting. I was delighted by the characters and the plot line. It was a bit depressing for awhile, but it picked up. The twist definitely got me, but not in a good way. I didn’t enjoy the twist or the ending.

As always, Jodi Picoult has a winner here. This book kept me gripped right from the beginning and had me all in my feelings the whole way through. Maybe it hit too close to home with the state of the world right now and being in the middle of a pandemic but it was so realistic. We have all experienced this in the last two years and I am sure so many people have had the same revelations as the main character. This is a heartfelt deep dive into what is important to us and the people around us. Highly recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🦠As Covid strikes Manhattan Diana must leave her surgeon boyfriend behind and go on their vacation to the Galapagos alone.

👍🏼Just as I was about to mark it as a DNF, Picoult took it into a direction I never saw coming.

👎🏼The first half of the book is slow and tedious.

✅Even though the book felt slightly slow and repetitive (especially the first half), days later I’m still thinking about it. It is well written, well researched with an interesting twist.

I LOVED this beautifully written and researched story about the early days of Covid. I was so surprised that my jaw dropped. I can't stop talking about this book!

For many, this book and the tough topics it dives into may just be a bit too soon. Covid-19 is a main part of Wish You Were Here and so if that is a trigger you may want to put this book on the to be read shelf until you are ready.

That being said, the journey that Diana begins when she is stranded on the Galapagos island is powerful. Cell service is not the best so it leaves her emotionally distant from her boyfriend, Finn who had to stay behind to work in the hospital. This time leaves her at a loss and eventually she starts making friends but she also starts examining where she is at in life as well as the important relationships in her life. (#No spoilers, so that means the review has to be intentionally vague)

Wish You Were Here was a powerful book that I read twice...and I can't say that I was entirely comfortable with the Covid-19 aspects of the book, but who is really comfortable with the pandemic right now? Having recently had covid and long covid symptoms makes the novel even more relevant and powerful.

Jodi Picoult tackles the hard stuff without shying away, and Diana's character development and growth are powerfully interwoven into a story with some interesting plot twists!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an advance review copy of Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult for me to read and enjoy. As always, my opinions are mine and my review is voluntary.

I was really excited to read my first Jodi Picoult book since she’s my mom’s favorite author, but I was a bit disappointed by this one. I really don’t think I was ready to read a book about covid when we are still in the middle of the pandemic. It felt a bit strange and I just don’t think I was ready for it.

My biggest issue with this book was that I could not stand the main character. Her decisions and thinking we’re not rational and it made me so angry. I did enjoy learning about her job, but she mostly annoyed me.

I enjoyed reading about the Galápagos and the scenic imagery, but it wasn’t enough to make me love this book. The twist did get me, though there definitely was a lot of foreshadowing.

I’d definitely be willing to read more books by Picoult, but this one wasn’t really for me.

2 stars

I’m going to be honest here, I can’t even believe that I finished this book. It is truly a testament to how much of a fan I am of Jodi Picoult. The main problem for me with this book is that it is Just. Too. Soon. I just couldn’t with COVID still going on and the lockdown is nowhere near a distant memory.

I enjoyed the first part of the book when Diana was in the Galapagos, and I was kind of into it. I had to skim read all the emails from Finn because I just didn’t want to read about COVID details. However, the second part of the book was just too much for me to handle. I totally get that Picoult writes about controversial topics, I mean, she had me hook, line, and sinker with My Sisters Keeper.

However, it is just too soon, the wounds are still too raw and reading about our ongoing reality just didn’t sit well with me. This, by no means, changes the fact that Picoult is one of my favorite authors and I will continue to read anything and everything she writes.


Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for my copy of this book via NetGalley

I loved this book. The description of the confusion and devastation at the beginning of the pandemic, drew me in from the beginning. We follow Diana's journey through the pandemic, how it changes her and the people around her. I suspect this story will stay with me for quite a while.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read, and review, this book.

I am usually a huge Jodi Picoult fan however I struggled with this book. It wasn’t bad by any means but nowhere near her best. I normally enjoy her twists but this one fell flat for me.

This is my second book by Jodi Picoult and not my last! While I did enjoy the story, I really liked the first part but didn't love the second part. Without giving spoilers, the major twist that lead to the second part and the ending didn't really hook me as much as the beginning. Overall it was still a great story and I definitely recommend it! Pretty significant COVID triggers so look into those if that impacts you.

I really wanted to love this one but I didn't. Maybe it was the topic - reading about the pandemic just hit close to home. Even though Picoult's writing pulled me in, I had a hard time connecting with the characters and couldn't root for them. There's a lot of specific detail about living in Covid times as well as facts about the virus that were challenging. I think if I read this book 10 years from now, I might appreciate it more.

Thanks to Ballantine and NetGalley for a copy to review.

I've never met a Jodi Picoult book that I didn't like, so when I saw Wish You Were Here as a wish list book on NetGalley I immediately wished for it, blindly.

I let this sit in my TBR for a little while because Jodi books, while are so great, seem a bit daunting to me. I feel like I can always count on her for long chapters, which a lot of the times seems intimidating to me. I saw a good amount of stellar reviews for this and decided to start. Still - blindly.

When I realized that Wish You Were Here is HEAVY on the Covid - like the entire book is centered around the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020), part of me wanted to DNF. I was getting flash backs of times of severe anxiety in my life (and many others I'm sure as well) and I wasn't sure I'd be able to continue. Usually I like to read as an escape and this was not the place I wanted to escape to.

I am SO GLAD I kept with it. I was so involved in the characters and the storyline... I was invested in Diana's time on the Galapagos and her relationships with Gabriel, Beatriz and Abuela.

And then part two happened.

I don't want to give any spoilers, but I did not see it coming. Over all I really enjoyed the book. It gave an important look into what the frontline workers were going through in a tasteful way... and I can truly say that when the book ended I was upset because I wanted more... fingers crossed for a sequal because I'm going to need an update.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for granting my wish with this one!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Jodi Picoult. It had a different feel than some of her other books (in a good way, honestly). Some may be put off by the time period (early COVID days) of the story, but for me, it was interesting. Like her other books, there is a lot in this book to think about, so it would be a good one for book clubs. I would definitely recommend this to others.

If you are patient, this will pay off. The first 60% was slow and I wasn’t captured but it the way Jodi Picoult can usually capture me. Then WHOA that plot twist comes out of nowhere. The rest of the story just flows and flies by.

As you would expect with Picoult, she has done her research and it’s evident in the story. The very early emotions perfectly capture what, I think, all of us went through in the early stages of COVID. In a broader sense, she flawlessly depicted so many experiences and emotions of the last almost two years: experiencing Covid to varying degrees; losing a loved one to the virus; working tirelessly though the pandemic; navigating lockdown and endless quarantine; re-evaluating everyday life in the midst of such loneliness and despair.

I wouldn’t say it’s your average Picoult book but overall hopeful and lovely and absolutely fascinating.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

I love Jodi Picoult some of her books have stayed with me and I always recommend! This book is set during the COVID pandemic. For some it may be a little too soon to read a book about the pandemic but when you are ready definitely pick this one up!

It’s no secret by now, that Jodi Picoult is my favorite author. I always am so excited for a new book of hers and have high expectations for each. So when one of her books isn’t amazing, I get a bit disappointed.

Jodi’s writing is always excellent, and she always it’s a great amount of research into each book. But sometimes the subject of the book using as interesting, and the was the case here. The topic of the pandemic was ok, but I didn’t really feel there could be a lot for her to write about to keep it interesting, and I was right.

I thought this one was much slower paced then many of her other novels, and the twist m, if you could call it that, was a bit confusing when normally they are jaw dropping. Of course I liked it, I will always like Picoult. But this one will not be one of my favorites. 3.5 stars

I used to read Jodi Picoult's works when I was younger -- Wish You Were Here is my first Picoult book in about a decade I would say, and it was not what I expected.

Like most books I read, I went into blind. I knew that it dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic, but that was the extent of what I knew. So when the story was unfolding, I was completely surprised at the second half of the novel.

So for those who'd like trigger warnings: be warned that this a realistic take on the advent of the pandemic and how it struck New York City.

But a majority of the book takes place in an island off near the Galapagos.

Enough said.

I recommend this book if you're a fan of Jodi Picoult. I think she really pushed the envelope here. I think as readers, we expect the authors we've come to love to have a certain style. Picoult, in my opinion, wrote an ambitious novel that she knew would not necessarily fit the mold of her earlier works and I think that is great. It's certainly contemporary, thoughtful, and nuanced in many ways.

The first of the pandemic books. This was so well thought out and philosophical while doing credit to the doctors working during these times.

This was such an inspiring and thoughtful read. It was reminiscent of the early phases on the covid-19 pandemic and how we were all struggling to find our footing. While it was a bit of a slow build, I enjoyed how it evoked such a reassuring and thought-provoking journey of someone we can all relate a little bit to.