This book offers one of the first looks at the emotional and mental effects of the Covid pandemic. Picoult focuses her gaze on a doctor trying to save lives in a New York hospital and on his girlfriend. The first half of the book takes place on an island in the Galapagos where the girlfriend is stranded. This section reads like a Harlequin romance and believability is stretched. Picoult’s fans will enjoy this page-turner, but others may want to pass.

Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors so I was super excited to get to read this book early. I didn’t know what to expect but Picoult did not disappoint. The Galapagos descriptions were amazing and I couldn’t put the story down, As usual , an amazing storyteller full of twists and turns,

**SPOILER-FREE REVIEW**

In “Wish You Were Here,” author Jodi Picoult successfully tackles the very real and very frightening subject of COVID. It is a timely and relevant story, one that is wrapped up in the guise of a fictional couple’s struggles as their deal with the new reality this pandemic evokes. In the process, perceptions are blurred, life choices are re-evaluated, and past hurts are subsequently put to rest. It’s a painstakingly detailed, heart-felt story (albeit a bit slow for my personal liking) that will stay with readers long after the last page has been read.

This is a captivating book that is based during covid from two different perspectives. I wish all that are anti covid , anti vaccine would read this book to understand the depth of covid and how critically important vaccines are to save lives. This is realistic heartfelt story of realities of covid.

The main charcter is a young 30's woman soon to be engaged to a doctor at the peak of her art career in New York. They have a fabulous life and plans for the future. In March 2020 they planned a trip to the Galapagos . The book, begins with her trip while her doctor boyfriend stays behind to work with covid patients in a New York Hospital. He is seeing patients die one after the other . Bodies stacked up in the hallways. Patient after patient dying alone. As he struggles through covid she arrives on a small island where her communication is cut off and the island is on lock down so she cannot leave. She becomes ingrained into the culture of the island each day exploring with a local family that helps her while she is stranded. With the banks closed on the island she is cut off from her funds as well as internet. She befriends this family and becomes close with the Father and young daughter. After a few weeks of isolation on the island they are on a swimming trip when she believes she is drowning. When she wakes up she is in a covid ward and realizes her time on the island was all a dream while she was in a coma on a ventilator. Her struggle to regain use of her body and breath again is inspiring and one everyone should read who doubts covid effects. She soon finds that other recovered covid patients experience the same type of effects while in a coma on the ventilators and she builds a support based on their shared experiences that opens her to a new life and a new career.

The struggle of her recovery from Covid takes her in a new life direction and opens her to new experiences. Her boyfriend continues to tell his story from the covid front lines that is inspiring and should make us all thankful that such dedicated doctors exist . This author has done a excellent job featuring both the pandemic front lines in a New York hospital and the woman's recovery from covid. This is a book we should all read to better understand covid and the time of March 2020. If you know of any covid deniers, do give them this book to read. It will educate them of the realities of covid. A very well told book I highly recommend.

I received this arc from NetGalley for an honest review. This is another very good Jodi Picoult novel. This story goes into great detail about the Coronavirus and how different people cope with the virus and it’s many scary side affects. The story is about an art major, Diane, who contracts the virus and needs to go on a ventilator. Her boyfriend is a surgical resident who needs to work in the Covid wards . The descriptions of the virus, the precautions we all had to take and the fear and isolation and death were all real for those of us who lived thru the pandemic . When this book is read in the future, it will certainly give the readers a glimpse at what life was like from 2019-2021 and post vaccinated times. This was a very trying time for the world and Jodi put this tragedy into a very heart warming story.

The novel takes place in the year 2020 as the main character is living in the COVID impacted year. Diana has a plan for her life, but COVID derails what she thinks she knows and wants. I really enjoyed this novel, but I would like a true ending for the book. This is the second novel that I have read my Piccoult that doesn't have a true conclusion. If she continues this writing style, I won't be reading her work anymore.

Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors. She's the reason why I wanted to become a writer and am one. Wish You Were Here is such an amazing book! I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish and did not want it to end. I liked Diana... She had this feistiness to her that was entertaining at times. The way Jodi told the experience of the pandemic through Diana's perspective was so vivid and accurate. My parents had covid and both survived it. My dad has alzheimers and when he got covid, he was so out of it. It really hit home reading about Diana's mother because I know what it's like to have a parent who is sick with dementia. I highly recommend this book to everyone. This is now one of top favorite books by Jodi Picoult. Such an amazing read and never a dull moment.

No spoilers...

This novel focuses mainly on the experiences and thoughts of one particular woman, Diana O'Toole, during the surreal period of time surrounding the initial changes in the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Although the narrative didn't go anywhere that I had expected given the synopsis, I am sure that it will create an intense dialogue and would make an excellent choice for a book club. Finding myself unable to really give an analysis of the story because of possible spoilers, I do think that there were several truths that were articulated quite well by the author even though I'll admit that I really hated the ending. Isolation, quarantine, multiple losses, and the realization that most everything is not really under our control were universal experiences during the lockdowns. Changes happened. Are any of us the same person we were before this virus exploded?

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this e-book ARC to read and review.

More to come after publication.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e ARC of this book.
I did not realize before I started reading that this book dealt with the pandemic. I found it to be a hard read because pandemic events are way too close. But I kept going and found the underlying issues raised were some most of us are dealing with. Wonderful characters are beautifully developed and believable. Probably I would have handled it better a couple of years down the road.

Early access to the new Jodi Picoult book! I was delighted to read this one and did not see the twist coming. I enjoyed this one very much. Every time that there is a new book out by Jodi, I am also anxious to get them and see them. I enjoy that I learn new things while having a story woven in so perfectly. Thank you for the amazing opportunity to review this one.

I really enjoyed this book. Character development was good. The plot was very interesting. Not a lot of typos.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. I saw it was Jodi Picoult and started reading. I wasn't prepared for it to be about Covid already, and it might be too soon for some readers. I think we all felt like we were on an island during some point in 2020. I wasn't prepared for there to be a twist. Ms. Picoult has done a wonderful job of once again giving several sides to a current and difficult topic.

Jodi Picoult is one of the most amazing authors of this generation. Initially, in the beginning of the book, I was disappointed in the story line Then she hits you with a punch that will knock you out. Have been telling everyone what a marvelous story and writer she is! Kudos Ms. Picoult!

I'm delighted that I was able to read an advance copy of this book thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. I requested it on the basis of Picoult's previous books and didn't know much about the plot. I think it was one of her most clever books to date; I was stunned by events in the book, and that doesn't happen often. She truly brought her characters to life. Had I realized so much of the book was about COVID, I might not have chosen to read it, but I'm very glad I did. There are things in the book that I normally would have found unbelievable, but they worked in this particular scenario. The book is very powerful and thought-provoking, and I think it would make an excellent choice for book discussion groups. I highly recommend it.

Another wonderful read by Jodi Picoult.
A novel that raises questions. Makes you think about how much time is truly left in your life and if you’re where you need to be. A fictionally real adaptation of the pandemic we all just lived through, I ended this book with a sigh, knowing that it’s time to fully start living this life. Because tomorrow is never promised.

When the COVID-19 virus erupted from Wuhan, China in early 2020, the entire world was affected. As the months wore on, various mandates were enacted in an effort to ameliorate the effects of the virus on the human race, I wondered how it would be chronicled by the artists of the world. Now in mid 2021; as we are finally seemingly on the back side of the pandemic, Wish You Were Here has appeared. The main character, Diana, is on a career track at Sotheby’s and has almost convinced “Yoko Ono” to allow Sotheby’s to auction a Toulouse Lautrec painting when the pandemic is starting. Her boyfriend Finn is a surgeon in NYC and is soon overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases. They had planned an extensive trip to the Galápagos Islands for this exact time and Diana goes alone since Finn couldn’t get away. The author has crafted an imaginative story with well developed characters and a message basically to Carpe Diem. I’m not sure why she felt the need to change the names of the Beatles, John Lennon, and Yoko Ono.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this ARC due to be published in November 2021.

I received a complimentary copy of Wish You Were Here from NetGalley.  Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

My only lament: I wish there was more! Jodi Picoult sure knows how to tug at a reader’s emotions. I laughed, cringed, and commiserated with Diana, who gradually became a quasi-unreliable narrator. Her time on the Galapagos Island, Isabella, spent with Gabriel and his daughter, Beatriz, were my favorite parts of the novel. This author depicts the choreography of new (and existing)relationships in such a way that I feel like I am there with them. Fantastic novel!

I haven't read a book quite this before and I wasn't sure if I was ready for a book so realistically depicting the way the world changed in March 2020, but I am grateful that I read this new novel by Jodi Picoult. For me, this was the best book I have read by this author in a while and I think it was because of the way in which she wrote a realistic fiction book that was clearly accurate and vividly real regarding something that the entire world went through. The variety of characters in this book and their personal interactions with Covid, reminded me so much of different experiences that people I know personally had during this time, including myself. I think that relatability is what made this such a strong read for me. The author's note at the end had me teared up because one of the things that truly got many of us through this time period was reading and other artistic outlets and with this story, Picoult shows how she was able to deal with what she was feeling and experiencing. I do think that this book may be hard for some people to read due to the emotional impact of the pandemic, but I am glad I was given a chance to read it early by netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Jodi Picoult has written another amazing novel. After her last, I was a bit apprehensive about this one, but put what I was reading aside to devour this one as soon as I received it. Wish You Were Here is well written and as is often the case with Picoult novels, takes on current events. I learned several things about the medical treatments and struggles the people in the medical field endured during the Covid pandemic. It was not an overwhelming amount of boring knowledge, but just enough to bring empathy to the story. The mention of the Galapagos islands in the description really grabbed my attention as it is a bucket list item for me and the parts about Diane's stay there was a nice "vacation" from the Covid struggles addressed within the novel. Picoult wowed me, educated me, and took me on an emotional rollercoaster with this one. I can't wait for it to be released so I can recommend it to my book club!

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC - I was so elated when I got the copy of this book!!! I love all Jodi Picoult books so I put it to the top of my list and was NOT disappointed!!! The story starts March 2020, the beginning of the pandemic. Not to give any spoilers, but there is a huge twist I did not see coming. The characters evolved as I think we all did throughout this pandemic.
Definitely recommend!!!!