'Nineteen Minutes'- Jodi Picoult

Recommended to me by:
Alexa.

In her words 'This is the book teenagers across the World must be reading. Not that book written by the woman with the thesaurus that set Feminism a 100 years back'

Rating:
4 1/2 on 5

Review:
One teenager goes on a shooting spree, killing ten of his schoolmates and injuring several others. Why? That's what this book is all about. What made Peter Houghton a killer? Who is responsible for that? Uncomfortable questions. Questions everyone would shy away from. Questions that would haunt and change lives. And Jodi Picoult asks them all in this brilliant book.

It is a very depressing tale. Sorrow, grief, anger, hatred- you can feel it all. But when Picoult takes you on a journey to find what makes the 'bad guy' a bad guy, you know this is something worth learning. As I read through the book, I sometimes just zoned off, asking to myself questions like 'What is behind someone suicidal? What is behind a killer?'And as this book answers: 'Society' or rather, its attitude.

Something that starts out as teasing each other, moves on to bullying and leads to acts unimaginably horrific. Nineteen minutes changed lives completely. But those nineteen minutes were the result of being oppressed and hurt for years.

Picoult sure is a gifted writer to keep you hooked to the book for more than 450 pages. The characters are alarmingly realistic- you can feel the pain and find yourself sympathetic at times to even the killer. After all, he is the victim of society.

The plot is stunning, especially towards the end. This book is a must-read for everyone, especially High School students because what starts out small and inconspicuous might just be the biggest monster unleashed on society, by society.

Impact:
Believe it or not, I found asking myself this : "What made Ajmal Amir Kasab do what he did? Why?"

Now that's what a good book does.