Wish You Were Here.

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CONTAINS SPOILERS

Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world. She’s not engaged just yet, but she knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galápagos—days before her thirtieth birthday. Right on time. 

But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It’s all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. You should still go, he assures her, since it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes. 

Almost immediately, Diana’s dream vacation goes awry. The whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone. Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father’s suspicion of outsiders. 

Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself—and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different.

 

 

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Wish You Were Here will take your breath away. 

It is not a surprise that I loved this book. Jodi Picoult has been one of my favorites since getting my first college degree. I am always looking forward to her books. I pre-ordered a few of her books in the past. Wish You Were Here was unlike her other books, a unique style that I am used to. It’s a story that everyone could relate to during this pandemic. When I heard that Jodi’s newest book was about COVID-19, I was not sure about it at first. I did not know if I would enjoy reading about something that everyone wants to forget. I didn’t have COVID-19, but my 90-year-old grandfather and a few of my friends had it. However, since I love Jodi Picoult’s books, I decided to give it a chance. Once I started, I knew that I had made the right decision. When I picked up Wish You Were Here , I could not force myself to put the book down. It was sad to read about, but it also had good parts, which you found yourself lost in. Wish You Were Here is not a book where your heart will not be shattered into million pieces. 

When I was taking Biology, I learned a little about the Galapagos Islands. Once I finished Wish You Were Here, I felt as if I knew much more. I wanted to go there for a chance to explore everything that Diana did. Everything that Diana studied there, all the people she met and formed relationships with, felt natural. I have read a book with unexpected twists before, but nothing like this one. Like Diana, I didn’t want to believe that it was not real, that it all happened because she had a severe case of COVID-19. There is the reason that Jodi Picoult books always intrigue me, which is one reason. I felt as I read two different stories of Diana. Part of me wished that her going to the Island was real, and I did not want to believe that everyone she met wasn’t real. So many emotions went through me while reading Wish You Were Here long after turning the last page. 

Of all her books, Wish You Were Here has become my favorite. For me, it was an inspirational book to read. This is the story that will stay with you long after you turn the last page. I cannot see what Jodi Picoult will come up with next.