Second Glance

I will say that I liked this book better than the last Jodi Piccoult book we read. I mentioned to Amanda that Jodi's (yup, we're on a first name basis) books seem to always wrap up nicely at the end - everything fits - sometimes I like that, sometimes I don't. This time, I liked it. SPOILER ALERT - When Ross died at the end, I about threw the book across the newsroom in NYC.

The book was written in such a way that, I think, the author lets you "figure out" some information, but not so much that you'll stop reading. For example, I knew that Lia was a ghost from the first time Ross met her. However, what I didn't figure out is that she was Cecilia Pike. But hey, maybe I'm just not too bright.

The eugenics aspect really upset me. Mr. Pike and Lia's father drove me up the wall. There is NOTHING in this world that angers me more than close-minded, prejudiced people. I had never heard anything about eugenics (except, of course, Darwin's survival-of-the-fittest theory). So, I did some research. In the 1930's, such respected people as George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, Winston Churchill, Henry Ford, and Theodore Roosevelt embraced this theory. Hitler was the downfall of eugenics in the late 30's. However, it is a theory still pursued today. I googled eugenics and found too many websites, but one (www.eugenics.net) with papers written as recently as 2005.

Looking forward to hearing others' opinions - plus hearing posts on Twilight.