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Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult Book Review

Reasons For Reading This Book:

I have liked a Jodi Picoult book in the past Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult, and was looking for another book by her when I came across Small Great Things under her book list. I read the description and was intrigued. I happened to read this during Black History Month in 2024, but that was not intentional. Midway through reading it I mentioned to my mom that I was reading it and she told me she stopped reading it before she finished. I was liking it so far and personally had no reason to stop so I did not.

Content of This Book:

Ruth Jefferson has been labor and delivery nurse at the same hospital for twenty years. She is a widow and mother to a gifted teenage son. Her life is flipped upside down when she becomes the center of a criminal case relating to the death of a baby who was a patient at the hospital she works at. Per the parents request Ruth is removed from the care of baby Davis because of her race. Due to the lack or lack thereof of her reaction baby Davis dies during a medical emergency at the hospital. Ruth has done everything in her power to remove herself from the stereotype of her race and is trying to do the same for her son. The induction of her public defender Kennedy McQuarrie into the book, brings a different perspective to the case as she knows how to handle the legality of it, but she is also toeing with it being a racially driven case and her being white and not fully understanding how this is affecting Ruth. The opposing narration of this book is through Turk, baby Davis' father who has a troubled past and is an active white supremacist. The story is told with incredible empathy, intelligence, and candor, Jodi Picoult tackles race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion - and doesn’t offer easy answers.

What I Liked About This Book:

I loved the contrasting narrations between all characters. It was interesting to read how the case was affecting Kennedy and Ruth both personally and professionally, and how it affecting Turk personally. I never would have expected that this story would evolve into such a well-thought out and developed plot where all details were thought of. I have read many books where the plot is focused on a court case, but something new I learned about was the jury process. It also showed just how important the jury is to a case. I also appreciated that the plot was a mix of the trial/case and the character's personal lives. The author was able to weave in and transition from one plot to the other effortlessly. The author also gave a full-picture view of what the character's were like as they grew up and what lead them to be the people they were at the time of the trial. This helped to not only know how they came to be the way they are, but also gave the reader the ability to know their character and qualities to better predict how they would act in different situations. Even though the book is centered on the topic of race, it is done in a way that is not  judgmental and preachy. Instead the conversations, experiences, and lessons learned by the characters are the teaching moments about race in this book. I was absolutely hooked from the beginning all the way until the end. Even though I was not particularity biased towards one outcome or not, I felt satisfied by the ending and justified in the conclusion of the case. The last thing I will compliment this author on is the satisfactory epilogue. I love a good and worthwhile epilogue and this book had one. So thank you for that.

What I Disliked About This Book:

This is a complaint that is personal to me and would probably not bother as many readers as it did me, but I am very sensitive to violence and the vivid descriptions of the fighting was too much for me and I had to skip or quickly skim those sections because of how they affect me. I know this may not be the same for other readers but I did want to make a note of it that Turk's sections do include multiple instances of violence. 

Would I Recommend This Book?

Hands down I would recommend this book. There were many memorable parts and the overall message and plot is worth the read. I think I picked the perfect book to read during Black History Month. 

  
Check out my book reviews for 2024!!


Check out my book reviews for 2023!!

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Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
Hester by Laurie Pico Albanese
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Environmental and Sustainability Book Reviews 2022
Self-Improvement Book Reviews 2022
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
Not All Diamonds and Rosé by Dave Quinn
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham 
Girls With Bright Futures by Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman
Run, Rose, Run by James Patterson and Dolly Parton
The Summer Series by Jenny Han
A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard
The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives by Brian Moylan
Verity by Colleen Hoover
All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart 
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Majesty: American Royals 2 by Kathrine McGree
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Check out my book reviews for 2021!!

2021 Book Rankings

Beach Read By Emily Henry
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Educated by Tara Westover
The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 
The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins 
We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins 
We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Klara and the Sun 
The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner
American Duchess by Karen Harper 
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
Girl With No Job by Claudia Oshry
Down the Habit Hole by Holly Madison Book Review
My Story by Elizabeth Smart
Layla by Colleen Hoover

Check out my book reviews for 2020!!

Check out my book reviews for 2019!!

Check out my book reviews from 2018!!


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