If you have plans to read My Sisters Keeper, don’t read this.
I mean it.
I don’t want to ruin an awesome book for you. Move along.

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Ok. I think they’re gone.
You know a book is going to be pretty darn good if it’s made into a movie. But I wasn’t expecting much, because I’m not always a fan of the trendy books. Take Twilight, for instance. Well, maybe that’s a little young adult for me. Alright, 50 Shades. Gag me. If there had been some semblance of a plot, perhaps I could have gotten on board. But it was trash, plain & simple. And reading the synopsis on the back cover of this one, I wasn’t convinced that it would be entertaining or worth my time. But I’ve read several of Jodi Picoult’s other novels & enjoyed them, so I dove in. I was totally engrossed within twenty pages. I was reading excerpts to everyone & telling them what all was happening. I lugged it to work & the people who really know me watched my progress, surprised I hadn’t covered more ground Friday to Saturday, while others were like, “Dang, that’s a thick book.” By a hundred pages, so much stuff had already happened, I wasn’t sure I could keep up with much more. And the fact that it’s fiction was that much more unbelievable.
This family has a son, then a daughter. At age two, the daughter is diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia. It’s nearly impossible to find a donor match for bone marrow. So the doctor suggests adding an addition to their family. They genetically design a perfect match for Kate, so she can reap the benefits at her sister’s expense.
Enter Anna. Except Anna doesn’t have a name till after she’s born, after the stem cells are taken from her umbilical cord. Her mother was so busy concentrating on getting Kate help, in the form of a donor body, she seems to forget she’s her CHILD.
And so it goes on. Kate is in remission for a few years, and then she needs platelets. Anna to the rescue. Then more. Then a third time. Still it isn’t enough, and they have to draw bone marrow, a fairly invasive procedure, especially for a five year old. She is hospitalized, and her mother can barely be bothered to leave her older sister’s bedside to come to her youngest child’s. Anna isn’t allowed to go to hockey camp or anywhere in fear that Kate will need something quick fast & in a hurry.
When the book begins, Anna is struggling with the decision to give a kidney to Kate. Anna is thirteen. She has researched all the ways this surgery can effect her now and in the years to come. She’s scared, and she feels guilty. But the transplant is no sure cure. Anna retains a lawyer.
There are side stories here, that, contrary to what a bunch of people on Goodreads think, are important to the story. There are relationships between Sara (the mom) and her sister. Between the guardian (assigned by the court to Anna), and the lawyer, and her twin sister. There is the older brother, who is causing mayhem everywhere he goes. There’s a lot going on, I’m telling you. Anna is virtually invisible to everyone but Kate. There are few pictures of her, and if she’s late to dinner, rarely does anyone notice until Kate reminds them.
The book is told in several different viewpoints. About the only person you don’t hear from is Kate, and she’s the central issue. You wonder how she feels, being protected her whole life by everyone she meets. You have a hard time hating her, even though you kinda want to.
At the end, you find out how Kate feels.
Now is the time to heed my warning if you didn’t before.
She is the one who asked Anna to not give the kidney. She’s tired. She’s tried to take her own life twice already. She knows her family is cracking under the years of pressure. She knows she’s going to die anyway.
So all this comes out in court, they go to Kate’s hospital room, she confirms it, and back to the courthouse they go, media slogging with them the entire time. The judge rules that it’s ultimately Anna’s decision, and dismisses them all.
The last ten pages made me want to throw up.
Anna is struck with indecision, she wants to give her sister the kidney, her mom desperately wants her to give her the kidney, basically everyone is pro-kidney except the recipient. They’re all on the way back to the hospital. The father is a fire captain, he gets a page about a car crash nearby, so he detours to see if he can lend a hand.
It’s Anna & her lawyer.
Anna is barely hanging on, and has brain damage when she is admitted to the ER. The lawyer has medical power of attorney & says she will give the kidney.
So you lose Anna, and Kate is still living ten years later. The juvenile delinquent brother becomes a decorated police officer, and they all live happily ever after, minus Anna.
The only thing everyone is in agreement in on Goodreads is that the mother Sara is the devil incarnate. No, I didn’t like the ending, but that isn’t the point. Karma would have been a car wreck but Kate dying at the same time, and the brother getting incarcerated for life, so the wicked witch would lose all three children while she was so busy worrying about her favorite one.
Five solid stars. I loved it.