Picture Perfect: Reading Response

This week, I went head first into one of my favorite books that I haven't read in years; Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult. First of all, Jodi Picoult is by far my favorite author. Her writing style sends a clear message but is unique because she usually writes from the perspectives of all her characters that she introduces. The author writes from the point of view of the main characters in different times during their lifetime. It’s quite cleaver, in fact because Picoult unwinds the story piece by piece until the whole thing unravels in the end. Some endings are peaceful and leave the reader feeling content; other stories are filled with passion of rage how she ended the book so poorly. In either case, Picoult definitely leaves the reader filled with raw emotions.

Picture Perfect starts off with an old Native American tale about a man (Strong Wind) who was loved in his village by all. His skill as a fighter made all the women fall madly in love with him, doing anything it would take to get his attention. He said that he would marry the first maiden to see him come home at night. There was a lovely girl who was the youngest of three who was so beautiful that her sisters tried to mask her physical beauty. Strong Wind and the girl got married because she admitted to not seeing him, but he revealed himself to her. I believe that this is an extremely important part of the book. Not only is it setting up the story for the reader, but it is foreshadowing what is going to happen in the story.

The novel starts off with a girl who wakes up in a cemetery not knowing how she got there or how she got the blood on her head. We are introduced to a character named William Flying Horse, a Native American man. His car breaks down along the side of the road and he gets out in frustration. Then the woman, Cassie, walks towards him and says, “Not you too” and then passes out. They end up going to the police station and turning her in as a missing person, due to her amnesia. Sadly, the police cannot make it a report because she hasn’t been lost for over 24 hours; the police do know, however that Cassie is married. Cassie forms a relationship with Will and she stays in his new apartment for three days. During this time, she sees all of Will’s unopened boxes and decides it would be a nice gesture to unpack the boxes in the living room so he can be more settled in. Will does not give the reaction she was expecting. Instead of being appreciative of what she has done, he exploded and took her down to the police station. A few hours later, down at the station, a Mr. Rivers comes through the door. As it turns out, Cassie is married to a hot shot star named Alex Rivers. He captures the attention of everyone he passes, including Cassie. She can’t wrap her mind around the fact that she’s married to him and she definitely cannot get used to this lifestyle. The reader sees a blend of the past and the present through the eyes of Will, Alex Rivers and Cassie. I am excited to continue reading, it’s like I can’t set it down because I have so many emotions; for the characters, for the setting, and for what I know is going to happen.