Handle with Care

A Novel

By: Jodi Picoult

Narrated by: Cassandra Morris, Charlotte Perry, Alma Cuervo, Celeste Ciulla, Jessica Almasy, Jim Colby

Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

When Willow is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta, her parents are devastated - she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, a lifetime of pain. In this provocative story from the number-one New York Times best-selling author, "Picoult writes with unassuming brilliance" (Stephen King).

Every expectant parent will tell you that they don't want a perfect baby, just a healthy one. Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe would have asked for a healthy baby, too, if they'd been given the choice. Instead their lives are made up of sleepless nights, mounting bills, the pitying stares of "luckier" parents, and, maybe worst of all, the what-ifs. What if their child had been born healthy? But it's all worth it because Willow is, funny as it seems, perfect. She's smart as a whip, on her way to being as pretty as her mother, kind, brave, and, for a five-year-old, an unexpectedly deep source of wisdom. Willow is Willow, in sickness and in health.

Everything changes, though, after a series of events forces Charlotte and her husband to confront the most serious what-ifs of all. What if Charlotte had known earlier of Willow's illness? What if things could have been different? What if their beloved Willow had never been born? To do Willow justice, Charlotte must ask herself these questions and one more: What constitutes a valuable life?

Emotionally riveting and profoundly moving, Handle with Care is an unforgettable novel about the fragility of life and the lengths we will go to protect it.

©2016 Jodi Picoult (P)2016 Simon & Schuster

Great start, but weak ending

A weak ending and far too much detail about baking ruined what had been a riveting story about a gutsy mother. Who would in real life give up after they had won? Not believable.

Loved it till the end

Loved it like every Picoult book I’ve read (which is most of them). Terrific book, touching and emotional, great performance... ending ruined it for me!! But I’ll keep on reading Picoult’s book till I’ve read them all!! She’s an amazing story teller!! 💕

Great story line

I really enjoyed the story line and the quick pace of the book. I was thrown off by the unrealistic legal proceedings.

Such a sad story!!

This could only have had a lose lose outcome. Very sad story … it’s interesting to learn and st the same time understand how the personalities unfolded in trying to maintain sanity and handle their lives in a difficult situation and still love each other

Not bad

This was my first one by Jodi Picoult. If it was not for the ending, I would have rated it a solid 4. The ending lost one full star for me.

It makes you think

A mother so caught up in doing what she thinks is right for one child that decimates another.
A husband trying to keep the liquidity of the family from slipping through his fingers that he gets so angry he rapes his wife and can’t see it.
A daughter learning she is at the center of everyone’s dysfunction and just wants to be.
Another daughter who just wants to be and is consistently broken because she isn’t handled with care.
A friend who is the collateral damage of the family.
A lawyer who finds out the worst day of her mother’s life is her own life.
This was a difficult read and captured all the twisted dysfunction with artistry.
The recipes as metaphors for understanding you can’t always get what you want and hopefully you’ll create what feeds you are like mentoring moments one can look past.

Good but..,

Too many long digressions giving detailed recipes. The end wasn’t believable. The book needed some cuts. I still found it interesting: such a difficult moral dilemma!

this book broke my heart

the topic is tough making the book hard to get through but so worth it at the same time. this book broke my heart

Interesting

I was most interested in this book because I have something similar to osteogenesis imperfecta called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, but a better name would be fragile joint syndrome. I have problems with recurrent dislocations and severe arthritis starting in childhood and have required 13 surgeries in order to walk, stand, and use my hands. I have used a motorized scooter since medical school and after considerable time in physical therapy gyms, chose to specialize in pediatric physical medicine and rehabilitation.
I have no criticism for the protagonist in pursuing this court case. Having a child with a handicapping condition in the USA results in a life of poverty, often isolated, and it is typical for fathers to abandon the family. The huge problem is living in a medical system where profit is the motive and individuals become wealthy off the misfortunes of the ill. The government programs vary widely and even the program for the disabled does not cover broken teeth and other necessary care. Things are very different in other countries. I don't regret my life, nor my affected son's; but am now a political activist to make court cases like this one unnecessary.

Great Story, Mediocre Narrator

While this is by far one of my favorite Jodi Picoult novels I had a really difficult time following this due to the narrator. The voices seemed forced and uncomfortable and I really had to focus on the book to know who's point of view we were in.