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    The Pact
    The Pact
    The Pact
    Audiobook16 hours

    The Pact

    Written by Jodi Picoult

    Narrated by George Guidall

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The Golds and the Hartes, neighbors for eighteen years, have always been inseparable. So have their children—and it’s no surprise that in high school, Chris and Emily’s friendship blossoms into something more. And then, suddenly,
    unimaginable tragedy strikes, threatening the bonds that had seemed so indestructible.

    When midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the truth. Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There’s a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris pilfered from his father’s cabinet—a bullet
    that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris describes.

    This extraordinary, poignant novel paints an indelible portrait of two families in anguish as they find themselves on opposite sides of a painful divide … and confronts every parent’s worst fear.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateSep 7, 2007
    ISBN9781436112659
    The Pact
    Author

    Jodi Picoult

    JODI PICOULT is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-six novels. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the New England Bookseller Award for Fiction, the ALA’s Alex Award, the New Hampshire Literary Award for Outstanding Literary Merit, and the prestigious Sarah Josepha Hale Award in recognition of her distinguished body of written work. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband. They have three children. You can visit her website at wwww.jodipicoult.com  

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    Reviews for The Pact

    4/5

    2,529 ratings106 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Not believable. Made me angry on several occasions. First of all they seemed about the most unlikely couple possible, and second-this story made me seriously dislike Emily. She just gave up and worst of all-took Chris down with her. Shame on her! I was slapping her throughout the story. She never asked for help, never told anyone, just woke up one day wanting to kill herself. No. No. No. suicide is very close to my heart having lost a friend to this and the way this story was woven was just flat out stupid. Glad the ending at least paid off the way it did, but it was just too long and drawn out and like I said in the beginning, just completely bogus

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Wow!! Absolutely FRIGGING amazing !!! This story blew it out of he park! Worth every word!!! Wow!!!!!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Very powerful story of love and loss. Chris was a true hero.
    • 5/5
      The only thing that I felt was missing, was the reason for Emily’s suicidal ideation and feat. The family and Chris deserves to know what happened in the fast food restaurant bathroom that fateful day. It explains so much. I wonder if Emily wrote it in lemon juice on that last note sent in the can. Thought for sure Chris would remember the lemon juice and fire thing. Another great story from my favorite author! Thank you!
    • 1/5
      If you enjoy a book that ties up the ends, don’t waste time on this one. I kept waiting and literally sat there stunned after I heard the words “the end”
    • 5/5
      If you like a love story with a twist...this is the book for you!
    • 2/5
      Didn’t care for it
      Maybe I’m not a Jody Piquet fan
    • 5/5
      Brilliant , just brilliant, very gripping story. I will listen to more of this author
    • 4/5
      Not a fan of this book. Too extreme in the reactions of all the characters. Any high school boy should have sought help when he knew someone contemplating suicide. Additionally, clues were there about the sexual assault. For me it was all just too extreme
    • 3/5
      The Pact: A Love Story by Judy Picoult My first JP book and I kinda liked it and kinda didn't.... a bit like when you stay up late to watch a movie and the ending is somewhat disappointing. Not disappointing enough to feel that the time was completely wasted but disappointing enough to feel cheated.So what was it? Well I liked the characterisation and the juxtaposition of loyalties within and between the couples when faced with the drama around their children. I liked how that played out but not how it ended with no resolution between the women.I liked the transformation in the boy after 9 months in prison.In fact there was lots that I liked. It was well written, coherent and had a good flow.In the end I felt that the story itself lacked something, it seemed to me to lack a definite resolution about who those children really were and how the parents resolved or did not resolve that. I kinda thought that the other two moving away was a convenient way of avoiding any deeper resolution which was I thought the whole story was leading to.I read in an interview with JP and I liked how she talked about her writing, I liked her.I think I need to read another of her books.
    • 4/5
      An emotional love story of two teenagers and what they would do for each other -- anything. The raw emotions are so troubling in what Jodi Picoult exposes in her stories - they make you think about situations that many people avoid. Her books are so thought provoking and true to life. They are truly gifts.
    • 3/5
      A story of two sets of families, neighbors, whose children are so close they are like siblings. As they mature they become lovers, but the girl doesn't feel right about it. She becomes pregnant and wants to kill herself. She has Chris help her. She dies and he's accused of murder.
      Some of the errors in the book bothered me, but over all it was a good book.
    • 4/5
      It's been a while since I read this but I still remember it. Very riveting story and characters.
    • 5/5
      What is it about Jodi Picoult novels that makes me keep reading them? They're all essentially the same - courtroom drama in which the accused insists on testifying against their lawyer's advice at the very last moment in a move that's only a surprise to anyone who hasn't previously read a Jodi Picoult novel.And yet I keep coming back for more. There is a depth to them that is absent in many other novels and they are always massively emotionally charged. In this case the story centres around a teen suicide and its effect on two very close families. I wasn't entirely sure I bought the reason for the suicide, or that the parents would have had absolutely no inkling what was going on, but on the other hand not giving the accused bail was a bold move, and there was a lot of realism in the way people didn't automatically all live happily ever after at the end.
    • 5/5
      I couldn't put it down. I wanted more, more, more!

      "The Pact" has something to do between seventeen-year-old Emily Gold and seventeen-year-old Chris Harte. The pair had been best friends their entire lives and later end up as lovers. Picoult takes us through the “now” and “then” to help us understand the story and the characters.
    • 4/5
      If you have or have ever had teenage children, you've got to read this book. It is so true that as older adults we tend to forget, perhaps intentionally teenage angst, the emotional turmoil accompanied with those years. Done so well, Picoult captures that time of life, of everyone's life, so well in this classic story of teenage love and loss.
    • 4/5
      I had the opportunity to read this book when I was managing a Chapter 11 Bookstore in Snellville, Ga. Ms Picoult was was going to be signing copies of her new book The Pact, I read the book before the event. Tough subject matter but one that could use plenty of discussion and this book provides a starting point with many different perspectives. I had a hard time putting this one down, I was pulled into the story and could feel the characters pain as the story unfolded.
    • 4/5
      Emily and Chris have known each other forever. Their parents are neighbours and their mothers were pregnant at the same time. They were always inseparable and did end up falling in love as teenagers. But when their suicide pact goes wrong, Chris is still alive, and suspected of murder... Like with Picoult's other books, this story is told both in flashbacks and with different viewpoints, so the reader gets some insight into each character. Because of all the different viewpoints, the reader can also see how each character is affected by what is happening and what has happened. The book builds until the end, during the trial when what really happened comes to light. It's another page-turner where I wanted to know what really happened. As much as I liked it, I'm not sure this one affected me as much as some of her other books. That being said, it was still very good and I did want to keep reading.
    • 3/5
      Part One of this book was tedious and I really struggled with it, Part Two was better and Part Three (the court case) was great. At times I found this book depressing as it made you realise that, as a parent, no matter how well you think you know your own children, you really don't. A sad story but not one of Picoult's better novels.
    • 3/5
      Too many unbelievable events to make it better than 3 stars, yet the writer's skills made it an engrossing, highly readable novel, which, if one is willing to suspend common sense and logic with the content and its presentation, this can be highly entertaining. I would consider reading another work from this author in the hopes that it might contain the excellent prose without the constant thinking "This couldn't happen" inherent in The Pact
    • 5/5
      The first Jodi Picoult book that i have read. Loved it.
    • 4/5
      A beautifully written but very sad love story. Friends since birth, two teenagers destined to marry bonded together in a suicide pact that changes the lives of family and friends forever. The questions raised in my mind during and after reading the book are still plaguing me. Wow! The book could have been a superb read had the author given more insight into Emily's secret, among other things. The loose ends is what kept me from giving it a 5 star rating. It is, however, a very good read that I would highly recommend.
    • 5/5
      5 Stars, I know what your thinking: She must not read that much because I can tell 5 stars are very valued on this website. I absolutely loved this book. This was one of those books that I physically could not put down, I finished it in 2 days which for me was a pretty big deal because I do not on any terms consider myself an avid reader. This as any Jodi picot book involves a lawsuit, which is sometimes hard to relate to. This time it involved juniors in high school which was definitely a reason it appealed to me, a high school junior. Also I loved the characters, Chris mainly. In addition the ambiguity about the night in question is a theme throughout the book that is so alluring for some reason. You just want, nay need to keep on reading to see what actually happened and hope to god that Chris, my favorite, is not to be incriminated for it. Also the ending just makes you want to be a part of this tragic love story.
    • 5/5
      Jodi Picoult's "The Pact" is billed as a love story but it is far more than that. It is a story of complex human relationships culminating in a John Grisham like Courtroom Drama. The story involves the death of Emily Gold. Is it a suicide or did Chris Harte kill her? That in essence is the plot but in answering this question Picoult has explored so many areas of relationships that the book tugged at my heartstrings. As for the trial each time a witness was examined and cross-examined I swayed between thinking Chris would be acquitted or convicted. No, I will not be a spoiler. This book is a must read.
    • 3/5
      While this was a pretty fast read, for its length there could have been more character development. I never felt like I really knew any of them and found I didn't really care what happened to them in the end.
    • 3/5
      There are certain sorts of books I tend to read late at night, before bed. They are usually mindless, "intellectual" love stories, suspense, thrillers, or mysteries. And so I found myself at the bookstore with an urge for such a book, and came across The Pact. And for the genre, it was a bit above average, though nothing that's inspiring me to read any more Picoult.
    • 4/5
      "Do you know... what it's like to love someone so much, that you can't see yourself without picturing [them]? Or what it's like to touch someone, and feel like you've come home?""...and he suddenly knew that if she killed herself, he would die. Maybe not immediately, maybe not with the same blinding rush of pain, but it would happen. You couldn't live for very long without a heart." A wonderful book about expectations and the fear of not accomplishing your goals and letting your loved ones down. It was a rocky road from before the trial and during trying to get a sense of how Chris truly felt and what really occurred. I thought the pace was pretty good through out and I liked the ending.
    • 5/5
      What a painful and difficult book to read. The boy and girl next door - sharing from bassinette to mud baths to intimacy to death - how this shattering ending to the families' most cherished fairy tale wounds them all.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyed & am finally donating as I need to cull bookshelves before moving.
    • 2/5
      This book was 200 pages too long, contained poorly written sex scenes, flimsy subplots and a really unsatisfying Epilogue. I don't even think anything passed the verdict announcement was necessary.