The Storyteller (Final)

The Storyteller- Jodi Picoult

***SPOILERS

Alright, this book turned itself around and in typical Jodi Picoult fashion, there was an unexpected plot twist at the end. I can't say that I knew how it was going to end, because the closer I got to the last couple of pages, I still had absolutely no clue whether or not Sage was going to choose to kill Josef Weber. But at the end, I got my answer as well as a shocking revelation that I totally did not see coming. 

In terms of the whole plot-line of Nana and Josef's Auschwitz tales, they were so fascinating to read. It was obvious that Jodi Picoult did her research here and looking into the stories of the Holocaust, because she gave many details. It was fake (obviously), but a lot of time was spent in developing these flashbacks to make it as real as possible. Personally, my favorite parts of the book were these parts because yes, although the reality of them was hard to grip, these parts of the book were the parts that especially made you feel like you were standing right next to Nana and Darija in the camp.

Towards the end of the book, right after the camp that Nana was in gets freed and she finishes telling her story of what she went through during World War II, she stated, "You will ask me, after this, why I didn't tell you this before. It is because I know how powerful a story can be. It can change the course of history" (357). This was significant throughout the whole book because everyone was trying to figure out each other's stories. Sage wanted to know her grandmothers hidden past, but she ended up learning Josef's dark past. The idea of a story was really prevalent through the book. I even learned that the vampire story did have significance, that it was symbolic of a Jew in a concentration camp.

Overall, in the end, I would have to say that the book got better, but it still isn't one of my favorite books by her. It was a slow start, and I honestly had no idea where she was going with the book, and at the end, I'm still not completely sure. It stunned me that Josef turned out to be Franz instead of Reiner but I finished the book thinking something was missing. Actually, there were a lot of things I wish that Picoult gave more of in the book. For example, she focused more on the love story between Leo and Sage, instead of talking about the back story of both Nana and Josef. To me, those parts of the book were so much more interesting to read than the parts where they were plotting to capture Josef. But in the end, he just died anyway and so did Nana so that whole plan foiled. The thing that Sage intended to do throughout the whole book ended up not being done. That was kind of a disappointment. After learning of his life as a Nazi, I secretly wanted him to rot away in jail somewhere.

I can't say I would recommend  this book to someone. It turned out to be a decent read, but there are other books by her that are so much better. Considering it was about the Holocaust, it wasn't light subject matter, and reading the story made me hurt for all the innocent victims of the Holocaust. If you're a fan of Jodi Picoult, I would recommend this book. But its not a fantastic book I would go around telling everyone to read.