Customer Reviews
Thoughtful and interesting - By: altjo, 31 Dec 2008 
Readers of jodi Picoult will be used to the formula - some sort of angst/decision affecting a few different people & everything is sortedin the end. Yes, this is what this book does, but it does it really well & is a good, enjoyable & thoughtful read.
School shootings may not be a great topic to read about, but the most interesting parts of the book are what leads the characters to act as they do. Jodi Picoult manages to get into the heads of the main characters & that is what makes her writing so easy to read & get sucked into.
Overall, another Jodi Picoult that is worth reading if you like her other books.
generally a good read, but too much taken from 'Columbine' - By: Xanthe, 29 Dec 2008 
In general i liked this book & found it an enjoyable read.
I appreciated how many varied views & perspectives were taken into account & how minority views(such as that of the killer, of the killer's mother) were also expressed. The book allows for, while not condoning such actions,an understanding of those actions & a sympathy & an empathy for the perpertrator.
However, i agree with other reviewers that there was something a bit 'soap opera' like about the book.
My only major gripe is a very specific one, which most people need not concern themselves with anyway. That is, as someone who has done in-depth research into the shooting at Columbine High School, this book may well have been a fictionalised account of that, so much has JP used from that real life incidentin this book. She has taken massive amounts of detail, of events & incidents surrounding what happenedin Columbine & used them as material. Sometimes i just thought that seemed lazy writing, as if she couldnt invent or create her own scenarios.
Disappointed Jodie Picoult fan - By: Glamour Girl, 07 Nov 2008 Like most people, my first introduction to JP was My Sister's Keeper - an excellent book, which had mein tears throughout. But the more I've read of JP, the more disappointed I get. Her work is very formulaic - a tragedy occurs (the kind that shocks middle America), then we have flashbacks to explain why it occurred, some kind of court case, & then the inevitable twist at the end. Nineteen Minutes repeats this formula - & a little lazily,in my opinion.
To me, the main problem was that it was overly long - cutting a good 100-150 pages would have quickened the pace, & I almost found myself forgetting how close Peter & Josie were as children. There seemed to be an awful lot of unnecessary padding, such as the relationship between Alex & Patrick (whose name was far too similar to Peter's!)
Something I've always liked about JP's books before was the way they change perspective - showing different people's viewpoints on the same subject. But I think that technique was overusedin this book. There were some unnecessary characters - Patrick! - whose opinions didn't seem to add very much. I think this was reflectedin the structure of the book, where there weren't proper chapters, but whole chunks of text (50 pages at a time), just swapping from one person to the other every one & a half pages. Also, there seemed to be less dialogue & scenes, & too much internal monologues repeating the same point.
In general, I think the writing techniques that JP has employed so wellin other books were overused here. For example, at the end of certain scenes she'll put a "deep" conclusion: "he... pushed through the front door of the school, as if he might be able to save them both"; "a gun was nothing, really, without a person behind it". I could go on - but you'll be familiar with the technique if you've read her books. And, this time, it just got too much for me.
I agree with others that 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' is a superior book to this. But I would also add that, while both books are based around school shootings, they really are about different things - "We Need to..." is really an examination of nurture versus nature (Lionel Shriver originally wrote it because she was trying to decide whether to get pregnant), while '19 Minutes' is very much about bullying. This theme of bullying seems to be an obsession with JP - The Tenth Circle is also all about high school popularity. I would just question how conscious the popular kids are of their popularity - Matt basically says he picks on others to secure his own place on the hierarchy, but personally I think teenagers like that just ARE popular, it's something they just accept. But I guess that is the thing about JP as a writer - & why I've still given this 3 stars - she does have that ability to make you think about her topics long after you've finished them!
Brilliant read - By: Andrea Smith, 30 Oct 2008 I have read several of Jodi Picoult's books now & some of them have been excellent while others (Keeping Faith springs to mind) I couldn't really get into, This falls into the former category - Ms Picoult has a natural talent for storytelling & writting & her ability to tell the story from the point of view of many different characters is second to none. She will make you sympathise & shed a tear for the murderer as well as his victims, & really get you thinking. Genuis. This book isin my opinion best readin large chunks as not only is it difficult to put down but you lose the fantastic flow of the novel slightly if you leave it untouched for, say, a few days or a week as I did!
I have given the book five stars as I couldn't really find a faultin it at all, let alone one that would warrant the deduction of a star. A recommended read, definitely. If you've enjoyed this author's other novels then you will enjoy this. Well done Jodi Picoult!
A real page turner - By: M. McDyer, 15 Sep 2008 Nineteen Minutes This has to be the most disturbing book I have ever read but I was absolutely hooked from the begining. Piccolt has managed to protray a school shootingin a most realistic manner, her characters were believable & the story addictive. I was unable to put this book down. I have read quite a few of Piccolts books & found some brilliant & some just so so, I totally recommend this book.
