Customer Reviews

House Rules: A Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Wonderfully written, from alternative viewpoints, House Rules tell the story of Emma Hunt, a mother of two boys - Jacob, 18, and Theo, 15. Jacob has Asperger's Syndrome, an illness which has many different elements, making it different in everyone, but often charactered by lack of empathy, detachment from the world, obsessive behaviour and violent outbursts. Emma dotes on Jacob, spending all she has on therapists, medication and food supplements. Theo, naturally, resents such unbalanced parenting.

One of Jacob's quirks is his interest in crime scene forensics - he watches true life forensic TV shows, reconstructs crime scenes at home and even turns up at real crime scenes, offering to help the detectives.

When someone Jacob knows if found dead, and it is revealed that the murder occurred shortly after and argument with Jacob, he falls into the spotlight. Subsequent forensic evidence points even more towards Jacob's guilt and he is held for questioning...

There are some pretty large plot holes, and the twist can be seen coming from a thousand yards, so as a thriller it doesn't really stack up. It also suffers for being overly similar to Picoult's My Sister's Keeper and Handle With Care - child with medical problems, jealous sibling, courtroom drama, check, check and check.

But as an engaging and well observed novel it hits the mark, and is an excellent study of a family under pressure combined with a fascinating insight into Asperger's Syndrome.

Four stars.

10. The characters are all one-dimensional cliches.

9. The "twist" ending is completely given away by a scene that happens early in the book.

8. None of the characters are likeable. (Seriously, not one.)

7. The only reason that the plot works is because, inexplicably, none of the family members ever talk to each other about the big event in their lives.

6. Exposition. It's everywhere. Apparently, Jodi Picoult is not familiar with "show, don't tell."

5. The novel is oblivious to the fact that its police are negligent and incompetent (because, if they weren't, the plot would fall apart.)

4. The reason behind the plot twist made my eyes get stuck in the back of my head because I rolled them so hard (though, in better hands, it may have been effective; the idea was actually quite good.)

3. Characters are introduced into the plot and then are given absolutely nothing to do.

2. Plot holes you could drive a truck through.

1. The way that Asperger's is used to further the plot in this train-wreck of a book is cheap and offensive. The positive reviews here make me fear for the way that my son (who has ASD) will be judged and treated by people who think that Picoult's representation of the disorder is accurate. Shame on you, Jodi!

If you have someone close to you with Aspergers (as I do) ... this will be a very tough read!! I had to stop reading because I was so frustrated!! Picoult's character was over the top with symptoms of both AS and Autism. This book is a big let down..... I liked the idea of writing from the different perspectives of the family ... but she was again over the top with all of the characters thinking, actions and feelings about AS!! I hope readers don't take this "research" and apply it to all living with AS and their families!!

As a person with Asperger's I am dismayed with Picoult's portrayal of an adult with Asperger's Syndrome. Picoult starts off by showing us all the sources she has used for her research but once one starts reading it is obvious she is so full of research she doesn't know what to do with it. She has taken every possible symptom of both Asperger's and autism (which are two different diagnoses) and put them all into the character of Jacob. Not only is Jacob loaded down with every single symptom, each of his symptoms are of the most extreme variety. A real-life 'aspie' (as we call ourselves) will have some, perhaps even many, but certainly not all textbook examples, of the symptoms and then they are at varying degrees. What Picoult has done here is a disservice to the Asperger's community.

From the mother: "Since there's no cure yet for Asperger's, we treat the symptoms ...". Asperger's is not a disease or an illness! There is no cure because one is not needed. Just from reading the positive reviews of this book I see the word "illness" being used over and over to describe Asperger's and that is because the book has left readers unfamiliar with AS with that impression. I could sit here and write an essay refuting all the quotes on the dog-eared pages I created while reading, but I won't. If you want a realistic view of a young man with Asperger's I urge you to read the book "Marcelo in the Real World" by Francisco X. Stork. The main character is 17 years old and is very comparable to Jacob only the author has done an excellent job in portraying Asperger's, showing the struggles we face but also shows that we do indeed function and do not need anyone's sympathy.

BTW, I did give the book 2 stars because if I removed the whole Asperger's element I thought the mystery was quite interesting with a fun little twist to the solution.

Well I must say the book grabbed my attention very quickly and held it till just over the halfway mark. From there I found it a bit slow moving and drawn out. The autism component was interesting but repetition of the symptoms from each characters point of view caused me to skip many paragraphs. It seemed to me that Jodi Picoult must have got distracted towards the end of the novel as the feel changed. I did loose interest in the story and found I just wanted to hear the verdict.

I debated between 2 or 3 stars and decided I'll give this a 3 as I felt connected with the characters and the beginning and felt for the poor mother of the "Aspie" child. Also the mystery component was good. However, the last third of the book killed it for me. It could have been either shorter or written differently to hold my attention.

Lastly, I still don't know why someone simple did not ask Jacob for the truth. Given the way he was portrayed to follow rules and never lie I would have thought this whole thing could have stayed out of court.

This book, essentially, tries to get its reader to feel sorry for the narrator. It's a "poor me" sort of book. I finished the book only because I paid for it, and as I continued reading, I began to really despise the author. She complains about petty things and tries to make her parents, especially her father, look bad because in her eyes, she was treated poorly. That is, if you consider being able to go to any college you like and have it paid for, or travelling around the world poor. It's like reading about a rich, spoiled woman who didn't get what she asked for on Christmas. There's far better memoirs out there with serious issues and concerns. Don't buy this book. So, Rachel, cry me a river.

I live in Ottawa, Ontario Canada and was walking through my local bookstore. I came across this book in the aisles and the title of the book caught my attention. Why it did is because we always had something at home that was posted on the fridge titled "House Rules". I had to fly to Calgary and I read this book the entire 4 hour flight, I didn't even notice the time. I don't know Rachel, but this book really touched me. I honestly couldn't put this book down and there were parts where I would laugh, parts that were similiar to experiences I had when I was young and then parts where I just completely stared to left of my window to just completely cry. I have never had a book do that to me before, and the fact that it was something that was real, really had me explore my own childhood memories. I loved the book and I hope that you will continue to write more. It's just interesting to know that we are in separate countries and that we had similiar childhoods, it's interesting to me, that there are many similiar people in the world, we just never know it and the fact we can look back without hatred and really look at both positive and negative aspects of life, but mainly because we moved on. I bought another copy for my sister as well, she won't believe it when she reads it. It truly was such a good read, and I really just enjoyed it.

Thank you!

Donna

*SPOILER ALERT*
I am a huge fan of Jodi Picoult's books, but House Rules was one of her weaker novels. I was incredibly disappointed with the ending; what happened with Theo? Did Henry improve and maintain his relationship with his sons? Did Emma and Oliver remain together? There were also some story lines that began, and then never went anywhere. At the beginning Jodi Picoult talked about Rich and his daughter, but never expanded on this or revealed what happened with them.
I also found that she was unsuccessful in communicating Jacob's side of the story. I understand that he has Asperger's, but the way she told his point of view did not evoke any sympathy from me. Overall, it was interesting read, but not of my favourite.

This is the first Jodi Picoult book I read and it was very good; it made me want to read more of her books.

House Rules is a compelling read; it keeps the reader wondering what will happen next. It's decent plot takes the reader on a journey that few travel. As the mother of a 23 year old man who was diagnosed with Aspergers quite a few years ago, I felt relief that she was brave enough to go into the Hunt household. While my son didn't have obsessions about crime scenes many of his obsessions got him into trouble at school. He had many struggles and as such so did his siblings and my huband and I. The characters are well developed in this novel and as such the reader feels as though they are almost real. I think her research was well done and unlike another reviewer, I think she chose wisely the characterstics of Jacob and his brother and mother. The fact that his father was Aspie-like was no surprise. Well done Jodi Picoult! Well done. I am encouraging my family to read it. Maybe, just maybe they'll understand me and my son a little better after reading it cover to cover. Go ahead and enjoy!House Rules: A Novel