- Paperback: 528 pages Publisher: Hodder Paperback; New edition edition (18 July 2005)
- Genre: Young Adult Source: Library
RATING: 
"I love you," he whispered, and that was the moment he knew what he was going to do. When you loved someone, you put their needs before your own. No matter how inconceivable those needs were; no matter how fucked up; no matter how much it made you feel like you were ripping yourself into pieces."
My thoughts - The synopsis itself has got you thinking I am sure. It's what gravitated me to the book. Being the first time I had come across such a concept I was very intrigued but slightly worried. Maybe because I knew it wasn't going to end well, but then again Jodi Picoult is fabulous at what she does, and it was that thought that gave me the final push.
Emily is dead...there’s only one problem though, Chris isn’t. When they are discovered Chris is the one to suspect, and why not? He admits it, yes, he killed Emily, but he was supposed to die too. Described as suicide pact it quickly held my attention, and so, as they dug deeper it became very clear that Chris was deeply in love with Emily. Yet it was Emily I was rather confused about.
My original thought was how this could happen when both apparently loved each other? You see the perfect foundations of the two families who had gone out of their way to create this inseparable bond, completely shattered because of this event, and in its place came; Confusion, anger and pain.
Chris and Emily were supposed to date, and then get married. That's what everyone wanted, that’s what everyone expected. However, it would seem that, that’s not what Emily wanted.
Let me just say that I’ve seen a lot of negative reviews on this novel. I agree on one note now when I look back, yes I felt Emily was selfish, but I think why many blame Emily is because people argue that she had a loving family and boyfriend, a bright future ahead. Why would she want to throw all that away right? But just imagine feeling like the boy your with is like your brother *shudders* and then having to marry him. She was stuck in a situation she felt like she had no control over, they were both growing up. Chris knew what he wanted only Emily wasn’t so sure anymore. What most likely pushed her to the edge in my opinion was how she had no idea how to back out when her family and Chris' family had so many expectations.
You can interpret it as cowardice, but when is taking ones life ever easy? You have to feel like there is no other alternative and are at rock bottom to reach that stage. To think that this young girl suffered like this for so very long saddens me.
The ending was just heart-breaking, and so very sad, but at the same time uplifting. It raised a couple of questions, and did leave me slightly confused behind it's meaning, but I think the author left it that way to allow the reader to interpret it however they liked.
With The Pact Jodi Picoult has once again blown me away! A haunting and emotional story of an "apparent" teenage romance gone horribly wrong when; expectations, misunderstanding, and miscommunication gets the better of us. It's a book that still pops up in my head and makes me feel uncomfortable and confused all over again. I suppose that is in a twisted way the beauty of it, impacting you over and over again because 1) It leaves you with a ton of unanswered questions and 2) You are left wondering what will become of Chris whilst still trying to understand a girl who is no more.
"She was all the things I wasn't. And I was all the things she wasn't. She could paint circles around anyone; I couldn't even draw a straight line. She was never into sports; I've always been. Her hand, it fit mine."
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