Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult

Imagine yourself in this scenario:

A cop husband murdered, first daughter was raped and brutally killed, and the murderer was found guilty and sentenced to death, a first in your hometown which was almost synonymous with peace and low crime rates.
Another nightmare begins when the second daughter was born with a heart defect and a heart transplant is needed to sustain her life and the murderer who killed your husband and daughter wants to donate his heart to save your daughter.
What would you do?

This is the scenario faced by June Nealon, the protagonist in this story who had to struggle between her own love for her daughter and the hate she harbors for the person responsible for ripping her life apart.
It was a thin line between love and hate, and she has to make a decision to cross that line to save her daughter.

In comes another protagonist, who was supposed to be the big villain in the story; Shay Bourne who was sentenced to death in New Hampshire's first death penalty in a century. He was someone with a disability in speaking, and did not fend for himself during the trial.
He was the main character in the whole story; rather than June Nealon as most of the story was focused on him.

Father Michael, a Catholic priest who was the spiritual advisor to Shay found himself questioning his own faith when he was with Shay. Defense attorney Maggie Bloom whose initial motive was to help Shay to win in his plea to donate his heart found herself trying to understand Shay.

The whole story revolves around the four main characters; but mainly on Shay whom I believe is the leading character in this story rather than June Nealon.
His silence creates doubts in readers' minds whether he really did commit the heinous crime, but yet at the same time, when he finally meets June, he uttered words which made one think that perhaps he did it.

For me, knowing Jodi Picoult's style helped as I did not believe that Shay was guilty right from the start.
I don't know how to say it, but I just could not feel that someone who was quiet and mild-mannered could be capable of such a crime.
It sounds silly, but it is not wrong either.

This novel, to me, was not as engaging as the other novels by Picoult that I have read, I must say as there was too much focus on the scenes in the prison than on the victims.
Another focus of the plot was on the doubts surrounding Shay whether he could be the human form of the Son of God, based on the miracles and healing he had performed in prison.

The overall theme of the story was a rather captivating one; but the way it turned out in the novel seems to lose the climax in the midst of the story and the ending, well, not quite as expected.

If I were the author, I would spare some of the storyline for June Nealon, and also the memories of her first husband, the dead second cop husband and her eldest daughter and also, to throw in some weird things she found about her husband to arouse more mystery in the story.

Be Careful What You Wish For by Alexandra Potter

ISBN: 9780340899618
Year Published: 2006

Excerpt of story from the back of the book:
I wish:
I could get a seat on the tube...
I hadn't eaten that entire bag of Maltesers...
I could meet a man whose hobbies include washing up and monogamy...

Heather Hamilton is always wishing for things. Not just big stuff - like world peace, or that Brad Pitt wants her as his next leading lady - but little, everyday wishes made without thinking. With her luck, she knows they'll never come true...
Until one day she buys some heather from a gypsy.
Suddenly the bad hair day stops. A handsome American answers her ad for a housemate. She starts seeing James - The Perfect Man who sends her flowers, excels in the bedroom, and isn't afraid to say 'I Love You'.

But are these wishes-come-true a blessing or a curse?
Does getting what you want make you happy?
And is there such a thing as too much foreplay?

In this magical romantic comedy, Alexandra Potter reveals what might happen if all your wishes really did come true...

My opinion/review:
I am a big fan of Alexandra Potter's books, honestly, like Huge as they are always hilarious and had me laughing from chapter to chapter. She just has this wicked sense of humor and I find it ingenious on how she could turn a simple everyday story into something so common yet ridiculous and it is happening to all of us, whether we realized it or not.
This novel is no different, as we gaze into the life of Heather Hamilton, who like some of us, is just an ordinary everyday girl who wished that things would be different or glamourous once in our lives.
That someone would take notice of us, that we could be just as popular as some of those pop idols out there, or that our wishes could sometimes come true, no matter how crazy it may be.
You get the idea.

Heather is tired of living her day everyday like there is no excitement; she works as an assistant to a wedding photographer who is a cheerful gay guy who is also her close friend.
She dreamt of hitting a job with a published magazine, and that she would find a charming guy to live happily ever after with; or in particular that cute neighbor whom she always peeped at from her window.
Things did not seem to turn better and her life seemed to be doomed for failure as her job is slowly losing the grip and she has to rent out a room to help to survive.

Just when things are turning to the darker side, she was approached by a gypsy on a particularly bad day and was persuaded into buying a lucky heather. Skeptical, she bought it anyway as it was not too expensive and to appease the gypsy so that she will stop bothering her and turns out, this was indeed a lucky heather although Heather did not know it at the time.
Things start to change for the better:
1. A handsome and eligible American man answered her ad for the room and became her housemate.
2. Her handsome neighbor starts to show interest in her and asked her out.
3. She was in for a job at a well-known magazine
4. She was starting to lose weight
5. Even the weather was getting better; there were no longer rain...

Everything seemed to look more and more promising to Heather, and suddenly life seemed to look so much better. However, Heather soon came to realize that her wishes came with a price and that not everything were as sunny as they seem.
She could get the pink stilettos that she had her eyes on but they hurt her ankle and she fell down when she wore them or that instance when she wished that there would be no traffic on the road, she got a parking ticket for the very first time.
Even her seemingly perfect neighbor boyfriend suddenly don't seem so perfect anymore.
It was then that Heather realize that when wishes come true, there will be a subsequent consequence....
(not revealing much to spoil your read :)

I loved this book; just like all of Alexandra Potter's books (did I mention I was a fan?). I enjoyed the thoughts of Heather and how she would be wishing for things to look a little on the brighter side once in a while. I think that kinda linked with what we girls have in mind sometimes, don't we?
It is true, that things don't come cheap nor free and that there is always a chain effect from one single incident.
It is an absolutely enjoyable and hilarious journey with Heather Hamilton, and I am sure the girls would love reading this as much as I do.
For the guys, you would enjoy reading and finding out what do girls always want :)

Read on, and don't wish for it to be a perfect story....Be Careful What You Wish For ;)