The PACT by Jodi Picoult

It was simple. I had two weeks holiday and nothing to do. Not entirely true actually, i had maths homework to do, chemistry to revise, physics to look into and thinking skills to worry about. I grabbed the book, and I stared at it. Started leafing through it. You see i got it as a present from my teacher in high school. I was very much into novels and still am. I looked at the book. The cover page had a male and a female sitting with their backs facing us. And the second page had the same scenery, the same male figure but the female one was missing. Intriguing.

I started the book, like any one would actually. Just reading 20 pages here 10 pages there. But that changed. I don’t remember when or even what triggered the change. Could it be the fact that the male character, Christopher Harte, was 17 years old and by that age he had found his true love? Or the heaps of trouble he goes through when the only wrong he did was love Emily, his childhood friend, confidante, and finally lover? I don’t know. I still don’t know. But I began connecting to the book. As in, my thoughts were merged with the book. I was thinking what it would be like to be in his place. To be in Chris’s shoes and to watch his whole world crumble down right in front of him when all he did was love the girl who was, or so he thought was, his soul mate.

For the very first time, a book grabbed at me so hard that it made me shiver. When you reach a point where you knew you had loads of stuff on your hand but ignored everything and immersed yourself completely in the world of the two characters that seemed very real, you know that the book is good. I did it. The only time, i cried for a book was when I was reading Marley and Me. The only time, I felt my heart being wrenched away was when I read The Pact. Imagine this, I was actually praying for a character. I am not denying it. I felt these characters. For three days, I believed that I was actually living in their world, where true love actually existed. It was like watching a movie and then getting up and walking right into the television.

The funny thing was that these characters never had a definite face. Usually the introduction of a character means the entrance of a faceless individual into the picture. Then slowly an image came clear; a guy or a girl that I had seen in some hallmark movie or even a guy from an advertisement on NTV7. I don’t know whether it was suppose to be that way or that’s just me but I liked it. I also got to rework these images when the author throws in a detail in the next line. And the image would stay that way till the end of the book. For the first time, I had not had one steady image for Chris. He was a different guy every time I closed the book and opened it again.

I wish I could say more but I have got to reread the book again!!!..so thats all yeah!!... the pact is an awesome read and if you don’t try it, its your loss!!..