Wish You Were Here

I've already read several books that incorporated the Covid pandemic and/or the lockdowns, but only in passing or it acted as a catalyst for a story twist (e.g. two people are suddenly forced to spend time together because they are put under quarantine together). Jodi Picoult is the first one (on my reading list) who not only describes the things that went along with Covid, but also focuses on the medical aspect in the first place. And even though we all lived through those first weeks, where everything about Covid was unknown and scary, it is still quite shocking to read Finns reports from the hospital. On the other hand we have Diana all alone in the Galapagos, having a very extraordinary vacation. For many people, a prolonged vacation in the sun sounds like a really great idea. But I'm not sure if I would have liked to trade places with Diana at that time. Since I don't want to spoil anything, only thing I can say: there is a big story twist that I didn't see coming. And it felt like reading a whole different book afterwards. Like 2-in-1 actually. While I enjoyed the first part more, the whole book is very worth the read! Only the very obvious reference to Yoko Ono was a bit too much, Picoult is a great enough writer to invent a singular character.