13-year-old Anna Fitzgerald was born for one reason: to save her older sister Kate’s life. Kate was diagnosed with leukaemia when she was 2 years old and when they found out their son Jesse wasn’t a match to help Kate, an embryo that was a genetic match was selected and implanted in mother Sara and Anna was born. Now, Anna has undergone many medical procedures to help her sister, and it is assumed that she will donate a kidney to Kate who is in renal failure.
Anna retains the help of lawyer Campbell Alexander because she wants medical emancipation. Anna loves her sister, but she doesn’t want to continue being the guinea pig she has been for the last 13 years. Though she cannot afford his fees, Campbell takes her case. Anna is assigned a court appointed guardian ad litem, Julia Romano, who happens to be Cambell’s high school flame but it ended badly between them.
I wasn’t fond of the Campbell/Julia connection in the past nor their current day strenuous relationship: it didn’t add to the story. I still gave the book 5 stars because the main storyline was so poignant and thought provoking: how far would you go as a parent to save a child suffering from a terminal illness? As a child born to save a sibling, where do you draw the limit? Do you resent your parents? I have so many questions, and no answers.
Picoult finishes the book with a tidy little bow. After the verdict, Anna still contemplates giving her sister a kidney – even if the doctors aren’t sure whether Kate would survive. But fate intervenes and damnit, I almost cried!
Read for the ReaderHaven Reading Challenge 2025
Prompt 27: has >30,000 Goodreads ratings
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️