Book Review: PICTURE PERFECT

Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult

Picture Perfect is a story about Cassie Barret as she struggles to deal with the pain of domestic abuse.

The story starts off with Cassie, amnesiac and wandering around a grave. She is found by Will, a police officer, and taken to safety - after which her husband, Alex Rivers, one of the most famous of Hollywood’s actors, returns to reclaim her. The story then proceeds to describe Cassie’s gradual recovery of her memory - how she and Alex met, how they fell in love and got married, and, eventually, the reason why she ran away: to avoid the domestic abuse being inflicted upon her.

Does Mr Perfect exist?

One of the best things about this story is that it teaches us that things are not always as they seem. Initially, Alex seems to be the perfect husband - he’s loving, he’s caring, he knows everything about Cassie’s likes and dislikes and has no problem doing things like changing his schedule to accommodate her. The only flaw that seems apparent is his hot temper, which he never seems to turn onto Cassie. However, as things progress we begin to see that Alex is not as wonderful as he appears to the world - whenever he really loses his temper and is alone with Cassie, she will inevitably be the one he takes his anger out on. This book clearly expresses that things are not as they seem - to the rest of the world, and even to Cassie initially, Alex seems like the perfect man, but as the story progresses we begin to see darker, more violent sides to him, showing us that books, indeed, cannot be judged by their cover.

At the same time, this book also shows that there isn’t such a thing as black and white. Alex Rivers is a man who abuses his wife - but when not in a rage, he treats Cassie like she is gold, doing everything she wants, doing everything he can to accommodate him. It is only on those rare occasions when he loses his temper that he starts to abuse her. Often times, in television shows and movies, we are given extremely clear-cut antagonists in abusive husbands - they take joy in hitting their wives, they show little to no concern for their wives, and so on. This is not the case with Alex. He cares for his wife deeply, and every time he hits her, he expresses deep regret - but is unable to stop himself from doing it again. This book expresses clearly the gray areas in life, and the fact that not everyone is completely good or evil.

Another point the book does well is the ending. Many stories force their endings to be happy ones - books like The Night Circus, for example, come up with deus ex machinas to make their endings happy ones with the leads ending up together even though it doesn’t fit the mood or even the logic of the story. Others, like Twilight, is all about the leads ending up happily together.

Picture Perfect, on the other hand, is not a story about getting the leads back together - it’s a story about being strong enough to take action and solve your own problems. Alex and Cassie end up going to a marriage counsellor to help Alex deal with his problems, but when Alex begins to skip sessions and start beating Cassie again, she eventually makes the decision to make his domestic violence public to the world, so she can leave him without being chased down by him again.

This ending is fantastic because it tells us that if we want to overcome a challenge, we don’t just sit around and wait, but we have to do something to take steps toward solving our own problems. Furthermore, it expresses that not everything in life is that easy - sometimes, there are some problems that cannot be solved in the way we want them to be. Cassie hopes to solve the problem of domestic abuse and remain with Alex - but this is clearly proven impossible, and she decides to leave Alex in the end.

This book is realistic and moving in that we are able to empathise deeply with both leads, including abusive husband Alex Rivers. It is a book that teaches us not to judge a book by its cover, or to see the world in plain black and white. It is a captivating book and definitely deserves a read.

TCC: This is the third book by Jodi Picoult that we have reviewed. As any discerning reader would be able to tell, TCH really likes Picoult’s books. J

Rating: 4/5

For ages 13 and above

By TCH