The Pact, by Jodi Picoult

I started reading this book, The Pact, by Jodi Picoult, thinking that it would be a typical teenage romance but soon realized that the pact itself was much more than love. There is a boy, Chris, and a girl, Emily, who have grown up together ever since they were born. Their families live next each other and they do everything together until one solemn night rips them apart. Emily is found dead and Chris at the scene of the crime. He is hospitalized and then sent to jail for a long period of time. Charged for murdering his lover, detectives and lawyers work together to find evidence for and against him. The trial is built on an suicide pact but the truch comes out in the end.

The book is written so that one chapter is the present and the one after is a part of their lives growing up; the timeline of their lives is cut up perfectly leading up to the shot. I found Chris' and Emily's relationship touching. The trial taught me more about how court works. I would recommend this to anyone who has the patience to read through and not jump ahead to find out how it ends. 4/5

-Reviewed by L.G., grade 11.