Predictable

Upon finishing House Rules, I can't say much more than "predictable." I think I knew exactly what happened to Jess around page 200...yet the story continued on for over 500 pages. Theo basically told us exactly what happened when he said Jess got out of the shower and he had time to run away before she ever caught up. Then, in the court room it was explained that Jess's injury could come from a hard fall or a very powerful punch to the face... considering she was getting out of the shower in a hurry, which makes more sense?

Predictability aside, I enjoyed the story and its characters. I don't think each of the characters had a "distinguished voice," but they did have different thoughts and personalities that were easy to relate with. Actually, if each chapter wasn't headed by a different name and written in a different font, I'm not sure that I would have known they were being told by different characters. I think Picoult attempted to make Jacob's voice display his Asperger's, and at some points it may have, but overall I didn't see much different in his language than anyone else's.

After researching others' opinions on the accuracy of Asperger's in House Rules, I have determined that Jacob possess quirks that those with Asperger's have; however, normal people do not have ALL of the symptoms like Jacob does. Picoult took her research and applied every single observation she found to her character, without realizing that normal aspies only possess a few quirks each, and they definitely don't have them all to the extreme that Jacob does. One reviewer who has Asperger's herself commented that Picoult gives Jacob the problems of a child with Asperger's, but an 18 year old with Asperger's would in fact be quite different than a child. She notes that many people grow out of the tantrums and meltdowns after childhood, whereas Jacob is 18 and has a meltdown nearly every day. On the other hand, I praise Picoult for doing so much research on real aspies, even if it did cause her to overload her fictional character.

Overall, I would recommend House Rules for a casual read because it is interesting; however, if you are looking for a real mystery, this is not your book.