History YMMV / JodiPicoult

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Considering how her books tend to follow the exact same plot with the {{Jerkass}} selfish mother, the court cases, and the SuddenDownerEnding that make everything the main character worked for be for nothing, it's hard to follow any of Picoult's books or care ''at all'' about its characters.

* EsotericHappyEnding: Picoult often fails to notice that, should things continue as they are, her characters are in deep, deep trouble (see ''My Sister's Keeper'' for the crowning example).

* IdiotPlot: Many reviewers note that the entire premise of ''Literature/HouseRules'' depends on [[spoiler: '''absolutely nobody''' asking Jacob whether he committed the murder or not. His mother and lawyer immediately organise an insanity defence instead. This is particularly glaring because one of the traits of Jacob's Asperger's is that ''he's terrible at lying''.]]
** Actually, [[spoiler: Emma does ask Jacob if he killed Jess at one point, and he says he didn't. Emma knows he can't lie well and so should know that he's telling the truth, but for some reason she seems to assume that he did it accidentally.]]
** The plot would also be over in fifty pages [[spoiler: if Theo didn't sit through his brother's arrest, jail time and trial, and all the strain this causes on his family, without telling anyone that [[ContrivedCoincidence he broke into Jess's house on the day of the "murder"]] and ''saw her fall down and hit her head''. All right, maybe he's frightened of being charged with causing her accidental death, but when he finally owns up that doesn't seem to have occurred to him.]]
* ShockingSwerve - many of her books end on sudden plot twists, but particularly notable is the end of ''My Sister's Keeper'', where Anna [[spoiler:is granted medical emancipation, but is in a fatal car accident on her way home and her organs are used anyway]].
** Or possibly ''Literature/HandleWithCare'', when after the O'Keefes [[spoiler:Win the lawsuit]] Willow [[spoiler:drowns and dies]].

** Or possibly HandleWithCare , when after the O'Keefes [[spoiler:Win the lawsuit]] Willow [[spoiler:drowns and dies]].

* UnfortunateImplications - The town in ''Nineteen Minutes'' is fictional, but is in many ways obviously based off of Hanover, New Hampshire, where Picoult lives, and the school is based off of Hanover High School. As a result, there was a panic in the community that there would be an actual school shooting on March 6, when the event in the book takes place.

** Or possibly HandleWithCare , when after the O'Keefes [[spoiler:Win the lawsuit]] Willow [[spoiler:drowns and dies]]

* Or possibly HandleWithCare , when after the O'Keefes [[spoiler:Win the lawsuit]] Willow [[spoiler:drowns and dies]]

* YourMileageMayVary: Some people think Jodi Picoult is an amazing author. Others find her work synonymous with {{Narm}}.