Review of The Storyteller

Written by Jodi Picoult

Reviews: Amazon: 4.5 out of 5 stars (60,582 reviews), Goodreads: 4.3 out of 5 stars (280,887 ratings).

This book has the Goodreads Choice Award, nominee for Reader’s Favorite Fiction (2013).

Trigger warning: this book and review discuss death and sex.

This book was banned from Martin County, Florida, in March 2023 after a few parents complained about the material. I can confirm that there is a detailed sex scene, but there are even more detailed scenes of death and dying.

My take: I’ll be honest, this may have been the hardest book to read through. Jodi Picoult does write books with jumping timelines and changes to different character perspectives. This is the case as well, which can be jarring. But somehow, that was more difficult than getting through the Holocaust scenes. Full disclosure, this is coming from someone who has served in combat zones, studied military history (including massacres), shipped countless battle-damaged military equipment (ones that you were sure that the occupants did not survive), and been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. For those who have not experienced these things, the Holocaust scenes will be difficult to read through.

But I believe, despite that, this book is important to read for those who do not know much about the Holocaust. Studying history, the traditional way, can be difficult for some people because it is very dry and very dissociating. This book provides a narrative experience of the Holocaust, which can be easier than traditional history books. Not only that, but this book also contains multiple themes that could lend themselves to productive and educational essay projects. This former college student would have loved this book over Gone with the Wind.