I am usually deeply cynical about popular novels, and as such, Jodi Picoult caught me completely by surprise with this thoughtful novel about a serious medical issue that’s sure to come up more and more often as science advances.

I won’t pretend it was perfect, there were a few pieces that were a bit flat, and one that downright irritated the hell out of me, but overall, Picoult raises a raft of difficult questions and lets the reader see the complicated business of answering them – and, through a deft surprise turn, resists answering them herself.

I’ll look for more of Picoult’s work in the future.