I didn't catch this on the first go around and so I didn't manage to 'read without prejudice'.

I think Jodi Picoult is a decent enough writer and I wish her all good things with her future endeavours.

Unfortunately this one was a DNF for me. Although I now know what title this was published under - and have hugely enjoyed other novels by this particular author - I struggled to connect with the characters and topic on this one. As always, it's clearly very well written and has clearly been thoroughly researched - and raises some extremely interesting and tricky moral questions through the situation that the characters face - but sadly the book just wasn't for me.

DNF. I couldn't connect with this book at all and found it really hard to get into. I had high hopes for this, which is a shame.

Yet another book that is so hard to review, yet I would recommend everybody to read it! The ugliness of mankind, that is what you will find in this book. But also: new beginnings and new lives...

'Id been with that baby before anyone or anything in this world had a chance to disappoint him.'

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

I read this book without knowing the actual title or author when I discovered a lot of other bloggers talking about it under the #ReadWithoutPrejudice tag it was available as through netgalley. I was intrigued by the idea of reading a book without having seen a cover or having any preconceptions based on the author and am glad I did so. This was a brilliant campaign for a book whose main topic is prejudice.

Ruth works on the labour ward of the hospital where she’s been for 20 years, she’s worked hard to get where she is, lost her husband to the war and has a son who is doing wonderful at school. Then on a normal day at work as she exams a new born baby she is faced with prejudice by the baby’s parents who request she does not touch their child.. why? Because Ruth is black and the parents are white supremacists. When that baby later dies after being left in Ruth’s care she is found in a frightening situation where everyone blames her for the death.

The book is full of twists and turns and does a wonderful job of highlighting racial prejudices even in those who don’t believe themselves to be racist. The developing friendship between Ruth and her lawyer Kennedy is also very well written and I loved how the two played off each other to highlight the issues Ruth faces as a black woman.

You are constantly left wondering how the book will end and there are some very big twists before the conclusion (which I won’t spoil), you won’t be able to put this book down! It certainly lives up to it’s title as a small great thing.

I didnt enjoy this book and unfortunetly I skimmed to the end.

A brave novel tackling something at the heart of society, by an author I have read many books from in the past, and I admire her tackling of difficult issues that can divide and damage our society. This novel is no exception, and whilst I am glad she took this on, and am glad that some readers' eyes may have been opened to the prejudices they may or may not have been aware of holding, I felt at times it could have been a little more nuanced.

I admit I did not finish this book it was simply so raw and emotional that I couldn't get through it

This is personally not a genre I pick up often but the parts I did read were fantastic it was so beautifully written you just get caught up in all the characters even the ones you don't want to

I have made several friends buy this book as I knew they would love it and all of them so far have praised it

A delicate subject matter handled very well

A controversial but compelling read. The author (who I now know is Jodi Picoult!) never fails to immerse the reader into the pages. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

I also received a copy of the book under its true name without realising it was the same book so I will put a full review under the correct title. Thanks

I'm so sorry but I can no longer review this book. Please accept my apologies.

Small Great Things is about Ruth, a labour and delivery nurse. She also happens to be the only African American nurse on that ward. And when she looks after a white supremacists baby and they forbid her from touching their baby, things suddenly get worse.

A post it note is left on the front of the baby’s file saying “no African American personell to care for this patient”. Then Ruth is left alone, by accident, in a room with the baby and when that baby suddenly becomes unwell Ruth has to make the decision whether to help save that baby or do as she’s told.

When the baby dies Ruth then has to defend herself against a murder charge.

This book is put simply, about racism. However, truthfully, it is about a whole lot more. I have a lot of things to say about how this book made me feel but because I have a lot to say, and because that is the point of this book, I’m going to leave this as a review of the actual book and story and do a discussion post about how the book made me feel.

If you’re a Jodi Picoult fan then you’re going to love this book because it is typical Picoult style. Her writing is unimaginable. They way she writes that gets you to the core and makes you feel how that character feels is phenomenal. She has the ability to write and portray how we have all felt one time or another. She hits you hard, makes you laugh, cry and sometimes literally scream whilst turning the pages.

I’ve never read a book about racism and it opened my eyes a lot. It’s easy for me to say that I feel like this book is set somewhere so different to where I live (the UK) and surely it’s not as bad here. But how would I know? I’m a white person in a priveleged country and truthfully, I’ve no idea how bad racism is in my country. But Small Great Things truly opened my eyes to something I never really thought about much. I was that person that said I didn’t see race. But what I mean isn’t in a racist way it is in an ignorant way.

Kennedy is the white lawyer who Picoult wrote the book for. Her character is the target audience and I am that target audience. I am a white nurse in England and I have grown up not knowing what it means to be a person of colour. I liked how Kennedy’s sections made me relate and grow with her as I read the book.

Reading Ruth’s perception was fascinating. How she saw colour everywhere and how she struggled trying to help her son not be under priveleged. How she “got used” to indirect racism like being searched at a store and asked for a receipt and Kennedy not being. She fascinated me in a way that I felt that I learnt something every time I read her chapters. She learnt something about what it’s like to be white in as well.

Turks chapters although hard to read were intriguing in a way that I would never have thought I would be intrigued. I was intrigued at why he felt so much anger at somebody else’s skin. I was intrigued at how his actions were so arrogant and obvious when he was wrong. I was mostly intrigued at how him being a white supremacist was not on trial and how he did not get reprimanded for this sort of thing.

I thoroughly enjoyed the ending. The typical Picoult ending was a great twist and was a great ending to the book. It emphasised the character development of each chapter.

I wish there was a prologue to “6 years later” Ruth though. But that’s just me wanting more.

I’m sorry this review is so long but it’s because this book is so complex and amazing. You really should read it.