Emily Gold and Chris Harte have grown up together from the day Emily was born.  Three-month-old Chris was literally put in Emily’s hospital crib right after she was born as their parents conversed.  Without realizing it, baby Emily reached over and grabbed Chris’ fingers as they both slept peacefully.

As they grew up, their friendship slowly turned into something more until they became high school sweethearts.  Their parents, Melanie and Michael Gold and Gus and James Harte, couldn’t have been any happier about it.  In their eyes, their children were destined to be married one day.

That all changes, though, when the parents each receive a phone call in the middle of the night summoning them to the hospital.  When they arrive, the news is devastating:  seventeen-year-old Emily is dead due to a gunshot wound to the head and Chris needs stitches to close the huge gash across his head.

As Chris and both sets of parents grieve the loss of Emily, the police badger them to find out what happened that night, but the truth isn’t clear.  No one really knows what happened that night except for Emily and Chris, but Emily is dead and Chris isn’t talking.  Slowly the evidence leads to new ideas about what happened that night; theories of a suicide pact or muder are both thrown around.  All they really know, though, is that Emily is dead due to a gunshot wound to the back of her head, the bullet came from Chris’ father’s gun, and there were two bullets found in the barrell of the gun (only one was fired, though).

Chris is soon arrested and charged with murder in the first degree.  As he awaits his trial, the parents are at a loss on how to act.  Gus Harte believes her son is innocent and is willing to fight for him; James Harte is ignoring the fact that Emily’s death even occured and refuses to talk to anyone about that night; Melanie Gold has a growing hatred towards Chris and believes he killed her precious daughter; Michael Gold cannot put a finger on what happened that night because all he knows is that he misses his daughter but doesn’t believe Chris could have killed her.

As the trial awaits, the characters reminisce about Emily and try to figure out what happened that dreadful night.  The book alternates between what is happening now and memories of the past.  It takes you from the first moment the Hartes and Golds met to the time following Chris’ trial.  There are plenty of twists that the reader cannot even see coming, and it makes the reader wonder what was right and what was wrong along with who is telling the truth and who is lying.

Let me start off by saying, I loved this book.  I can’t find much time to read anything besides my English homework (if I have any time to even do that), but this book was so interesting that I made time to read it.  “The Pact” has a Romeo and Juliet feel to it; two teenagers destined to be together until their love tears them apart.  It truly was a love story.  I was so invested in the story that by the end, I didn’t know if I wanted Chris to be convicted or aquitted from his trial.

Jodi Picoult is an amazing writer.  I’ve read a couple other books she’s written and she always manages to intrigue you with complex plots, make you cry over the characters’ pain, and love the characters as if they were your own family or friends.  This book was no different.  Her endings normally have a great twist, but I wasn’t really satisfied by this ending.  Sure, she’s known for controversial endings, but I wasn’t sure how I wanted the book to end and it seemed like she wasn’t either.  It was extremely frustrating, but it only made me think about the book more.

Despite my frustration with the ending, I would recommend this book to anyone.  Young adults, old parents, girls, guys: it doesn’t matter how you classify yourself, this book is relatable to anyone and it is well worth your time to read it.