The Tenth Circle (Lida Hills)

The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult, Washington Square Press, 885 pages
I discovered this book from a friend who recommended it.
The Tenth Circle is a twisted and sad novel. It will keep you interested and at the end of your seat until the end. Trixie Stone is or was your average teenage girl, until a night that she can never forget. A series of events lead to Trixie being rapped, but did she have it coming? Throughout the book Trixie learns the truth about people and goes through changes that she doesn’t understand. When Trixie doesn’t think her life could get anymore crazy than it already is she learns of another catastrophe which causes her to run away. Trixie’s running away reveals more truth as to what really occurred the night of her rape, and just the length parents will go to, to protect their child. You discover that the characters aren’t who they seem to be, and every action has a consequence.
The audience for this book is for those with open minds because of the realness and rawness of what truly goes through a teenage girl’s head. The author’s writing style is very descriptive so you can get a good picture of the scene. “Trixie broke into a sprint, she hit a patch of black ice and her feet gave out from underneath her. One leg twisted, and she could feel herself falling. The moment before her left hip struck the pavement, she was wrenched upright by the very person she’d been trying to avoid” (Picoult 208).
One of the many passages in The Tenth Circle that is striking is “The thing that most people didn’t understand, if they weren’t in his line of work, was that a rape victim and a victim of a fatal accident were both gone, forever. The difference was that the rape victim still had to go through the motions of being alive.” (84). This gets the reader into the mind of an officer, what they think and feel for the victims they have to deal with. “We’ve been friends since kindergarten. How could you believe him over me? Something in Zephyr’s eyes changed, but before she could speak, Moss slid an arm around her shoulders, anchoring her to his side. So, Trixie thought. It’s like that.”(120). The passage displays just how difficult it is to keep true friends in high school, people change and relationships suffer from it. “Daniel would find Trixie, even if it meant he had to walk across his old skin – lying, stealing, and hurting anyone who stood in his way.”(300) It goes to show that no matter what a child does or the situations that they get involved in, it’s your parents that will be there and do anything to keep you as safe as possible.
The Tenth Circle was surprisingly relatable. I connected with Trixie and her pain of having to grow up and go through high school. The way she felt having to lose a close friend and sometimes feeling like you’re alone in a situation. I felt bad for Trixie having to deal with no one believing you and putting up with how cruel high school students can act. A part that really spoke to me was when Trixie finally came out with the truth to her dad. It showed that she came to the realization that her parents really did have her best interest at heart and they would love her no matter what she did.