House Rules

Jodi Picoult
4 Stars
 When your son can't look you in the eye...does that mean he's guilty?
Jacob Hunt is a teen with Asperger's syndrome. He's hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, though he is brilliant in many ways. But he has a special focus on one subject - forensic analysis. A police scanner in his room clues him in to crime scenes, and he's always showing up and telling the cops what to do. And he's usually right.
But when Jacob's small hometown is rocked by a terrible murder, law enforcement comes to him. Jacob's behaviors are hallmark Asperger's, but they look a lot like guilt to the local police. Suddenly the Hunt family, who only want to fit in, are directly in the spotlight. For Jacob's mother, Emma, it's a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it's another indication why nothing is normal because of Jacob.
And over this small family, the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?

I was so glad that this book turned out to be so much better than I thought it was going to be. I typically don't like books told from everyone's point of view it just annoys me, but this story was made by incorporating everyone's point of view. I was reluctant to read this book because it didn't really grab my attention, but I started the book I couldn't put it down. I loved Jacob's POV it provided an inside look on Aspergers how he dealt with things and how he felt to the outside world making him seem so much more human to me. Being able to hear his perspective on things helped explain why he did the things he did. To him everything is simply black and white there is no gray area and he follows the rules to the letter, so when the rules need to be followed he does just that causing him to get into more trouble then he ever thought possible. He had to be my favorite character he said so many things that if you really think about make a lot of sense like "Normal is a just a setting on a dryer". Emma's POV was that of a loving devoted mother who has had so much to deal with for so long and yet she loves her son with no reservations. She deals with the hand dealt to her and keeps the family going strong. Theo is just a teenager trying to get by in the world that doesn't accept different very well and so being the brother of a weird boy doesn't help him. He tries to fit in at school and at home but there just doesn't seem to be a place for him. He's had to look out for his older brother for so long and he is just tired of it, but when his adventures get a little outta hand everything spirals outta control. Rich is just a detective who has to solve the crime and he his just doing his job following the clues and trying to get justice for a devastated family. Oliver the newly graduated lawyer is thrown into the whirlwind of a story just when the plot thickens and he adds a touch of naiveness that is perfect for a already chaotic scene. Together they bring to together this story of a poor girls alleged murder where everything turns out to be less than it really seems to be. I love Jodi Picoult story House Rules and all the characters that made this book so amazing!!