Book Review - House Rules - Jodi Picoult (2025 #6)

House Rules by picoult-jodi
My rating: 2 of 5 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 behaviours 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?

Usually I love Jodi Picoult's books but I found this one dragged a bit for me. Picoult had certainly done her research on the subject of Autism and in particular Asperger's and although much of what she's written in this book (which was published in 2010) would still be relevant today the use of the term Asperger's would not.

She's tried very hard to get us inside the head of Jacob, who has been diagnosed with Asperger's and also to show how this affects his Mother and younger brother but she labours the details too much. I found myself skim reading some sections.

I also found the legal case proceedings to be unrealistic in how Jacob ended up being charged with murder and for me the ending of the book was disappointing.


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