“Change of Heart” starts out sad. So sad, in fact, that I actually debated even reading it. June’s husband Jack passes away in a car accident and she is left all alone with their two-year-old, Elizabeth. Yes, that is how the book starts.  But I’m not surprised because, after all, I’m reading Jodi Picoult. Begrudgingly, I continued on. June falls in love with the police officer who broke the bad news of Jack’s death to her, Kurt Nealon, and they marry. Then June becomes pregnant. And then Kurt and Elizabeth are murdered by a handyman June hired to help out around the house.

Yes, it does come out of nowhere. And yes, three of the main characters die within the first 25 pages.

When I got to this point, I once again considered putting the book back on my bookshelf for good, but decided that Jodi Picoult would have to revive the story and it was probably worth reading. And luckily, I was right!

The handyman who killed June’s family is suddenly at the forefront of the novel. His name is Shay Bourne and he is definitely simple-minded. He is tried and sentenced, where we meet another character in the novel, Michael. He is on the jury that decides to invoke the rarely-used New Hampshire death penalty sentence and is so upset over the whole ordeal that he joins the seminary and emerges as “Father Michael.”

Now we’ve fast-forwarded the story eleven years, and June’s daughter, Claire, who was a baby at the time of the murders, is in need of a heart transplant. Shay has decided that he wants to donate his heart to Claire, but that complicates things with his execution as the chemicals used to stop his heart would render it useless. Our last character, Maggie, an ACLU attorney, joins the story when she decides to take on Shay’s case.

Now, this would still be a very dramatic novel, but Picoult has added one more element to the story: it seems Shay can perform miracles. Not only that, but some people, including Father Michael, begin questioning whether or not he may be the second coming of Christ.

Okay, it probably seems like I’ve given away the entire novel, but that all unfolds in the first itsy, bisty part. And what comes next is thrilling, fast-paced and impossible to stop reading. Even if parts make you want to cry.

This book was definitely on par with Picoult’s others. A fast-paced legal drama mixed with a heart-wrenching back story tends to be her formula, but it is totally working for her. Like I said, “Change of Heart” and all her other books, are just plain entertaining. They keep you interested and don’t make you feel like you’re doing homework. Reading a Jodi Picoult novel is like watching your favorite TV show: it’s comfortable and familiar, yet still engaging and interesting.

If you’re looking for just a nice, good old fashioned novel (especially for the upcoming holiday weekend!), then “Change of Heart” is a great choice!

Got some free time? Need a good book to take your mind off of class? Check out Alex’s other book reviews!

Prominent themes in tonight’s episode of Gossip Girl included “Change of Heart,” “Tumultuous Backstories,” and “Going on Day-Dates in Lingerie.” Damn, I love this show.

Where shall I begin? Let’s start with the bad and work our way up to the “OMG!” Little J and Agnes had a change of heart, which prompted a fight, an attempted betrayal, and a nutso Agnes lighting the J. Humphrey Designs dresses on fire in an alley. Hey, at least Agnes admitted to being crazy.

Meanwhile, (perhaps the biggest 180 of them all) former ice crotch Eleanor Waldorf falling in love (gasp!) with Cyrus, played by Wallace Shawn, a funny looking little man you may recognize from Sex in the City, Clueless or The Princess Bride. Anyway, of course Blair is not pleased, and sets out to destroy the budding romance.

However, when Cy’s Notebook-esque tale of true love comes out, B. seems to have a change of heart. For half a second. It’s her birthday, and she’ll make her mom cry if she wants to. Just after Eleanor gives Cyrus the boot, Cyndi Lauper enters (yeah, you read right), and tells Blair that her friend Cyrus asked her to perform for her bday bash. Awwww, how sweet. Cue B’s second change of heart for the evening.

Meanwhile, Dan is digging up dirt on the Bass family for his book (something Rufus disagrees with- come on, Rufus, I know you have a conscience, but seriously- this is your kid’s big break), and discovers Bart’s shocking tale of arsony that was swept under the rug just as the Bass empire blossomed.

Not surprising: Dan doesn’t go through with the book, and turns in the manuscript to Bart.

Surprising: Bart reads it, and realizes he’s alienated Chuck all of his life, and has a father-son bonding moment.

Most surprising: the conniving Bass men decide to go to a hockey game together. Yay for family fun day!

Of course, we can’t forget about Serena and her new potential mate, Aaron. They have the cliche artistic shoot make-out session, which is interrupted by one of Aaron’s other “muses.” Serena later crashes one of Aaron’s dates, and chews him out for not being monogamous, though she really had no claim over him to begin with.

Undaunted, Aaron shows up at Serena’s the next day to take her to the puppet theatre in Central Park (the Swedish Cottage Marionette theatre, which is currently showing Peter Pan if anyone wants to have a Gossip-Girl-inspired day date), and Serena is not only swept off her feet (yet again), but decides that pants are unnecessary, and heads out to the cottage in her silk nightie (for the love, Serena, the puppet theatre is family friendly!).

Tonight, it seemed as though all of our favorite GG villains showed a little piece of their heart. How precious. In order to counterbalance, however, the episode left off with Little J. deciding to divorce her parents. We can’t all have happy families, can we?

(Note to Jenny: maybe you should call Nathan Scott for emancipation tips, and ask him how difficult it is to pay your own rent when you’re still in high school.)

Overall, tonight’s ep wasn’t necessarily the most dramatic, but it was still pretty juicy… and next week, we’ll truly count our blessings when GG premieres its annual Thanksgiving episode. Can I drizzle gravy on Chace Crawford?

Jessica Simpson is set to rake in 3 million dollars to renew her deal with the pimple poppers over at Proactiv.

Basically, this means she gets more money than she gets to star in all of her blockbuster Hollywood films…to just stay kinda pretty and smile a lot. But get this! In the past, Jessica the Genius has gone on record saying that it was the prescription Accutane that cleared up her zits.

It wasn’t until she signed a contract with Proactiv in 2005 that she had what seems like a change of heart:

“I just had so much build up and so many clogged pores that once I started using Proactiv Solution, my face was just shining. I’m passionate about Proactiv because it worked for me and it gave me so much confidence.“

Maybe her face was shining because she’d returned to being excessively oily after the effects of Accutane wore off. Or maybe she’s just, you know, lying to make a ton of cash for putting in almost no effort.

It doesn’t really matter what Jess says because I don’t know about Proactiv anyway.

It always seemed like such a scam. I’ve tried it twice and all it’s managed to do was face my face smell like a foot. Not to mention drying it out so bad that I had to stay in bed and let it heal.

I had to let me face heal. My face!

So forget Proactiv and forget Jessica Simpson…they’re lying, she’s lying…it’s all the name of the game.

Besides, I wouldn’t trust a company that uses Britney Spears as a spokesperson for beauty.