Audiobook Review: Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult

Pages: 464

Genre: Adult Fiction/Audiobook

Pub. Date: September 15, 2026

Publisher: Ballantine

Source: Publisher for review

Other Books By Author: By Any Other Name

and Mad Honey 

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

 

Goodreads says, "From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of By Any Other Name comes a riveting novel about the risks we take to protect the ones we love in a world where crisis is always just around the corner.

On September 11, 2001, when Molly Fitzgerald was only two months old, her mother went to an appointment at the World Trade Center and never came home. Her father and the stepmother who raised her couldn’t have loved her more, but she still grew up with a healthy dread of disasters.

Now an adult, she runs the Rhode Island Department for Emergency Preparedness, mapping out ways to save lives during storms, epidemics, and airplane crashes. She and her husband, Jesse—a police polygraph expert with his own history of crisis—have found a love that is a solace in a dangerous world. But then the unexpected upends their new marriage, leading them both to question everything they thought they knew.

Moving between past and present, Hollow Bones is an epic story of the lies we tell ourselves as we write the narratives of our lives, the plans we design to protect ourselves at the worst moments, and the ties that bind mothers and daughters."

 

 

Molly Ambrose is a young prodigy working at Rhode Island's state emergency and response program. Her whole life feels like it is about keeping people safe, which has been a common theme throughout her life, as she lost her mother to the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11. She meets Jesse Fitzgerald, a polygraphy expert, and even though he is much older than her, it's love, and they are inseparable even during the COVID pandemic. The story jumps back to her mother, Eloise's childhood, when she met Molly's father at college, and to her tight friendship with Evie. Eloise's childhood was anything but normal as she grew up in an evangelical Christian household with an abusive pastor father. All of these events shape Eloise's life, but Molly never really had a chance to get to know her, as she was only three months old on 9/11. Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult is a moving family saga that spans generations, and despite feeling oppressively heavy at times and dark, it is a memorable audiobook that kept me engaged.

How could I not root for Molly Ambrose in Hollow Bones? I genuinely cared for her as she didn't have the easiest life with her mother dying on 9/11. I enjoyed learning about her job and how people help prepare for disasters and keep the general public informed and safe. I also enjoyed her relationship with Jesse despite the age difference. On the other hand, the flashbacks to Eloise's life were important, but dark at times. Her father was an awful man despite being a pastor, and things felt very heavy. Once she broke free from her father, things were looking up in college; however, things took a dark turn again for Eloise when she had to deal with postpartum psychosis years later. This was the hardest part for me to listen to as it felt downright depressing in the audiobook of Hollow Bones. I had to step away from the story at various points, because it felt so heavy and unsettling. But I think this demonstrates how masterful Picoult is at addressing these tough issues, which seems to be her calling card as of late, and I appreciate her raising awareness. The audiobook only immersed me further, especially when Eloise was dealing with her mental health issues.

I can't say more about Hollow Bones for fear of spoiling things, but some twists and turns surprised me. Despite the heavy topics: suicide, mental illness, 9/11, rape, church abuse, and more, I was completely invested in the book. I will say it seemed like a lot - can one family really have all of these horrific things happen in a lifetime? Nonetheless, I appreciate Picoult's way of raising awareness on very timely issues while spinning a compelling tale that makes me care about her characters- flaws and all.

Have you read Hollow Bones? What do you think? Are you a fan of Jodi Picoult? Let me know in the comments below.