I like some things about A Spark of Light: First, the topic of abortion is a difficult topic to tackle no matter which side one supports because it is so controversial and emotions run high on either side. It seems that Picoult has tried to remain objective (not sure she was successful) but still she has done a good job in bringing out both sides and centering the issue around the one and only fundamental question of personhood--When does life begin? When does a person begins to be a person? No one can disagree that ending the life of a human being, not matter how small, is a crime and not a choice. Where people disagree is whether the unborn is a human or a tissue with the potential to become a human. No one can disagree that ending a human life is a crime. The conflict begins when people question at what point life begins and whether life outside the womb and life (or the potential for life) inside the womb should guarantee the same protection under the law. Picoult has done a good job bringing these opposing views before the readers. However, for me, it reads like a draft of gathered facts rather than a storyline. The writing is all over the place, disorganized, and repetitive. The different perspectives are not an issue; that is a strength. The way the book as a whole is organized is a problem. I think that it would have been a better book if the writing didn't seem so rushed. As it is, it reads like a draft of information put together and bound in a book in a disordered manner before the final draft was revised. I liked the concept, but not the execution. It lacks in story and character development and the disorganization doesn't allow for connection with any of the characters. The emotions came to me more from the usual conflict of the issue and the already known arguments rather than from the characters' lives and the fact that their lives were in danger. The author's note at the end of the book is worth reading and can stand on its own as it basically recapitulates the issue even better than reading the whole story does.