Scan barcode
smileykyleigh's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ashbeth2011's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
soytube's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
court_caitlin's review against another edition
3.0
Ummmm. Yeah, I don’t think I was a fan. I gave it three stars because her writing and prose is good. Great character development. The problem was that there were too many characters and I didn’t really care enough about any of them. We get vague references to past emotions and events but nothing clear. I find it exceptionally problematic to trivialize rape survivors. False rape accusations are so rare that to pretend it could happen to someone twice in the course of 18 months is ridiculous. Also the girls’ motives made NO SENSE. I would have been willing to suspend disbelief for the double false rape accusations if Gillian had a solid reason for being interested in Jack and being upset with him. They literally had ONE conversation by a Dumpster and that was enough to make her try to ruin his life? Very confusing. I’m still not sure why the other girls were interested In practicing witch craft in the first place. I’ve read much better novels with twist endings about the accuser. Also I have no idea why the story ended the way it did. Great, Charlie is a rapist and so is Amos and oh yeah Amos is consistently raping his daughter, but don’t worry Addie and Jack are happy? Also Addie sure got over her daughter in a hurry considering she was mourning her for literally years. Overall, not great and hard to buy into.
quillandkindle's review against another edition
3.0
Salem Falls is definitely my favourite book by Picoult thus far. She had – again – successfully incorporated a tinge of romance, a tinge of courtroom drama and a tinge of mystery into her writing, which in the end, made up a beautifully written story. As the other books by Jodi Picoult, this is another issue-oriented novel in which she tried to bring forward topics such as Megan’s Law abuse (A law that requires law enforcement to make information regarding registered sex offender available to public) and false accusations to readers’ eyes.
In Salem Falls, we were introduced to a character, Jack St. Bride, who spent eight months of his life behind the bars over crime he didn’t commit. When he arrived in the small town of Salem Falls, New Hampshire, all he intended to do was to run away from his past and start anew. Landed a job as a dishwasher at a local diner, romance soon started to bud between him and Addie Peabody, the diner’s owner. As the thing from Jack’s past was made public, the people of Salem Falls treated Jack with such hatred. Through this ordeal, the relationship between him and Addie continued to blossom and they learnt quite a lot of heartbreaking things about each other. However, when a girl from a Wiccan group that practiced Pagan ritual accused Jack of raping her, everything began to shatter. Jack relived his nightmare once again but this time, he swore to himself that he won’t plead guilty like he did before. Will he survive against this brutal allegation this time?
Diving into this book was like peeling an onion. Secrets were carefully revealed, layer by layer, as you go through page after page. The plot was well thought out and seriously engaging. Even though it was a little obvious how the trial might end, the whole processes and characters behaviours made me thoroughly involved with the story. The revelation about Wiccan and their ritual really caught my interest because I’ve never really heard of this thing. Besides that, there was also a shocking revelation towards the end of the book which made me read back few chapters and reanalyse certain characters motives This book was totally unputdownable and the fact that I finished it in one day really tells a lot.
In Salem Falls, we were introduced to a character, Jack St. Bride, who spent eight months of his life behind the bars over crime he didn’t commit. When he arrived in the small town of Salem Falls, New Hampshire, all he intended to do was to run away from his past and start anew. Landed a job as a dishwasher at a local diner, romance soon started to bud between him and Addie Peabody, the diner’s owner. As the thing from Jack’s past was made public, the people of Salem Falls treated Jack with such hatred. Through this ordeal, the relationship between him and Addie continued to blossom and they learnt quite a lot of heartbreaking things about each other. However, when a girl from a Wiccan group that practiced Pagan ritual accused Jack of raping her, everything began to shatter. Jack relived his nightmare once again but this time, he swore to himself that he won’t plead guilty like he did before. Will he survive against this brutal allegation this time?
Diving into this book was like peeling an onion. Secrets were carefully revealed, layer by layer, as you go through page after page. The plot was well thought out and seriously engaging. Even though it was a little obvious how the trial might end, the whole processes and characters behaviours made me thoroughly involved with the story. The revelation about Wiccan and their ritual really caught my interest because I’ve never really heard of this thing. Besides that, there was also a shocking revelation towards the end of the book which made me read back few chapters and reanalyse certain characters motives This book was totally unputdownable and the fact that I finished it in one day really tells a lot.
marieburrows's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
rae_lum's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
kimelsalvador's review against another edition
4.0
Jodi often writes about very touchy subjects and this book is definitely one of those sensitive subjects. The book really proves that there really is two sides to every story and it's not always the side you expect that is true. It was an interesting read and you really start to doubt your initial judgement about some of the characters after you find out a little more about them.
marnella's review against another edition
2.0
I could not get into this book. I thought about stopping several times but continued because I typically like Jodi's books. Had this been the first book of hers I read I would not consider reading more of her books. I was excited about the witch craft, I expected twists and turns and it just fell flat. When it got to the end I felt it didn't make sense, what was the point? There was a huge plot piece missing or something.