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chelseaclif7's review against another edition
4.0
I am not a huge Picoult fan, but this book stuck with me for a while after I read it. It was creepy, and it was wrong on so many levels, but written well.
emjay24's review against another edition
3.0
Hmm a little too romancey lovey for my taste.. I kept reading, wanting to know what happened. I knew something but didn’t think it was the twist. I didn’t think it would be as straightforward as it was. But what I thought was fairly obvious was actually supposed to be the twist. I was pretty disapointed by the ending. Too sappy tied up on one part and only one small part which was more real life, the sad outcome for one of the characters. It wasn’t a bad book, and the whole time I did wonder if he did it or didn’t, and if that guy was in my town would I believe him or not, and thought back to the two teachers in my school when I was younger who were convicted of molesting kids.. I just feel like she had something that could have been something more, but she missed the mark on it. Still a good read though.
whalesharkandme's review against another edition
1.0
I started reading and just couldn't keep going, it might have gotten better, I just didn't want to spend the time finding out, I have so much more that I want to read.
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.
emilyknap's review against another edition
3.0
This is actually a tough review for me. I enjoyed the book because I was interested in where the story would go and which characters would be redeemed (or condemned) but I have an overall icky feeling when I think back to it. You may or may not be able to tell from the summary that part of this book is about rape. And multiple rapes at that. I'm going to go ahead and warn you that this book has some heavy stuff in it and the following review will as well, so if you aren't up for that, come back tomorrow :)
To be honest, I didn't know where this book was going. I didn't know who to believe!!! As a therapist, I always want to believe the victim but I also know that victims are humans and human lie. Lying was a big part of this story and it provided a glimpse into how a little lie can explode and ruin someones life. Don't get me wrong, I don't think lying about being a rape victim is a little lie. I think that is disgusting and that it makes it harder for real victims to get the help they need. But part of me hopes that the girls in this book weren't entirely malicious and the stories that eventually got out of control, maybe started out as little lies without the intent of ruining people lives. Maybe. Putting all of my feelings about the content of this book into words is hard and I don't want to stand on a soapbox but this book hit home for me because I see things like this almost every day.
Now, on to the characters. I don't think I really liked any characters in this book. The teenage girls were spiteful, vindictive, and immature. I know that is true to some girls who are that age but not all of them and I would have liked at least one redeeming character. On the other hand, maybe the author was making a point that all of us are flawed. In that case, good point but I still want an enjoyable character. I did enjoy learning about Jack's past and the different phases of his life that created who he became. But once again, it focused on how flawed he was and the mistakes he made that likely hurt a lot of people. As I'm writing this review, I keep thinking, maybe that's what Jodi Picoult wanted. For the reader to think, "ugh, this guy did horrible things but he's not a horrible person." Like I said, if that's the case, more power to you for getting deep and symbolic on us but I just wasn't feeling it. I know people are flawed. I know people make mistakes and sometimes deserve a second chance. I don't need to read a book about rape and wiccans to know that.
Then the ending. Was that really necessary? My note for the end of the book was "WTF?!?! And I knew it!" Once again, my profession provides me with experience to be able to see things differently. It helps me understand Gilly and to an extent, and why she did what she did, but it doesn't make it ok. This ending makes everything not ok. The majority of the book I thought Gilly was a brat, and she was, but I could at least understand her by the end of the book so part of me appreciates the author's story. Still don't know if parts of it were necessary. And I would have liked a better developed relationship between Addie and Jack. I didn't like them together and I thought their attraction wasn't well developed. This review took on a life of it's own so I'm going to end it now. And I've gone back and forth between a 3 and a 4 (may be surprising after this review but I did find myself wanting to read more) and I've finally settled on a 3. Anyone else read this book?
p. 385
To be honest, I didn't know where this book was going. I didn't know who to believe!!! As a therapist, I always want to believe the victim but I also know that victims are humans and human lie. Lying was a big part of this story and it provided a glimpse into how a little lie can explode and ruin someones life. Don't get me wrong, I don't think lying about being a rape victim is a little lie. I think that is disgusting and that it makes it harder for real victims to get the help they need. But part of me hopes that the girls in this book weren't entirely malicious and the stories that eventually got out of control, maybe started out as little lies without the intent of ruining people lives. Maybe. Putting all of my feelings about the content of this book into words is hard and I don't want to stand on a soapbox but this book hit home for me because I see things like this almost every day.
Now, on to the characters. I don't think I really liked any characters in this book. The teenage girls were spiteful, vindictive, and immature. I know that is true to some girls who are that age but not all of them and I would have liked at least one redeeming character. On the other hand, maybe the author was making a point that all of us are flawed. In that case, good point but I still want an enjoyable character. I did enjoy learning about Jack's past and the different phases of his life that created who he became. But once again, it focused on how flawed he was and the mistakes he made that likely hurt a lot of people. As I'm writing this review, I keep thinking, maybe that's what Jodi Picoult wanted. For the reader to think, "ugh, this guy did horrible things but he's not a horrible person." Like I said, if that's the case, more power to you for getting deep and symbolic on us but I just wasn't feeling it. I know people are flawed. I know people make mistakes and sometimes deserve a second chance. I don't need to read a book about rape and wiccans to know that.
Then the ending. Was that really necessary? My note for the end of the book was "WTF?!?! And I knew it!" Once again, my profession provides me with experience to be able to see things differently. It helps me understand Gilly and to an extent, and why she did what she did, but it doesn't make it ok. This ending makes everything not ok. The majority of the book I thought Gilly was a brat, and she was, but I could at least understand her by the end of the book so part of me appreciates the author's story. Still don't know if parts of it were necessary. And I would have liked a better developed relationship between Addie and Jack. I didn't like them together and I thought their attraction wasn't well developed. This review took on a life of it's own so I'm going to end it now. And I've gone back and forth between a 3 and a 4 (may be surprising after this review but I did find myself wanting to read more) and I've finally settled on a 3. Anyone else read this book?
p. 385
lenalooo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
imworthyandenough's review against another edition
3.0
3.5⭐️ - it was a good read, BUT was shaking my head a lot in frustration/annoyance/disbelief at the young (and quite immature) main character.
bookishtiff's review against another edition
3.0
Never have I been more conflicted about a book than I have with this one. Salem Falls follows multiple characters, too many in my opinion. I felt like a couple of the point of views weren't needed. I really didn't see us needing a whole point of view for each lawyer, police officer, and Thomas. Not going to lie the characters were a bit hard for me to differentiate between. The book goes back and forth in time along with the switching points of view. We see Jack living his life before and during his prison sentence. Then we see him after his sentence trying to create a life for himself.
All the characters in the book have some issues. I don't trust any of them and feel like they all could get some good help by seeing a mental health professional. One of our characters who is the love interest for Jack, Addie keeps pretending her daughter is still alive and will say out loud stuff as if her daughter was actually there and was able to still get under her feet while she takes orders or that she could still eat the food she puts out for her daily. Instead of anyone offering this poor woman help, they call her crazy behind her back. She is a woman in pain and needs some help desperately. Gillian needs some major help, and that girl never gets it in this book.
This book is almost as old as me, which is crazy to think about, but the book is still relevant to today's society. Rape is still something that happens, and people get wrongly convicted, and then we have people who never are committed for their crimes. I feel like this book opens a whole thing for discussion.
I felt like a lot of things in this book conveniently happened in order to make the plot move forward. Some of it felt too convenient and took the realism away for me. Like how Gillian needed the powder but couldn't get it at the Wicca shop but conveniently her dad's company just so happened to be using it to make medicine and she was easily able to steal some. I really don't think Wicca needed to be even mentioned in this book. I really didn't hold a true purpose in the book. I'm not sure if the author was trying to see Wicca in a bad light or if she was just using it as a reason for the things those young girls did.
The ending in this book really makes you think, and nothing feels resolved for me. I didn't see the true ending happening, but I wish we saw the real monster brought to light and justice.
All the characters in the book have some issues. I don't trust any of them and feel like they all could get some good help by seeing a mental health professional. One of our characters who is the love interest for Jack, Addie keeps pretending her daughter is still alive and will say out loud stuff as if her daughter was actually there and was able to still get under her feet while she takes orders or that she could still eat the food she puts out for her daily. Instead of anyone offering this poor woman help, they call her crazy behind her back. She is a woman in pain and needs some help desperately. Gillian needs some major help, and that girl never gets it in this book.
This book is almost as old as me, which is crazy to think about, but the book is still relevant to today's society. Rape is still something that happens, and people get wrongly convicted, and then we have people who never are committed for their crimes. I feel like this book opens a whole thing for discussion.
I felt like a lot of things in this book conveniently happened in order to make the plot move forward. Some of it felt too convenient and took the realism away for me. Like how Gillian needed the powder but couldn't get it at the Wicca shop but conveniently her dad's company just so happened to be using it to make medicine and she was easily able to steal some. I really don't think Wicca needed to be even mentioned in this book. I really didn't hold a true purpose in the book. I'm not sure if the author was trying to see Wicca in a bad light or if she was just using it as a reason for the things those young girls did.
The ending in this book really makes you think, and nothing feels resolved for me. I didn't see the true ending happening, but I wish we saw the real monster brought to light and justice.
sarahgs's review against another edition
3.0
A good story, but the details all came together too neatly. In a way, I like that. But in a way, Harry Potter achieves the same thing. It's the kind of book that I probably should have gotten from the library - a good read, a little bit addictive, but not a book I'd want to own and reread multiple times.