EXCELLENT READ AND HARD TO PUT DOWN!

books:

	• Salem Falls Jodi Picoult Washington Square Press, 2002 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 132 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Love and Exitement all in One

Jack moves to Salem Falls to start over. He just got out of jail for doing something he didn't do. He got a job at the Do-Or-Diner and meets Addie Peabody. Addie is still trying to get over the loss of her daughter and starts getting attached to Jack. Then Jack gets accused of doing something he didn't do and everything gets shaky. Addie doesn't know who to trust, Jack doesn't remember what happened, and almost the whole town is against Jack St. Bride.

I really like this book. It is love and reality all in one. It teaches you that you can do anything you put your mind to. What I don't like about this book is all the preparation time for court. It takes a while and I would have rather read about Jack ad Addie instead of the trial.

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Fun, but flawed

"Salem Falls" is readable, likeable and decidedly unspectacular. Picoult masterfully weaves a suspenseful plot, yet the entire novel somehow manages to disappoint. Perhaps it was her somewhat flat portrayal of Jack, the main character. Despite having a rather intimate understanding of his situation, I found him to be a listless and uninteresting character.
Or perhaps is was the rather trite manner in which Addie, Amos, Gillian and many of the other characters were crafted. Many of the images and characterizations seem overly dependent upon a twenty-first century sensibility. I often distrust novels in which the character portrayals are laced with media references and cliché images of current fashion and I found the four young girls to be very much to that effect. References to Alanis Morissette and electric blue nail polish may not withstand the test of time.
On the other hand, I appreciated Ms. Picoult's lack of negativity toward Wicca and her openness towards the possibility of magic. Although the love interest sub-plot did not work for me, those moments of "magic" rescued the novel from becoming overly trite and predictable.
Such assets and flaws aside, I'll admit that read the book happily eagerly to discover the outcome. One cannot help being drawn into the story. It was simply a "fun read".

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EXCELLENT READ AND HARD TO PUT DOWN!

I really enjoyed this book the more I got into it, finding it hard to put down.

Jack St. Bride just got released from prison, and with nowhere to go to, finally reaches the small town of Salem Falls where no one knows him. He finds the Do-Or Diner, where Addy has owned the restaurant for years. Jack immediately hits it off with Addie there, and feeling he needs a job not knowing his prior history, she hires him on as a busboy.

It isn't long though until Jack has to report to the officer in the county there, and it is then his history comes out to the whole small town including Abby. Abby, having had experiences in the past, is suddenly wary, but then chooses to believe the best about Jack. The whole town goes crazy with stories though, and many want him out. When a teenager and her friends hear this, they want Jack out, planning a terrible act to ensnare him, and get him accused of rape once again.

Well of course, this whole saga comes to a trial in the court, with all sides of the story. But as Jordan, the defense attorney uncovers more and more facts, he can see right through Gillian as a terrible liar, and realizes Jack's innocence. Matt, the prosecuting attorney of course, does whatever he can to throw Jack behind bars for good, but as the story unfolds here, a whole different story emerges and the truth does come out.

Abby is deeply in love with Jack. She always was since first sight, and eventually the two may get together depending on the outcome of Jack's trial-which remains to be seen until you read the book.

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Could not put it down

This was the first Picoult book that I ever read. While the story line was not necessarily new (trial,suspected rape, denial and more of the same)the web of subplots kept me guessing all the way to the end. There were times when the bad guys looked good and vice versa all while the truth was ignored. It probably happened someplace. Read it. I now am going to read her other novels.

Not My Favorite Picoult Novel

I adore Jodi Picoult. I have a very hard time putting her novels down. Her writing is mesmerizing, usually. I didn't find that to be the case in Salem Falls. I could not like nor related to Jack, the main character. He was too remote and distant from the reader. I felt like I was on the outside looking in at him. It was an unpleasant feeling.

Also, I was more than a little unhappy with Picoult's depiction of witchcraft and paganism. I am a practicing pagan and I found that her explanations of how magick works and what paganism is very informed. However, her representations of pagans - 4 lying, scheming, teenage girls and 1 typical pagan/hippy hybrid - to be lacking and insulting. You can do much better than that, Ms. Picoult.

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reviews: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, page 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

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