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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

SALEM FALLS BY JODI PICOULT

I read this book before re-reading the Twilight series and forgot to review it. I think the reason was that I didn't really care all that much for the book. There were some aspects that I found sort of interesting, but overall, the book was just another Picoult book that fell short. Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult tells the story of a teacher who is wrongly accused of having a relationship with one of his students and winds up losing his job and friends and lands himself in jail. After being released from prison, he decides to start a new life in a new town, which happens to be Salem Falls. Once there he becomes a dishwasher at the local diner and befriends some co-workers. However, news of his past reaches the town and soon he is being bullied by the townspeople. He even winds up getting accused of attacking another young girl and once again find himself standing trial. During all of this, he falls in love with his boss, who decides to find out for herself what type of man she has chosen to be with. In the end, he is found not guilty and the dirty secrets of Salem Falls remain a secret. There are side stories that interlock with the main plot line, but none of them truly stand out as exceptional, but merely cliched. The writing is solid and the characters are drawn out clearly, but the tone of the story never really feels settled and instead veers off into various directions. Once again, I have been disappointed by Picoult. Why do I keep reading her books? I keep getting suckered into these plot summaries which sound so interesting that I am convinced I am on to a winner, but then I read the book and wind up cursing myself for wasting my time. UGH! Well, no more Picoult for me. At least not for quite some time. Instead, I am going to finish my Wodehouse book and move ahead with reading either Her Fearful Symmetry or Under the Dome. I'm banking on 2010 to be a fab reading year. Cheers to you all!! And Happy Reading in 2010!!

7 comments:

Holli said...

I'm starting to think I may not like Jodi Picoult as much as I thought I did either!

Athira said...

I agree, I am beginning to feel I don't want to read Jodi Picoult either.

Karen said...

I agree Nadia - I have been so disappointed by some her latest books (although I really enjoyed her early writing). I haven't even read her latest release and don't think I will.

Anonymous said...

That is too bad. I hope Her Fearful Symmetry lives up to your expectations. I liked it very much.

Happy Reading!

bermudaonion said...

Sorry this didn't work for you. It's been a while since I've read Picoult, but her work is hit or miss.

jmisgro said...

Wow I feel the same way about her books!

Sandy said...

Some of her books are great but some of them I just can't seem to get into either. This was one of them so I didn't even finish it. A lot of the others are great though. I guess all authors go through this sometime.