Rating: 
Summary: Predictable but likeable..
Review: I enjoyed Salem Falls, perhaps it wasn't as good as Keeping Faith or The Plain Truth, but it was an interesting read in it's own right.
The ending was predictable & the graphic details of Addie & Jack's sexual acts was a bit gratuitious but overall it was a decent book.
If you are a first time reader of Jodi Picoult, I would recommend you read her previous novels first, but if not Salem Falls still has the easy going writing style & interesting plots with a hint of courtroom drama.
It's worth a look.
Rating: 
Summary: Just awful
Review: I just don't understand how writers can be so brilliant. But
Jodi Picoult is truly one exceptional author, and this is only the first book I've read by her. The writing was excellent. The
pages just begged to be turned. Jack has been falsely accused of felonious
sexual assault and pleads no contest to get less of a sentencing. Afterwards he heads to Salem Falls to start a new life for himself. Somehow rumors of Jack's past follow him and it's deja vu all over again. This book was excellent. I laughed, I cried. There's nothing better than a good book, and this is one of them:)
Rating:
Summary: Good Read but Not Her Best
Review: I picked up this novel for two reasons. 1) I have previously really enjoyed Piccoult's novels and 2) I am Pagan.
In terms of rating this book against Piccoult's others, I found it to be in the middle. Her characters were interesting, though the young teens engaged themselves in somewhat unrealistic behavior and language. I found there to be many cheesy cliches and dialog that left some to be desired.
However, the end of the book was riveting. For the last 50 pages or so, I could not put it down. It was not that I did not know what would happen, I was just waiting for the "Piccoult-style" WAY for it to happen. She is a master at building her plot and twisting endings. I have never read a book before where the last sentence completely changes the entire novel. So if you are one of those people that like to read the last page- don't! It will hit you from left field.
From a Pagan perspective, I found some of the information right-on accurate but also found some to be somewhat stereotypical. The "witch" who works for the Wiccan Rede that stands trial is absolutely ridiculous. Her "protection spell" she casts in the witness stand is stereotypical and frankly unnecessary. Any protection spell she may have felt she needed would have been cast in the privacy of her own home- not performed like a weird seance in front of hundreds of people. That was outlandish.
Overall, this is why I give the book a 3/5. Whether Piccoult meant to or not, she fed into some of the stereotypes of Wicca and did not tap into the beauty of the earth-based religion at all. However, I enjoyed the building of her story line and also the way she explored sexual abuse/rape and recovery.
Rating: 
Summary: very good read
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I'm only 16 but I still thought it was good for an adult book. I just started reading adult books and i thought this was a fast paced page turner.
Rating: 
Summary: Predictible, Yet Riveting
Review: Jodi Picoult pulls out all of the stops in her novel, "Salem Falls." Jack St. Bride is a handsome young man who was imprisoned after being unjustly convicted for assaulting a female student. After his release from prison, St. Bride comes to the small town of Salem Falls to start a new life. St. Bride takes a job as a dishwasher in a diner, where he falls in love with the owner, Addie Peabody, another tortured and lonely soul. Can Jack and Addie look forward to a bright future together and at last escape the demons of the past? Alas, Jack's tragic history follows him to Salem Falls, threatening to bring him down once again. Picoult's novel is a lively mix of intrigue, courtroom drama, and romance. Picoult brings her characters to life, including the intelligent but unlucky Jack St. Bride, the tough but warm Addie Peabody, and the manipulative and scheming Gillian Duncan, a teenager who wants to hammer the final nail into Jack's coffin. There are many subplots along the way, as well as a number of flashbacks. There are so many secrets and revelations in "Salem Falls" that it begins to resemble "Peyton Place." Unfortunately, all of this weight ultimately drags the book down. In addition, Picoult inserts unsubtle references to the Salem witch trials and Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," making her point that too often, people hastily condemn others on the basis of rumor, innuendo and unfounded allegations. In spite of its occasional heavy-handedness, "Salem Falls" is an engrossing page-turner. You will care about the characters and you will be anxious to learn the ultimate fate of Jack St. Bride.
Rating:
Summary: Read it for the Story
Review: Much like Perfect Match, Picoult has written a real page turner with controversy and plausible characters. This novel centers around Jack who has been convicted of a crime and is trying to start over. Unfortunately he is accused a of a second similar crime in his new surroundings. The dialog is well crafted and does not cause you to read the same line three times to understand. The prose is smooth and the story moves along at a swift pace. Picoult develops her characters so you identify with them and have a vested interest in them. The plot is a little weird including some witch practice by teenagers. But unlike others who have reviewed this book I do not think it is far fetched. If you have been in the high schools today you will know it happens every day. Main guy Jack is the subject of a trial for the allegations. Trial scenes are well crafted but not too in depth. Read this book for the action. It goes fast and is very entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: One again Jodi Picoult manages to weave a plot of vulnerability, superstition, and the never-ceasing power of love.
Upon arriving in the small town of Salem Falls, Jack St. Bride is alone, untrusting, and longing for a new life to fill the emptiness that has become him while wasting away in prison. He stumbles into the Do-or-Diner where the young owner Addie, offers him a job on the spot. When Addie offers him this job, she has subconsciously offered up her trust, and from there, the plot unravels.
Addie has lived in Salem Falls her entire life, and has indeed suffered the drawbacks of small town living. As a rape victim and single mother, she too makes her way through life longing to place her trust and hope in someone.
When a young woman in Salem Falls accuses Jack of brutally raping her, the small town is enraged. Jack St. Bride has ruined exactly what their small town stands for--safety--and the citizens of the quiet, close-knit community will go to extremes in order to ensure that their town's reputation is safe.
Readers are in for a truly shocking and genius end that only Picoult could deliver. Perhaps after reading Salem Falls, you too, will question the age old cliche of small-town security....
Rating:
Summary: A winner!
Review: SALEM FALLS by Jodi Picoult Jodi Picoult does it again with SALEM FALLS, a story about a man who is falsely accused of rape. Jack St. Bride was a teacher and soccer coach at a small town high school, when he is accused of rape and is sentenced to 8 months in prison. When he is released, he finds his way to another small town, Salem Falls, to start a new life, hoping that anonymity will give him the peace he is looking for. The wheels of fate start turning when he has to report in to the local police department and let them know he is a sex-offender. In this small town, gossip spreads fast, and soon the entire town learns who Jack really is. Only two people feel that he is innocent of the crime he was accused of back home: Addie Peabody, who owns the "Do-or-Diner" and her father, Roy Peabody. Both of them are dealing with losses that have greatly affected their current life, and in some way they can relate to Jack as he struggles to escape from his past. At the heart of this story is the theme of "the witch hunt", as the towns people watch Jack closely with condemning eyes as they wait for him to make his first mistake. He is then accused of yet another rape, this time accused by the only daughter of the richest man in Salem Falls. Jodi Picoult keeps the reader guessing, as even the reader isn't sure whether Jack is guilty or not. As with KEEPING FAITH and THE PACT, this book ends in the courtroom, and it is anyone's guess what the final verdict will be. This is yet another Jodi Picoult book that I enjoyed a lot. Although it took me a while to get into the story, as I had a hard time relating to the teens who practiced witchcraft, it all came together in the end. Highly recommended, I am giving this book five stars.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This is the first book that I have read by Jodi Picoult. It was fantastic, so the other books must be just as good and better, according to some peoples reviews. I found this to be a suspenseful book, a real page turner. I could NOT put it down. I was up for six hours reading till the end. It is a pretty quick read, but the story moves along nicely. The relationship between Jack and Addie is a bonus to this otherwise courtroom based drama. There are just two things wrong with this book. First of all, it is unrealistic in some points. Jack must be a very handsome man to be attracting all of these teenage girls. First Catherine and now Gillian. That is highly unlikely. Also, the story is not wrapped up. I wish we could of found out what happened to Jack and Addie (marriage?? romance??) and to Gillian. Otherwise a great book! Must read! This book would make a great movie!
Rating:
Summary: Compelling, but a bit predictable
Review: This is the first of Jodi Picoult's novels that I've read, and I will definitely pick up her others at some point. Picoult is a master story-teller, and in this I give her top marks. She knows how to create characters that come alive and crawl under your skin, to the point where, if I had to put the book down for any length of time, they would stay with me in my mind and I would be vividly picturing what might happen next. As a few other readers have commented though, the ending - in terms of who "wins" at least - is a bit predictable. However, there were always little niggling details that I kept turning over in my mind: "But what about...?" Even if you do have some sense of how things will turn out, there's always enough to make you want to keep reading. In fact, when I still had 180 pages to go, I simply lay in bed all day until I finished it (lucky I'm on summer holidays). I'm not convinced that Jodi Picoult could ever win the Booker Prize with this novel, but it's still a great read. If you haven't read any of her other books, this is as good a place as any to start.
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