Review: slow
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 16, 2012
I had high hopes for this novel.  Given the subject matter and the fact that I'm a fan of historical fiction (Follett, Kalogridis) I tore into Children of Salem shortly after downloading it.I was disappointed.I won't to into too much detail about the plot.  Jeremy Wakely is sent from Boston to look into the questionable practices of a puritan minister in Salem, Mass. Jeremy has a history in Salem and is reluctant to go back but he does so out of honor...and because of a girl.  Jeremy is thrust neck deep into the mystery and lunacy that was the Salem Witch Trials of the late 17th century.The Salem Witch Trials was one of the darkest and most interesting periods in American history.  With that as a backdrop, I was very much looking forward to tearing my way through this book.It's not that Walker's a bad writer.  The historical aspects are well covered and he does give the reader a good sense of how it was for people living in that area of the country at that time in history.No, the main problem with this book is the pacing.  It's S-L-O-W.  It says it's a little over 400 pages but it certainly feels longer than that.  The book is filled with frequent drawn out conversations where the participants seem to be reiterating the same things over and over again.  Frankly, it spoiled my enjoyment of the book.I'm not an instant gratification type of reader.  I don't mind a nice build up to a big reveal or a good ending but sometimes I felt it was a chore to get through the conversations to see what the next development in the story was.The love angle between Jeremy and Serena didn't seem to 'pop', that's the best way I can think to describe it.  I think it's partially because many of the characters just seemed to read the same way.  With a few standouts, most of the characters seemed to speak the same exact way and had the same type of personalities.I don't mean to bash it.  I'm sure this novel couldn't have been easy to write, especially considering the historical aspect of it.  It just left me feeling a little let down.I didn't think it was bad, I didn't think it was great either.  I give it a solid 'okay'.