diff --git a/parson.c b/parson.c
index 112d742..bd803e5 100644
--- a/parson.c
+++ b/parson.c
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ static char * read_file(const char * filename) {
     file_contents = (char*)parson_malloc(sizeof(char) * (file_size + 1));
     if (!file_contents) {
         fclose(fp);
-        return NULL;
+        return NULL;        
     }
     if (fread(file_contents, file_size, 1, fp) < 1) {
         if (ferror(fp)) {
@@ -303,6 +303,9 @@ static JSON_Status json_object_add(JSON_Object *object, const char *name, JSON_V
     if (object == NULL || name == NULL || value == NULL) {
         return JSONFailure;
     }
+    if (json_object_get_value(object, name) != NULL) {
+        return JSONFailure;
+    }
     if (object->count >= object->capacity) {
         size_t new_capacity = MAX(object->capacity * 2, STARTING_CAPACITY);
         if (new_capacity > OBJECT_MAX_CAPACITY)
@@ -310,8 +313,6 @@ static JSON_Status json_object_add(JSON_Object *object, const char *name, JSON_V
         if (json_object_resize(object, new_capacity) == JSONFailure)
             return JSONFailure;
     }
-    if (json_object_get_value(object, name) != NULL)
-        return JSONFailure;
     index = object->count;
     object->names[index] = parson_strdup(name);
     if (object->names[index] == NULL)
@@ -546,8 +547,6 @@ static char * get_quoted_string(const char **string) {
     const char *string_start = *string;
     size_t string_len = 0;
     skip_quotes(string);
-    if (**string == '\0')
-        return NULL;
     string_len = *string - string_start - 2; /* length without quotes */
     return process_string(string_start + 1, string_len);
 }
@@ -904,9 +903,6 @@ JSON_Value * json_parse_file_with_comments(const char *filename) {
 JSON_Value * json_parse_string(const char *string) {
     if (string == NULL)
         return NULL;
-    SKIP_WHITESPACES(&string);
-    if (*string != '{' && *string != '[')
-        return NULL;
     return parse_value((const char**)&string, 0);
 }
 
@@ -920,10 +916,6 @@ JSON_Value * json_parse_string_with_comments(const char *string) {
     remove_comments(string_mutable_copy, "//", "\n");
     string_mutable_copy_ptr = string_mutable_copy;
     SKIP_WHITESPACES(&string_mutable_copy_ptr);
-    if (*string_mutable_copy_ptr != '{' && *string_mutable_copy_ptr != '[') {
-        parson_free(string_mutable_copy);
-        return NULL;
-    }
     result = parse_value((const char**)&string_mutable_copy_ptr, 0);
     parson_free(string_mutable_copy);
     return result;
diff --git a/tests.c b/tests.c
index 5f04326..4cd5e2e 100644
--- a/tests.c
+++ b/tests.c
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ void test_suite_1(void); /* Test 3 files from json.org + serialization*/
 void test_suite_2(JSON_Value *value); /* Test correctness of parsed values */
 void test_suite_2_no_comments(void);
 void test_suite_2_with_comments(void);
-void test_suite_3(void); /* Test incorrect values */
+void test_suite_3(void); /* Test parsing valid and invalid strings */
 void test_suite_4(void); /* Test deep copy funtion */
 void test_suite_5(void); /* Test building json values from scratch */
 void test_suite_6(void); /* Test value comparing verification */
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ int main() {
     /* print_commits_info("torvalds", "linux"); */
     /* serialization_example(); */
     /* persistence_example(); */
+    
     test_suite_1();
     test_suite_2_no_comments();
     test_suite_2_with_comments();
@@ -199,6 +200,16 @@ void test_suite_2_with_comments(void) {
 
 void test_suite_3(void) {
     char nested_20x[] = "[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[\"hi\"]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]";
+    
+    puts("Testing valid strings:");
+    TEST(json_parse_string("{\"lorem\":\"ipsum\"}") != NULL);
+    TEST(json_parse_string("[\"lorem\"]") != NULL);
+    TEST(json_parse_string("null") != NULL);
+    TEST(json_parse_string("true") != NULL);
+    TEST(json_parse_string("false") != NULL);
+    TEST(json_parse_string("\"string\"") != NULL);
+    TEST(json_parse_string("123") != NULL);
+    
     puts("Testing invalid strings:");
     TEST(json_parse_string(NULL) == NULL);
     TEST(json_parse_string("") == NULL); /* empty string */
@@ -217,7 +228,6 @@ void test_suite_3(void) {
     TEST(json_parse_string("{") == NULL);
     TEST(json_parse_string("}") == NULL);
     TEST(json_parse_string("x") == NULL);
-    TEST(json_parse_string("\"string\"") == NULL);
     TEST(json_parse_string("{:\"no name\"}") == NULL);
     TEST(json_parse_string("[,\"no first value\"]") == NULL);
     TEST(json_parse_string("[\"\\u00zz\"]") == NULL); /* invalid utf value */