New Books Review

Book Review: Return to Sullivans Island: A Novel (Lowcountry Tales): Dorothea Benton Frank: BooksAnother Dorothea Benton Frank disappointment,

By Emereld2 (USA) -

  

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What’s this?)

I really wanted to like this book! I found Frank’s book Sullivan’s Island years ago and really enjoyed it. Her books have steadily gone downhill since, but I grabbed Return to Sullivan’s Island as soon as I saw it, hoping it would reverse the trend.

Unfortunately, it did not. Cecily was the only female character really worth getting to know, and she was a strong but secondary character. The protagonist, Beth, is a newly-minted college graduate who is pressured to put her life on hold for a year and return to the family’s house on Sullivan’s Island. She does so, but resentment rolls off of her in waves. She does finally come to terms with her decision, but then makes one foolish choice after another. Even worse, she knows they are bad choices, but plunges in headfirst anyways.

The plot was heavy-handed and the entire story lacked subtlety, probably because all of the characters were stereotypes: the dutiful daughter, the judgmental matriarch, the good ole boys, Mr. Wrong-but-oh-so-delicious, etc. Finally, the conflict was resolved much too easily.

If this book was a cheap paperback, it would be an okay beach read. Not worth the hardcover price, however.

Grab an iced tea, sit back and enjoy.,

By Dianne S. Tetro “at www.booksandchat.com” (Shelton, CT) -

  

  

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What’s this?)

Return to Sullivans Island by Dorothea Benton Franks

Return to Sullivans Island returns us to the Hayes family who we first meet in the book “Sullivan’s Island (Lowcountry Tales). While Return to Sullivans Island is a “stand alone” book, I do recommend very highly that you try to read this book first, it’s not imperative but it does set you up for the second story and you will be able to better understand why Beth and the rest of the adults are the way they are.

But now, Beth is all grown up and her Mother is finally getting her chance to explore, write and teach in France as was her life long dream… Beth is now 23 and a college graduate who has been coerced into house sitting the families pride and joy, the homestead of their youth, Island Gamble.
When we meet this new adult Beth, we find that she is extremely unhappy about doing her duty for the next year and she sure lets everyone know how unhappy she is. This new grown up Beth is snarky, rude, a bit ego-centric and selfish and someone I would most likely want to slap the snark off of if I met her in person. In other words, most likely a typical and rather immature young adult with a myriad of issues!

While we do see is that the plot is character driven and we do see Beth growing, it’s a painful experience for both Beth and the reader of this book. I had hoped that Beth’s issues would be resolved in Ms Benton’s typical slow southern style but there were just too many issues to deal with in one book. I struggled to see where Ms Benton was going with the plot and for the life of me I still don’t see this as totally resolved. Yes Beth did learn a lot about her family and learned to love Island Gamble and to trust that family and friends are good things to have and the not so surprising late-book developments hold this story together. Ms Benton has a history of holding readers at the edge of their seats just wondering until last minute just how the heck is everything going to come together

This was a most unusual book for Ms Benton since she typically writes books for the more mature adult and she writes about mature adults. Usually splitting her books into “then and now” chapters. This almost dipped into the realm of Chick-Lit for me, and I was very surprised by it.

All in all I’d say that this was a very good summer read, well worth taking up space in your permanent library. So grab yourself a sweet tea, pull a rocking chair up to the railing, grab a tomato sandwich and watch the sunset on Sullivans Island, and visit with a new generation.

Disappointing,

By Gr8ful “Love a good book” (Southern California) -

  

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What’s this?)

I have read most of the books written by this author and was really looking forward to this follow-up to Sullivan’s Island. Unfortunately this just did not measure up to her previous book.

The beginning of the book starts off with way too many characters… hard to keep them all straight and really there wasn’t much reason to do so. While there were a few amusing scenes there was actually very little that I liked about this book.

Beth a recent college graduate from Boston College and headed for her master’s degree in English talks like a “valley girl” like totally fer shur. It’s hard to believe she would be so stupid in her decision making. There were so many illogical scenes/scenarios it made the book ridiculous. I found myself sighing and saying to myself “this is so lame.”

The “haints” or ghosts that inhabit the house, a Harvard PhD graduate in business doesn’t bother to thoroughly research a sketchy investment deal, a hyper yappy-type dog that doesn’t wake up when a stranger sneaks by his crate, the constant use of the word “humph”… all make for a very disappointing sequel.
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