Official Review: The Swing by sharon allen
Posted: 04 Jul 2020, 09:36
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Swing" by sharon allen.]
My motivation for reading The Swing came from the biographical information on the author page. Sharon Allen wrote this, her first novel, after a lifetime of dreaming of becoming an author. I was curious to see how her years of wisdom were conveyed onto the pages of a romance novel. There are some sex scenes, but they are described in a grandmotherly way and are always referred to as "making love." I was also enticed by the cover because it reminded me of all the swings in my life and the fond memories that I have of them.
We meet Mae, the protagonist of this saga, as a teenager. An attractive, young man comes into the drugstore where she is working and orders a dish of ice cream. Their storybook romance lasts through her senior year of high school until he is drafted. Thinking that waiting to get married until he finishes his training is a good idea, he leaves on his adventure. Circumstances prevent his return; eventually, Mae moves on with her life. Her first love, however, is not forgotten.
There are many characters in this story, but they are well-rounded and easy to follow. Mae's friends from high school stay close through all their marriages, births, deaths, and travels. Dialogue between these individuals is realistic and believable. The swing in the story actually becomes a character as it witnesses most of the important events in Mae's life.
The Swing is predictable, and the foreshadowing obvious, but it is a sweet, quick read. I liked the way that Mae's character was so honorable. She was steadfast in her relationships with her parents, her friends, her boss, and her lovers. She was even loyal to the old, beat-up truck that she nicknamed Jake.
There were times in the narrative when the point of view shifted and those times were confusing. There was an effort to make this distinction clearer by putting those lines in quotation marks, but it took a while before I caught on to what was happening. It was a clever idea, but it wasn't executed as well as it could have been.
Although the author credits her daughter with being her editor, I found enough grammatical and formatting errors to rate this as a 3 out of 4. I think this book would appeal to anyone who enjoys a formulaic plot with a fairy tale ending. I applaud the author for starting a new career late in life and look forward to reading more books by her.
******
The Swing
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
My motivation for reading The Swing came from the biographical information on the author page. Sharon Allen wrote this, her first novel, after a lifetime of dreaming of becoming an author. I was curious to see how her years of wisdom were conveyed onto the pages of a romance novel. There are some sex scenes, but they are described in a grandmotherly way and are always referred to as "making love." I was also enticed by the cover because it reminded me of all the swings in my life and the fond memories that I have of them.
We meet Mae, the protagonist of this saga, as a teenager. An attractive, young man comes into the drugstore where she is working and orders a dish of ice cream. Their storybook romance lasts through her senior year of high school until he is drafted. Thinking that waiting to get married until he finishes his training is a good idea, he leaves on his adventure. Circumstances prevent his return; eventually, Mae moves on with her life. Her first love, however, is not forgotten.
There are many characters in this story, but they are well-rounded and easy to follow. Mae's friends from high school stay close through all their marriages, births, deaths, and travels. Dialogue between these individuals is realistic and believable. The swing in the story actually becomes a character as it witnesses most of the important events in Mae's life.
The Swing is predictable, and the foreshadowing obvious, but it is a sweet, quick read. I liked the way that Mae's character was so honorable. She was steadfast in her relationships with her parents, her friends, her boss, and her lovers. She was even loyal to the old, beat-up truck that she nicknamed Jake.
There were times in the narrative when the point of view shifted and those times were confusing. There was an effort to make this distinction clearer by putting those lines in quotation marks, but it took a while before I caught on to what was happening. It was a clever idea, but it wasn't executed as well as it could have been.
Although the author credits her daughter with being her editor, I found enough grammatical and formatting errors to rate this as a 3 out of 4. I think this book would appeal to anyone who enjoys a formulaic plot with a fairy tale ending. I applaud the author for starting a new career late in life and look forward to reading more books by her.
******
The Swing
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Thank you for such a thorough review!