Rick Osborne reviewed Sweet, Sweet Wine by Jaime Clevenger
Non-linear and interesting, but I couldn’t really connect with it
4 stars
This is an interesting stylistic departure for Clevenger, and I thought the non-linear narrative was a good choice. It really underlined the textual and subtextual points about how we like to pretend that our pasts don't define us, but that we’re still people without hard, clean edges.
It’s a little weird to say, but I probably would have liked this book more if it was about twice as long. I thought Clevenger was making really interesting points about how we think more of ourselves because we selectively edit out the parts of ourselves and our pasts we don’t like. But with this length, it felt lopsided with most of that point being centered around one character, so the asymmetry didn’t really land with me. If you prefer short and sweet and sole-focus, maybe this won’t be as much of an issue for you.
My 3½⭐️/5 rating is also …
This is an interesting stylistic departure for Clevenger, and I thought the non-linear narrative was a good choice. It really underlined the textual and subtextual points about how we like to pretend that our pasts don't define us, but that we’re still people without hard, clean edges.
It’s a little weird to say, but I probably would have liked this book more if it was about twice as long. I thought Clevenger was making really interesting points about how we think more of ourselves because we selectively edit out the parts of ourselves and our pasts we don’t like. But with this length, it felt lopsided with most of that point being centered around one character, so the asymmetry didn’t really land with me. If you prefer short and sweet and sole-focus, maybe this won’t be as much of an issue for you.
My 3½⭐️/5 rating is also a little weird, and has more to do with my rating categories than anything else. I think the writing here is 4¼⭐️/5 or better … I just bounced off some of the very particular tropes in use. Very much personal preference, and kindof steals stars away from what is actually some solid writing. (For example, I am not a fan at all of insta-lust, but if you are, this will likely be a higher rating for you.)
Tags: #InstaLust #Misunderstandings #NuisanceEx #ReboundFears #SliceOfLife #SmallTown #ThirdPersonPOV