Really enjoyed reading when Clea was a child. Couldn't stand it when she was an adult. The 2nd half reads like christian fiction all wrapped up in a pretty pink bow. ( )

This book was beautifully developed. The characters were finely drawn and three-dimensional. The sense of time and place were very realistic and it was extremely easy to get caught up in this story. Definitely recommend. ( )

Liked it but no where near the level of 'Sweeping up Glass', which I LOVED. Good but not great. ( )

Carolyn Wall has a real knack for character development. While I sometimes felt the story was a bit disjointed in jumping back and forth between young Clea Shine's life and her life as an adult, the strong and very interesting cast of characters in the book helped negate that feeling. Wall enables you to get a real feel for the people of False River Mississippi, the good, the bad and the ugly. ( )

I enjoyed this book while I reading it, but looking back on it I’m not sure how much I really liked it. There were some things that really bugged me, the jump of approximately 20 years in between two of the chapters; it just skips forward in time unexpectedly and without much detail about what happened during those missing years. I also didn’t really like the story line with the boy who lived in the tree; I really wanted more out of him. I really liked the beginning when Clea was a girl, I didn’t really like her as an adult and maybe that’s a point of the story. But even after everything she went through as an adult back in Mississippi I still didn’t really like her, I didn’t feel like she had changed, and I wanted young Clea back. The ending wasn’t my favorite either, I’m not sure if the big storm coming was necessary, it just all got really dramatic and I didn’t enjoy it. One thing I did like about this book was the southern setting. You really got a good feel for the town and the locals. But I really felt like this book should’ve either focused on the younger years of Clea or the adulthood, trying to do both didn’t work for me. The book is well written and I can see it appealing to some readers, just be aware of that weird split in the middle.

For a more in depth and personal review see my blog:
http://explanniefyfed.blogspot.com/2013/01/book-review-playing-with-matches-by.h... ( )