A review by crlk
Fireworks Over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff

4.0

A friend lent the advanced readers copy to me (though I think the final version is available now), and it was a good poolside read today. I applaud this author's debut - the story is unique, and with a level of detail that you know he did the research on it well. It was written very well. However, there were some parts that were awkward. The transition from 1945 back to the present day was not as smooth as I would have liked, as a reader without any background on life in Georgia in the 40's with the backdrop of WWII. I thought that some of the language and references made during parts of the story that were supposed to be set in the 40's were too modern. So it confused me a little. It was very different from the feeling I got when I read The Help, for example, where I felt transported back in time. While reading the parts of the story that were set in the 40's, I didn't feel transported until the last 40 or so pages. I felt like I was watching it on tv. So I didn't get immersed necessarily until the end. Still, I thought it was a beautiful story.