A review by allingoodtime
Ain't She Sweet? by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This one is tough to judge. I started out listening to the audiobook and it just wasn’t working for me. I let it go too long, not switching to the ebook version until almost halfway through the book. The MMC is British and I just couldn’t with the voice used for him, often sounding like an old lady instead of a man in the prime of his life. Once Sugar and Colin started giving in to their pull, I had to give up on the audio. It was just too weird.

I am usually all in on this author and her storylines that take dips and turns that are just bonkers. It was hard for me to know if certain things weren’t working or if they didn’t work because I started with a subpar audio version of the book. Colin and a young teenage girl are the only characters who seem redeemable throughout most of this book. Thankfully, things did finally turn around for many of the characters, but it took a really long time.

There are a lot of emotions in this book. Sugar grew up as the queen bee of her small town. She was the rich entitled princess whose mother rained down brimstone if Sugar complained about anyone. Sugar and her underlings aka friends were Mean Girls times a thousand. And Sugar’s main focus was Winnie. Children, especially teenagers with their roller coaster emotions, make terrible decisions. Sugar was no different than any other teenager in that respect. Winnie and Sugar shared a father and the whole town knew that he preferred his illegitimate daughter and his mistress. When a young, innocent Sugar discovers where her father has been spending his time and witnesses the love and caring he treats his other daughter, it’s gut-wrenching. The way Sugar decides to treat Winnie and thoroughly humiliate her when they’re in high school is heartbreaking. I had a ton of empathy for a young Sugar and Winnie. Not so much for their adult immaturity.

Sugar returns “home” after leaving her friends, first love, and everything else behind as soon as she leaves high school. There are a lot of hard feelings. She caused a lot of destruction. But the reaction of her former friends is juvenile. They are still stuck in the mindset of being in a hierarchy of friendship, this time with Winnie as their leader. It’s bizarre.

I could go on, but what it boils down to is the feelings and emotions are written beautifully. Yet it was hard getting over the odd dynamic all of the characters had with each other. I adore Colin and Winnie’s daughter, they are often the only level heads on the page. Winnie and Sugar do finally get their heads on straight, it just took too long for their humanity to show through. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings