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A review by kat2112
The Sand Castle by Rita Mae Brown
2.0
This is a very short book - I completed this literally in about an hour. I've read many of RMB's works and especially enjoyed the first two Runnymeade novels, which IMO are the best. The third, Loose Lips, was a disappointment, as is this one. The length, though, is not the reason - I feel these characters have become mere caricatures of their former selves.
If you've read Six of One and Bingo, you know the history of Juts and Wheezy and their personalities. In The Sand Castle, their most annoying traits are set to eleven and left there. Also, and this is a big complaint among RMB's readers, the back story is ret-conned. I won't go into the details and spoil the books, but I will advise this: if you have read Six of One and Bingo and enjoyed them, do not read this one. If you read this first and decide to back track, I think you'll find the earlier stuff better.
Getting back The Sand Castle - this is a novella set during an entire day at the Chesapeake Bay. Juts and Wheezy snipe at each other, and Juts's daughter Nickel (Nicole) snipes at her cousin. The story is heavily dialogue-driven and difficult to like if you don't find the characters sympathetic.
It hurts to review this because I loved RMB's early works. I wonder if The Sand Castle was an excised portion of an earlier work, or part of a WIP she never finished. Either way, I really think she needs to end the Runnymeade stories before she confuses readers more with rewritten history.
If you've read Six of One and Bingo, you know the history of Juts and Wheezy and their personalities. In The Sand Castle, their most annoying traits are set to eleven and left there. Also, and this is a big complaint among RMB's readers, the back story is ret-conned. I won't go into the details and spoil the books, but I will advise this: if you have read Six of One and Bingo and enjoyed them, do not read this one. If you read this first and decide to back track, I think you'll find the earlier stuff better.
Getting back The Sand Castle - this is a novella set during an entire day at the Chesapeake Bay. Juts and Wheezy snipe at each other, and Juts's daughter Nickel (Nicole) snipes at her cousin. The story is heavily dialogue-driven and difficult to like if you don't find the characters sympathetic.
It hurts to review this because I loved RMB's early works. I wonder if The Sand Castle was an excised portion of an earlier work, or part of a WIP she never finished. Either way, I really think she needs to end the Runnymeade stories before she confuses readers more with rewritten history.