Having Sam For Dinner – Corvina Sweeney

2.5 stars

I’m in two minds with Having Sam For Dinner. On the one hand, Sweeney has written absolutely stunning prose that has turned the bayou into something magical and ethereal. On the other hand, there’s so many repetitive phrases/descriptions and actions that I felt like I was just continuously reading the same thing over and over again.

Sam and Ellen have such a beautifully written romance and I couldn’t help but fall in love with them as their story went on. However, I felt a bit of a disconnect with Ellen because it seemed like two completely different stories being told: her relationship with Sam and her extracurricular group activities. There didn’t seem to be much of a crossing or a blending with the two until all of a sudden things came to a head.

The alternate ending was a really interesting choice, and I found myself a little frustrated that it wasn’t the true ending. I’m not sure if it enhanced my reading experience by including that alternate or not. Reading it was almost like a what I could have had rather than the true ending and it left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth knowing that’s what I could have had to wrap the story up.

Sweeney is a new author to me. While she has beautifully written prose, I felt that the mystery and the poetry of it all got in the way of the storytelling a bit with Having Sam For Dinner.