From OH to SC

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
I heard great things about this one before I started it, and was really looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately I think my expectations might have been a little too high with this, and the story didn't quite meet them.

Cecelia Rose (or CeeCee) Honeycutt grows up in Ohio in the 1960s. Except when her crazy mother and truck-driving father can no longer care for her, she goes to live with her great-aunt in South Carolina. CeeCee is scared that her future is set, and there's no way she or anyone else can change it. But Savannah and its people have their own opinion and slowly she starts to heal.

I'm not sure why I didn't fall in love with this book. I wanted to, but it just didn't work for me. That not to say I disliked it, but I can't quite rave about it either. I did enjoy reading it, but it just didn't seem to draw me in.

I think one aspect that confused me, and made it difficult to really get lost inside, was that throughout the first chapters I assumed CeeCee was African-American. I'm not sure why I drew that conclusion, and it most situations it wouldn't really matter. Except the book does take place in the South in the 1960s, and race it a subplot throughout. Once I realized that CeeCee was in fact white, it was hard for me to picture her. Whenever I started visualizing CeeCee throughout the novel I almost had to stop myself, and by the end still couldn't seem to form an accurate picture of her in my mind.

I feel almost guilty for not enjoying the book more. As if I've missed out on party that everyone else is at. But I guess what I want to leave you with is that even though this novel didn't quite work for me, if you read it there's a great chance you'll be one of the people that falls in love with CeeCee and her world.

3/5