The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherine Allred

The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherine Allred
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 Stars

I’ve read a lot of good reviews on The Sweet Gum Tree, but the summary never really interested me, however, I had to see what the fuss was about and I have to say the reviews were pretty much spot on.

Alix and Nick are southern childhood friends. Alix is the granddaughter of a judge and comes from a respectable good home. Nick is from the wrong side of the tracks and has a trash of a father. Despite family differences Alix and Nick form a relationship.

I have to admit, I went into reading cautiously because I was pretty tired of reading good reviews and being disappointed. The one thing I praise Allred on is the fact there were NO FLASH BLACKS, THANK YOU!!! The story starts out with Alix, age 4 and Nick, age 6 and from there we move forward. I absolutely love books written in chronological order.

The beginning is 100% sweet and adorable. I love reading the innocence of Alix and Nick’s childhood friendship. There are a few cute scenes and it sets up the hero and heroine’s back story. When we get to the, what I call “obstacle”, that is when my heart started to race. There’s A LOT OF TENSION. I absolutely love tension. Around half way through, I was pretty amazed on the twist and turns, just when I thought something was going to happen, something else happens.

Alix and Nick, in my eyes, aren’t perfect. I feel like all the choices and actions they made were pretty justifiable. You kind of ask yourself what you would do the same situation, although I’ll admit, I wanted to slap Nick towards the end.

The beginning was slow, the middle was fast pace and towards the end I was racing finish to see how everything concludes.

At 20% I was awing and sighing

At 52% my heart was racing and I had to take a break

At 86% I was racing to the end

I wasn’t in love with Nick, but I did like Alix and Nick’s beginning childhood story. I would have rated The Sweet Gum Tree higher if the ending wasn’t predictable, if I found Nick’s character compelling and if I found quotes to pull, BUT overall, it was a decent read and deserved 4 stars.


View all my reviews