Official Review: Looping in Limbo by Ginney Etherton
Posted: 18 Jun 2014, 15:10
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Looping in Limbo" by Ginney Etherton.]
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Looping in Limbo is the the second in the Lainey Tidwell series about a young female caddie called Lainey who is working at the Singing Bluffs golf course at Eden Beach in Oregon. Lainey is finding it tough being in a male dominated field but is determined to make a success of her new career. She has the help of her good friends, Jessica and Travis, and an increasing number of her fellow caddies as she impresses them with her knowledge and attitude. She still faces battles with her nemesis caddie, Rocky, and the occasional golfer who doesn't know how to treat a female caddie appropriately but her biggest challenge is trying to sort out her love life.
Ginney Etherton has created some delightful and engaging characters in this series and Lainey is both believable and fun as the feisty caddie who won't take any nonsense from the golfers or the other caddies. I have no interest in golf but her love of the golf courses and her stories on the golf course are entertaining and interesting. Her friendship with Jessica is strong and their conversations are humourous and well written as are the interactions with Travis. Travis is a good friend who is trying to get her to take up playing golf but there are also undercurrents between these two that may cause complications for her relationship with Grant, which is already under pressure due to living so far apart. I thought all the characters in the story were excellent from the wise, experienced caddies to the ever present Twitch at their local bar. Even Lainey's dog Rover has a lovable personality that makes reading the book a relaxing pleasure.
Lainey has trouble with some of the other caddies though and the golfers too. She gives them nicknames that suit their personality which made me smile as did the way she and the other caddies stood up to some of them and weren't intimidated by their perceived higher status at the golf club. The book takes us through these stories and the issues Lainey faces with her job and her love life.
This is where things go wrong for me as reading this book is like reading the diary of someone is fun and interesting but there is no real plot. It was like picking a few random months and reading about what happened to her each day. The story is relaxing and easy to read but I could easily have put it down and forgotten to pick it back up. Just over half way through Lainey gets interviewed by a freelance journalist and says more than she means to about her life as a caddie which at long last creates a bit of tension over what the journalist will write and how much trouble it will get Lainey into. Except we never find out and the ending itself left me double checking I hadn't missed some pages as the story just suddenly stops. It is part of a series but I have read many series of books and there should still be some story arc in each part which resolves some issues while leaving you wanting to find out more too. I was left feeling very frustrated and a bit cheated that having developed all these great characters and such a unique and interesting environment for Lainey that there was so little plot line.
I give this book 2 out of 4 stars. It is an enjoyable fun read with super well written characters and a very original setting but the lack of any plot left me feeling frustrated. Despite this, I wanted to give the book 3 stars until the ending which was very weak indeed and left me feeling decidedly unsatisfied.
***
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Ginney Etherton has created some delightful and engaging characters in this series and Lainey is both believable and fun as the feisty caddie who won't take any nonsense from the golfers or the other caddies. I have no interest in golf but her love of the golf courses and her stories on the golf course are entertaining and interesting. Her friendship with Jessica is strong and their conversations are humourous and well written as are the interactions with Travis. Travis is a good friend who is trying to get her to take up playing golf but there are also undercurrents between these two that may cause complications for her relationship with Grant, which is already under pressure due to living so far apart. I thought all the characters in the story were excellent from the wise, experienced caddies to the ever present Twitch at their local bar. Even Lainey's dog Rover has a lovable personality that makes reading the book a relaxing pleasure.
Lainey has trouble with some of the other caddies though and the golfers too. She gives them nicknames that suit their personality which made me smile as did the way she and the other caddies stood up to some of them and weren't intimidated by their perceived higher status at the golf club. The book takes us through these stories and the issues Lainey faces with her job and her love life.
This is where things go wrong for me as reading this book is like reading the diary of someone is fun and interesting but there is no real plot. It was like picking a few random months and reading about what happened to her each day. The story is relaxing and easy to read but I could easily have put it down and forgotten to pick it back up. Just over half way through Lainey gets interviewed by a freelance journalist and says more than she means to about her life as a caddie which at long last creates a bit of tension over what the journalist will write and how much trouble it will get Lainey into. Except we never find out and the ending itself left me double checking I hadn't missed some pages as the story just suddenly stops. It is part of a series but I have read many series of books and there should still be some story arc in each part which resolves some issues while leaving you wanting to find out more too. I was left feeling very frustrated and a bit cheated that having developed all these great characters and such a unique and interesting environment for Lainey that there was so little plot line.
I give this book 2 out of 4 stars. It is an enjoyable fun read with super well written characters and a very original setting but the lack of any plot left me feeling frustrated. Despite this, I wanted to give the book 3 stars until the ending which was very weak indeed and left me feeling decidedly unsatisfied.
***
Buy "Looping in Limbo" on Amazon