This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Jennifer Joyce
Eve’s partner has left her and their three-year-old daughter, Addie. She’s struggling, both emotionally and financially so when she moves into a small flat in a seaside town, she takes in a lodger and gets to know some of the other parents from the area. Joining forces with some other mums, they try to turn their local playground from a place of disrepair where teenagers hang out to a place where their young children can play in safety. But when an accident happens at the playground, Eve is blamed and her new friends start to turn their backs on her.
The Playground had an intriguing premise, with the transformation of the playground and a terrible accident looming that will be blamed on Eve. But, for me, the plot was far too slow with many disjointed scenes that didn’t seem relevant in the long run. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and many of them, especially Eve herself, didn’t have any likeable qualities at all. Eve is clearly struggling as a single parent and although I sympathised with her situation, I didn’t always agree with her actions. In fact, I strongly disagreed with a lot of them. Joy, Eve’s new lodger, was another character I disliked immensely and I was desperate for Eve to tell her to keep her beak out of her business at times!
I found a lot of the book was overly descriptive, describing many of the town’s residents who weren’t even part of the story. When this happened, it was off putting and I found myself switching off until something more relevant cropped up.
What I thought would be the main part of the plot – the accident at the playground – didn’t happen until quite near the end of the book so it felt like I was wading through words just to get to the actual story.The Playground had an interesting concept but, for me, it didn’t deliver as I hoped it would.
6/10