A Cozy Christmas Tea

Rating:
Summary: More like A Cozy Christmas Tease
Review: Gosh what a horrible book. It recieved such great press from the New York Times: "Standout newcomer Sandy Lynam Clough hits a lead off home run with her virgin release "A Cozy Christmas Tea"." Little did I know, this is actually an erotic thriller with a highly deceptive title. Perhaps I should have listened to the New Orleans Book Review which described Clough's first release as, "a raunchy depiction of inner city incest from the point of view of an immature 12 year old." This depicts the true nature of the book more aptly. I think maybe the New York Times thought they were reviewing Joyce's, "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." That book was awesome. Yep. Read that one instead. This book blows. Seriously, ew.

Rating:
Summary: Tease? More like ... the ...opposite of tease
Review: Sandy Lynam Clugh popped her literary cherry brilliantly. "A Cozy Christmas Tea" captures the emotions of holidays and heated caffinated beverages perfectly. While her references to the inappropriate relations between Jerome and his Uncle Larry are a bit grotesque, they do not detract from the overall experience, which shimmers with literary poise. It touched me in a way that even Uncle Larry couldn't touch Jerome. In fact, it brought back poignant memories of my childhood. It's too bad I haven't seen my Aunt Greta in years, we had a very close relationship when I was 12.
Mr. Stone's review was clearly written by someone without the maturity required to understand to capture the deeper meaning of this gripping retelling of repressed homosexual incest. The tea metaphor knocked my socks off, but Stone failed to even mention it. Maybe he just skimmed it. Furthermore, it is not fair to compare Clough to Joyce, who was only popular because he simplified his work to please the masses. Overall, Clough has written a contemporary masterpiece.