Garden Spellsby Sarah Addison Allen
In the small town of Bascom, North Carolina, the Waverley's are known as an odd family. Claire has spent her whole life trying to fit in and has finally created a successful catering business that specializes in edible flowers. Her fear of being deserted has been overcome by not letting anyone into her heart. But now Sydney has returned home. Sydney is the younger sister that couldn't wait to follow in her mother's footsteps and get out of Bascom and the legacy of her weird family with its mysterious abilities. But Sydney brings a threat with her that may tear the family apart.
There are certain types of chick lit. that I detest and there are some that I enjoy. Garden Spells fits into the latter category. I liked the story of the two sisters and the renewing of their relationship. I was charmed by the magical realism. Just imagine, apple trees that tell the future, flower petals that give insight, a house that reacts to the emotions of its inhabitants. The characters were fun even if they were two dimensional. Evanelle was my favorite with her irresistible need to give people quirky things that will become useful to them in the near future. This is just the kind of chick lit. that I like to escape into after a series of heavy reading.
SPOILER ALERT
Okay, so it's not very realistic. It wasn't meant to be. And it was predictable. I didn't mind that at all. What I did mind was the ending. I was so disappointed at the stupidity of the ending. As if a man wielding a gun, who had just shot someone and was planning to do more carnage, would think his child had just tossed him an apple and would actually eat it. !!! In fact this man seemed so out of place in the whole book. He was made to encompass all evils to an extent that he became little more than a cartoon. Lameness. Just lameness. This was a case of the ending ruining the whole book for me.
If the storyline sounds enchanting and you don't mind a cheesy ending then you might enjoy Garden Spells.
Buy this book at Amazon.
4 comments:
I'm glad you enjoyed this book, but I'm not sure it's right for me. I don't usually enjoy "magical" books. Great review.
I did enjoy this and her second novel also. I agree that the gun-wielding nasty boyfriend seemed out of place, but for me it was a satirical element in this piece of Southern chick-lit. Normally, Southern characters in Southern lit are weird, nasty, or brutish. However, the weird character here was one from the Northwest! I thought that was hilarious!
Wow, what a seriously weird ending! I think it would have ruined the book for me as well.
This was a really good review. I like reviews that explain why the book didn't measure up. So thanks for the explanations, I will not add that to Mt TBR.
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