Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Garden Spells

The Waverley's have always been a little strange. They know things that they have no way of knowing and they can do things that other people can't do. Claire and Sydney are just two in a long line of Waverley's and they are trying to find their happy ending.

I thought that this story was really interesting. The characters were amazingly written. The depth was amazing and the conflicts were super interesting. I did think that the book was too short for the development of all the characters, however. There were too many characters that all developed in some distinct way for how long the book was. I still thought the book was really good but I thought some of the characters changed too fast for how stuck in their ways they seemed.

The fantasy element was really interesting and added some depth to the characters.

Overall, a really fun fantasy book with really interesting discussions about loneliness, abandonment, abuse, family, and marital issues.

Content Warnings

kelly_e's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Title: Garden Spells
Author: Sarah Addison Allen
Series: Waverley Family #1
Genre: Magical Realism
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: August 28, 2007

T H R E E • W O R D S

Enchanting • Delightful • Atmospheric

📖 S Y N O P S I S

The women of the Waverley family -- whether they like it or not -- are heirs to an unusual legacy, one that grows in a fenced plot behind their Queen Anne home on Pendland Street in Bascom, North Carolina. There, an apple tree bearing fruit of magical properties looms over a garden filled with herbs and edible flowers that possess the power to affect in curious ways anyone who eats them.

For nearly a decade, 34-year-old Claire Waverley, at peace with her family inheritance, has lived in the house alone, embracing the spirit of the grandmother who raised her, ruing her mother's unfortunate destiny and seemingly unconcerned about the fate of her rebellious sister, Sydney, who freed herself long ago from their small town's constraints. Using her grandmother's mystical culinary traditions, Claire has built a successful catering business -- and a carefully controlled, utterly predictable life -- upon the family's peculiar gift for making life-altering delicacies: lilac jelly to engender humility, for instance, or rose geranium wine to call up fond memories.

Garden Spells reveals what happens when Sydney returns to Bascom with her young daughter, turning Claire's routine existence upside down. With Sydney's homecoming, the magic that the quiet caterer has measured into recipes to shape the thoughts and moods of others begins to influence Claire's own emotions in terrifying and delightful ways.

As the sisters reconnect and learn to support one another, each finds romance where she least expects it, while Sydney's child, Bay, discovers both the safe home she has longed for and her own surprising gifts. With the help of their elderly cousin Evanelle, endowed with her own uncanny skills, the Waverley women redeem the past, embrace the present, and take a joyful leap into the future.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Sarah Addison Allen's debut novel Garden's Spell was one of my 12 recommendations from 12 friends for 2023. I honestly didn't know what to expect, yet the magical atmosphere and vibes made October the ideal time to pick it up.

The descriptions of the garden, the beautiful old house and the food instantly drew me into this magical world. I loved learning about each of the flowers and plants. Sometimes authors try to insert too much magic into their stories, but that was not the case here. In fact, I loved how the apple tree was such a huge part of the story, and it was definitely my favourite character. I became invested in the characters' lives, and appreciated learning about their past in order to understand everything.

My main issue was the ending. It was all a little too quick, which felt like a bit of let down after such a whimsical journey. I think things could have easily planned out in a slower fashion and served the same purpose, especially with the way the rest of the novel is paced.

Overall, Garden Spells is the perfect cozy, rainy day read with just the right amount of magic. Perfect for readers in need off being whisked away from reality for just a little while. I'll be looking to pick up more of this author's novels in the future.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of Southern fiction
• readers who likes sister stories
• magical realism devotees

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"When you're happy for yourself, it fills you. When you're happy for someone else, it pours over."

"Memories, even hard memories, grew soft like peaches as they grow older."

"Love always hurts. That’s one thing I know you know. But it’s worth it. That’s what you don’t know. Yet."

Content Warnings

turrean's review against another edition

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hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Rather like eating not just a spoonful of sugar, but the whole bag.
The book has a lighthearted, whimsical tone sometimes at odds with the gravity of some of the characters’ experiences (including domestic violence and rape.)

It was a strangely old fashioned kind of tale, very focused on romantic love as a woman’s best and most natural destiny. In this magical, quirky town, lots of families have special gifts and abilities, but they’re mostly focused on romance, attraction, and fortune telling. One family’s gift is the sexual prowess of their women; in another clan, men always marry older women. A third family has abundantly fertile women, who often have midlife crises involving immodest clothing and too much perfume, as if the world has no better reward for a mother of six. The main characters’ gifts of magical cooking and hairdressing are very traditionally feminine.

One of the male characters is of the “You told me to leave but I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart!” variety, which seemed distasteful since the villain in a parallel story is a cruel abuser who refuses to accept a woman’s rejection.

Content Warnings