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theespressoedition's review
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity
Moderate: Alcoholism, Vomit, and Death of parent
rusereviews's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
In the Shadow Garden by Liz Parker is a solid debut women's fiction novel with magical realism and a smattering of romance. The ebook version is 336 pages. We follow a multitude of characters with third-person points-of-view.
The Haywood family has held a symbiotic relationship with The Shadow Garden in Yarrow, Kentucky for as long as anyone can remember. They help ease pain and suffering from the townsfolk, and feed it to the garden. They even helped the local bourbon distillery with seeds for a special dark corn. Once a year, at the Harvest Festival, the townsfolk sip the bourbon and willingly let their worst memory of the year disappear. But twenty years ago, the whole town forgot an entire summer--a summer in which one person died and one person disappeared.
There's a family tree included at the beginning of this book, and it is very important that you keep that handy, so bookmark it if you're reading digitally. I will say that over the course of my read I started getting confused between the names, but the tree really helped with that.
There is a dash of romance here, and I was thankful the author focused on two people who were around age 40 than the romance around the couple who were around age 20. I also really enjoyed the author's expansion of the idea that when you heal from trauma, you can create beautiful things out of pain. This extended metaphor was great.
I'm a big fan of tea, so I really enjoyed reading about the different blends that the Haywoods create, and how they interpret tea leaf readings. There's a glossary in the back of the book with information about the tea leaf symbols described in the book that I really appreciated.
I think the pacing was better in the second half of the book compared to the first, where the story probably could have been tightened up a bit. I ended up reading the entire second half in one sitting!
I would have also loved a bit more worldbuilding here, like more of an explanation about how the magic works and how it came to be.
If you liked Practical Magic you'll probably like this book! This felt like a perfect end-of-summer/beginning-of-fall read.
Tropes in this book include: family drama, small town
CW: grief, loss, stolen memories, child abuse, alcoholism, domestic violence, death
The publisher provided an ebook galley of this book for me to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
The Haywood family has held a symbiotic relationship with The Shadow Garden in Yarrow, Kentucky for as long as anyone can remember. They help ease pain and suffering from the townsfolk, and feed it to the garden. They even helped the local bourbon distillery with seeds for a special dark corn. Once a year, at the Harvest Festival, the townsfolk sip the bourbon and willingly let their worst memory of the year disappear. But twenty years ago, the whole town forgot an entire summer--a summer in which one person died and one person disappeared.
There's a family tree included at the beginning of this book, and it is very important that you keep that handy, so bookmark it if you're reading digitally. I will say that over the course of my read I started getting confused between the names, but the tree really helped with that.
There is a dash of romance here, and I was thankful the author focused on two people who were around age 40 than the romance around the couple who were around age 20. I also really enjoyed the author's expansion of the idea that when you heal from trauma, you can create beautiful things out of pain. This extended metaphor was great.
I'm a big fan of tea, so I really enjoyed reading about the different blends that the Haywoods create, and how they interpret tea leaf readings. There's a glossary in the back of the book with information about the tea leaf symbols described in the book that I really appreciated.
I think the pacing was better in the second half of the book compared to the first, where the story probably could have been tightened up a bit. I ended up reading the entire second half in one sitting!
I would have also loved a bit more worldbuilding here, like more of an explanation about how the magic works and how it came to be.
If you liked Practical Magic you'll probably like this book! This felt like a perfect end-of-summer/beginning-of-fall read.
Tropes in this book include: family drama, small town
CW: grief, loss, stolen memories, child abuse, alcoholism, domestic violence, death
The publisher provided an ebook galley of this book for me to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Child abuse, and Death
emilylovesgoodbooks's review
emotional
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
noellelovesbooks's review
4.75
I received an ARC of this book, ahead of release, through the Forever Publishing influencer program. All thoughts are my own.
Content Warnings:
Mention of: trauma, PTSD, infidelity, loss of loved one, child abuse [physical and emotional], an alcoholic parent, and feelings of inadequacy.
This is such a beautiful story! I’m so glad I was able to get my hands on an ARC so I can tell you all you’re really going to want to pre-order this one! I remember reading the summary of this book and thinking…this might just hit me in the feels. There’s just something about books/movies that have generational magic that’s tied to the earth that just feeds my soul.
I love that we get to bounce between multiple perspectives as we slowly learn more about the town, the magic, and what exactly happened in the summer that the town chose to forget.
We also get to see three strong generations of Haywood women who are all so different but deeply connected to each other and the town. Though they’ve each gone through their ups and downs they’ve been able to rely on the strength of their family to keep them going.
Since I don’t want to give away any spoilers or too much information just know that this book is going to have you feeling so many emotions but will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy. If you’re in the market for a book with small-town charm, family feuds, generational magic, and a town mystery…look no further! September is the perfect time for its release so you can get your blankets and hot tea ready to snuggle down as you enjoy this magical read.
Content Warnings:
Mention of: trauma, PTSD, infidelity, loss of loved one, child abuse [physical and emotional], an alcoholic parent, and feelings of inadequacy.
This is such a beautiful story! I’m so glad I was able to get my hands on an ARC so I can tell you all you’re really going to want to pre-order this one! I remember reading the summary of this book and thinking…this might just hit me in the feels. There’s just something about books/movies that have generational magic that’s tied to the earth that just feeds my soul.
I love that we get to bounce between multiple perspectives as we slowly learn more about the town, the magic, and what exactly happened in the summer that the town chose to forget.
We also get to see three strong generations of Haywood women who are all so different but deeply connected to each other and the town. Though they’ve each gone through their ups and downs they’ve been able to rely on the strength of their family to keep them going.
Since I don’t want to give away any spoilers or too much information just know that this book is going to have you feeling so many emotions but will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy. If you’re in the market for a book with small-town charm, family feuds, generational magic, and a town mystery…look no further! September is the perfect time for its release so you can get your blankets and hot tea ready to snuggle down as you enjoy this magical read.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse
gilchrist's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Death of parent
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