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njhokie14's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault and Child abuse
angelaf's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
4.0
Picture a warm hug of a found family story set in a Melrose Place-esque apartment building on an SC island. Then mix in well-meaning ghosts, food as love, magical realism, and the theme of grief. Other Birds is one of my favorite kinds of books, a novel that addresses weighty topics while maintaining a hopeful tone. It is such a lovely book and well worth a read. Read if you enjoy: magical realism, found family stories, Southern authors, food writing
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Death, Incest, and Child death
emtees's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was a sweet, light but really enjoyable book. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting but I loved it.
The story follows Zoey, a young woman who moves into an apartment she inherited from her late mother on Mallow Island off the coast of South Carolina. The Dellawisps, as the building is called, is small and home to a quirky assortment of neighbors. Zoey, a lonely and somewhat quirky girl herself (she is accompanied at all times by an invisible bird), dreams that living in her mother’s old home will allow her to finally know the mother she lost as a child. There are hints of some mysteries in the mother’s background, and so I assumed the book would focus on those mysteries and on the relationship between Zoey and her mother, but those ended up being less central to the book than I thought. Instead, this is really a book about how finding happiness in the present is more important than digging up the secrets of the past.
Shortly after Zoey moves in, one of her neighbors dies, and Zoey takes on the job of cleaning out the woman’s apartment on behalf of her son. Lizbeth, the dead woman, has her own secrets, and part of the book is about unearthing the story she always wanted to have told. She isn’t the only one with a hidden story; all the residents of the Dellawisps, living and dead, have things in their pasts that they alternate between pushing away and desperately needing to face. But that, too, isn’t really the point. While all the mysteries are answered in the end - and Sarah Addison Allen is very good at mysteries, seeding them into the story in such a way that you only realize where the plot is going just before it arrives there, and yet you can’t claim the answer wasn’t in front of you the entire time - by the time they are addressed, they don’t feel like the most important thing. Instead, the book is really about the relationships that form between Zoey and her neighbors. It may seem a little silly, “the real point was the friends we made along the way,” but this book sells that idea beautifully and sincerely. It’s one of the nicest takes on the found family trope I’ve read recently. The Dellawisps just feels like a place you want to live, and as short a timespan as the story takes place in, I ended it fully convinced that the bonds that had formed during the story would last.
Other Birds is magical realism, which is a genre I sometimes have trouble with; as a hardcore fantasy fan, I don’t always enjoy how light a touch this genre has with its fantastical elements. But the magic is beautifully woven into this story. Zoey and several of her neighbors are haunted, not just by their pasts, but by the supernatural, but even these hauntings have a gentle, almost homey feel to them. This is, technically, a ghost story, but there is nothing frightening or dangerous about it.
The story follows Zoey, a young woman who moves into an apartment she inherited from her late mother on Mallow Island off the coast of South Carolina. The Dellawisps, as the building is called, is small and home to a quirky assortment of neighbors. Zoey, a lonely and somewhat quirky girl herself (she is accompanied at all times by an invisible bird), dreams that living in her mother’s old home will allow her to finally know the mother she lost as a child. There are hints of some mysteries in the mother’s background, and so I assumed the book would focus on those mysteries and on the relationship between Zoey and her mother, but those ended up being less central to the book than I thought. Instead, this is really a book about how finding happiness in the present is more important than digging up the secrets of the past.
Shortly after Zoey moves in, one of her neighbors dies, and Zoey takes on the job of cleaning out the woman’s apartment on behalf of her son. Lizbeth, the dead woman, has her own secrets, and part of the book is about unearthing the story she always wanted to have told. She isn’t the only one with a hidden story; all the residents of the Dellawisps, living and dead, have things in their pasts that they alternate between pushing away and desperately needing to face. But that, too, isn’t really the point. While all the mysteries are answered in the end - and Sarah Addison Allen is very good at mysteries, seeding them into the story in such a way that you only realize where the plot is going just before it arrives there, and yet you can’t claim the answer wasn’t in front of you the entire time - by the time they are addressed, they don’t feel like the most important thing. Instead, the book is really about the relationships that form between Zoey and her neighbors. It may seem a little silly, “the real point was the friends we made along the way,” but this book sells that idea beautifully and sincerely. It’s one of the nicest takes on the found family trope I’ve read recently. The Dellawisps just feels like a place you want to live, and as short a timespan as the story takes place in, I ended it fully convinced that the bonds that had formed during the story would last.
Other Birds is magical realism, which is a genre I sometimes have trouble with; as a hardcore fantasy fan, I don’t always enjoy how light a touch this genre has with its fantastical elements. But the magic is beautifully woven into this story. Zoey and several of her neighbors are haunted, not just by their pasts, but by the supernatural, but even these hauntings have a gentle, almost homey feel to them. This is, technically, a ghost story, but there is nothing frightening or dangerous about it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Addiction
Minor: Sexual assault
Several characters have child abuse and neglect and/or addiction in their backstories, which is discussed frankly in the present. There is brief mention of child sexual abuse in one character’s backstory.i_readsandbujos's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, and Drug abuse
Minor: Sexual assault and Child abuse
upperjackpain's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Child abuse
elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Abandonment, and Child abuse
Minor: Mental illness
missjazzage's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Drug abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child death, and Child abuse
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Other Birds is a heartwarming story featuring found family and quirky characters moving on from the hurts and secrets of the past. It is set a small apartment building on the idyllic sounding Mallow Island, South Carolina. There’s magical realism in the form of ghosts, and the delightful dellawisps - enchanting magical little birds. There’s also a bit of a mystery. While the story touches on some heavy topics the overall tone is light and feel good, emphasising the power of connection.
“There are birds, and then there are other birds. Maybe they don’t sing. Maybe they don’t fly. Maybe they don’t fit in. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather be an other bird than just the same old thing.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
mackenziem12's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Addiction and Child abuse
torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Incest, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Child abuse