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A review by jenbsbooks
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
5.0
I'd had this on my TBR for SO long ... just hadn't gotten around to it. I found a physical copy (can't recall if it was from a LFL or thrift store), but since I added my own Little Free Library, having a physical copy on hand, pushes a book up my list, as after I'm done I can add it to my LFL. That is, unless I decide I want to keep the copy for myself ... hmmmm, might be an issue here.
Per usual, I also went with the Kindle copy (borrowed from the library) and audio (grabbed on a sale from Chirp a while back, audio isn't at any of my libraries). I went with the audio (single narrator/shifting POVs/ all 3rd person/past tense; Claire, Sydney, Evanelle, Bay, Emma), but did pull up the Kindle copy to make some notes/highlights.
I'd just recently read The Village Healer's Book of Cures, which was only similar in the "witches" using herbs/recipes. This was pretty light (there is DV, but no "she's a witch" moments), with the house seeming to have some magical properties (although not to Encanto's Casa level, nor "Keeper of Enchanted Rooms" level). Loved the apple tree throwing apples at people! No discussion questions included in the book, but I found some online, and one was "would you eat an apple from the Waverly tree?"
This also reminded me a little of Savvy by Ingrid Law. There too, there is a "magical" family, where each one has a gift. In Savvy, they are a little (okay, a LOT) bigger, but just the "your gift" thing, and the Southern setting/speech (even more distinct in Savvy). Evanelle's gift to "give people what they would need" was entertaining, as was she.
Even with the darker storyline (Sydney had left, and returns to escape from a violent husband), and some of the other things (Fred's sadness, Emma's issues), this was an enjoyable read that I wanted to return to when I had to put it down.
Thanks to Kindle search, I'm reminded there was some proFanity (x4, all David, the Ex) and some sex (nothing described explicitly). Commode ... haven't heard that word anywhere else in a while! Snuck used instead of sneaked (I'm a "snuck" gal myself).
A line about Fred hit me ... "Once someone told him something critical, he would hold on to it for a long time, change everything he did just so he wouldn’t face the same criticism again." I've got a list of "don't ever do _____ again" things" :( I'm not always successful.
I see there is a sequel, I don't think it was intended to have one, so I think I consider it a stand-alone in my head. As much as I liked this, or maybe that's why, I'm not sure I'll read the sequel. Sometimes I just want to live with how the book ended as is ...
Per usual, I also went with the Kindle copy (borrowed from the library) and audio (grabbed on a sale from Chirp a while back, audio isn't at any of my libraries). I went with the audio (single narrator/shifting POVs/ all 3rd person/past tense; Claire, Sydney, Evanelle, Bay, Emma), but did pull up the Kindle copy to make some notes/highlights.
I'd just recently read The Village Healer's Book of Cures, which was only similar in the "witches" using herbs/recipes. This was pretty light (there is DV, but no "she's a witch" moments), with the house seeming to have some magical properties (although not to Encanto's Casa level, nor "Keeper of Enchanted Rooms" level). Loved the apple tree throwing apples at people! No discussion questions included in the book, but I found some online, and one was "would you eat an apple from the Waverly tree?"
This also reminded me a little of Savvy by Ingrid Law. There too, there is a "magical" family, where each one has a gift. In Savvy, they are a little (okay, a LOT) bigger, but just the "your gift" thing, and the Southern setting/speech (even more distinct in Savvy). Evanelle's gift to "give people what they would need" was entertaining, as was she.
Even with the darker storyline (Sydney had left, and returns to escape from a violent husband), and some of the other things (Fred's sadness, Emma's issues), this was an enjoyable read that I wanted to return to when I had to put it down.
Thanks to Kindle search, I'm reminded there was some proFanity (x4, all David, the Ex) and some sex (nothing described explicitly). Commode ... haven't heard that word anywhere else in a while! Snuck used instead of sneaked (I'm a "snuck" gal myself).
A line about Fred hit me ... "Once someone told him something critical, he would hold on to it for a long time, change everything he did just so he wouldn’t face the same criticism again." I've got a list of "don't ever do _____ again" things" :( I'm not always successful.
I see there is a sequel, I don't think it was intended to have one, so I think I consider it a stand-alone in my head. As much as I liked this, or maybe that's why, I'm not sure I'll read the sequel. Sometimes I just want to live with how the book ended as is ...