Garden Spells: Review by Barbara

Review of: GARDEN SPELLS by Sarah Addison Allen

From: Barbara Lechner

4/28/2013

Well, I've gone through an analytical thought process in order to supposedly write an intelligent and compelling review of GARDEN SPELLS. Is it a modern Garden of Eden lesson with the apples? Are Claire and Sydney Adam & Eve paying for bad decisions – including those of their mother? Is Evanelle the Holy Spirit who redeems?  Hmmm... I find that what I'd mostly like to say is that this was just pure reading pleasure – forget the analysis.

This book had a little of everything: broken family, misguided mother, wounded children, rebelling teen, domestic violence, mystical powers, sex,  family love and comfort, and ultimately adult love, love of children, resolution, and the comeuppance of the villain.  Throw in some gardening and cooking tips and … WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE?

The sections about domestic violence were particularly hard to take and you just want Sydney to run, run, run...which she does find the courage to do with the help of the woman in the park. Bless that woman. You can begin to see the mystical talents of the Waverly family being genetically passed to Bay, her child. I felt that her early trauma to be Bay's coping mechanism while growing up under her father's tyrannical horror-story he calls fatherhood.

I really want to be Evanelle, though. What an interesting talent with her inexplicable “gifts” that ultimately were helpful to the receiver even though sometimes it was hard to figure what the result would be for them. We'll never really be able to recognize how in our own lives little things have influenced our decisions.  We all have had many Evanelles.

It was just sheer fun to have Claire fall in love with the gorgeous and wonderful Tyler. Let's make more of those kinds of guys.

If you haven't read this book, I hope I haven't given too much away...ENJOY!

Book #5 ~ Kathy's Pick: 'Emma' by Jane Austen

As we enter Spring what better than a classic, humorous romance?

 

 

Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like." In the very first sentence she introduces the title character as "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich." Emma, however, is also rather spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfied; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; she is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives, and her imagination and perceptions often lead her astray. More info on Wikipedia...

Garden Spells: Review by Dorothy

Garden Spells: Review by Sarah

'Garden Spells'

by Sarah Addison Allen

     First, let me start by asking your forgiveness, I didn't just read this book; it's been a while so my assessment may be foggy at best. I read it a few months ago and I did really enjoy it. When I read, I look for a good story with characters that I think back on, long after finishing the book. I generally don't like stories that are too dark or too heavy. There is too much in my day to day world and I use reading as an escape, and I like those escapes to be to places I enjoy going, for whatever reason. So take my critique with a grain of salt, I read for the fun of it.

     What I enjoyed the most about "Garden Spells" was the way the author wove the relationships between the characters.  The sisters have very different personalities; strong in their own ways, vulnerable in others. Watching them learn from each other and finding comfort in pulling from those differences as well as discovering similarities was heart warming. The daughter, Bay, gives them something to care for together and at first, it seems like it's the only thing they have in common. It took me a while to really like the sisters, both seemed so stubborn and almost cold to each other in the beginning but that changed quickly enough. Evanelle, the elderly relative, is fun and quirky and I looked forward to her scenes for a little bit of random humor. The way the two sisters move through their hometown together reminds you how family ties can be really beautiful. Its not always easy for them, there's a lot of snarky people in their town. There are lots of trips and falls, new relationships and the rediscovery of old ones, all the while the dark shadow of Sydney's past is looming, waiting to fall at just the right moment. 

     The magical garden adds a fantastical element which I really enjoyed. All of the members of the family have special gifts and seeing them recognize them and use them was interesting and different.

Overall, I enjoyed as a quick, enjoyable read that was a little something different.

XOXO

Sarah

Sutton: Review by Carissa

'Sutton'

by J.R. Moehringer

I really enjoy books based on true stories and following characters that truly existed.  I know this was only J.R.'s assumption of what may have happened the day the infamous Willie Sutton was released from prison (for the last time after several stints behind bars) but I thought he did a fantastic job.  

The relationship that forms between the reporter, photographer and himself is one of the better parts of the story line.  It shows that people thrown together in a situation with completely different backgrounds and life experiences can still impact each others lives greatly.  The last portion of the story was told through Reporter's eyes but I would have really liked to have learned more about how that day resonated with Photographer as well.  

I, like grandma, feel as though Willie turned to crime after attempting every viable option.  Things may have turned out differently if the boys had joined the war effort but they still would have returned home to a depression if they made it back at all.

Although Willie was a criminal he was a genuinely kind man.  He treated everyone with respect, even the employees of the institutions he hated, banks.  Apparently that was a normal attitude towards the banking industry back then which made him sort of a vigilante.  He was more famous than infamous later in his career but his childhood he was greatly ignored or sought out as his brothers' punching bags.  With this sort of upbringing you would think he would be prone to violence but he wasn't, in fact he went out of his way to avoid it. He had very little reason to trust yet he was loyal to a fault.

The most fascinating storyline was that of Willie and Bess.  She was the driving force behind all that he did. She was the air that he breathed and later you find that that was all she truly was.

People have so many layers to them and 'Sutton' seems to touch on them all.