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| Random House |
Sarah Addison Allen
2009
The Summary
"Twenty-seven-year-old Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter in her North Carolina hometown is her favorite season, she's a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her hidden closet. For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother's house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night...until she finds it harboring none other than local waitress Della Lee Baker, a tough-talking, tenderhearted woman who is one part nemesis - and two parts fairy godmother...
"Fleeing a life of bad luck and big mistakes, Della Lee has decided Josey's clandestine closet is the safest place to crash. In return she's going to change Josey's life - because, clearly, it is not the closet of a happy woman. With Della Lee's tough love, Josey is soon forgoing pecan rolls and caramels, tapping into her startlingly keen feminine instincts, and finding her narrow existence quickly expanding.
"Before long, Josey bonds with Chloe Finley, a young woman who makes the best sandwiches in town, is hounded by books that inexplicably appear whenever she needs them, and - most amazing of all - has a close connection to Josey's longtime crush.
"As little by little Josey dares to step outside herself, she discovers a world where the color red has astonishing power, passion can make eggs fry in their cartons, and romance can blossom at any time - even for her. It seems that Della Lee's work is done, and it's time for her to move on. But the truth about where she's going, why she showed up in the first place - and what Chloe has to do with it all - is about to add one more unexpected chapter to Josey's fast-changing life."
The Good
Like Garden Spells, Allen's previous novel, The Sugar Queen has little threads of magic laced throughout the novel: Josey has the uncanny ability to detect secrets; Chloe is plagued by books that magically appear when she needs them; Rawley is bound to keep promises, no matter the cost; Julian has a black mist that compels any woman within his reach to pay attention to him; and Marlena is surprisingly skilled at chasing away ghosts.
I liked the developing relationship between Josey and Adam. Although Josey struggles with her self-confidence, her loyalty to her mother and her adoration for Adam - and although Adam hesitates to jump into a relationship with his whole heart - I enjoy the way their relationship develops. It's slow to start, but it seems to expand and grow, weaving into their lives with an undeniable quickness. Like Jake and Chloe, their chemistry seems undeniable.
I also enjoy the way Allen portrays her characters. She gives them careful descriptions and pinpoints the little unexpected (read: magical) things that populate their every day lives, linking them inextricably to a thin veil of magic that permeates the entire town.
And she's meticulous in showing character perspective, allowing her readers a peek into the lives of her characters - such as the way Josey equates the best things in life (and people) with sugary sweets, or Chloe recounts her moods and experiences in the books that follow her - by showing the world through their eyes. In Sugar Queen, I found this simply added another layer to her characters.
Overall, it was an enjoyable novel.
The Bad
For me, The Sugar Queen just wasn't as good as Garden Spells. I don't know why, but I simply found Garden Spells to be a much better novel in its style and its plot - and, more importantly, in its magic. While I liked the magical elements of The Sugar Queen (meaning, I wouldn't mind having books follow me around on a regular basis), it felt a little more obvious.
Garden Spells, except for the apple tree (which was rather obvious), felt more subtle. The Waverly sisters have peculiar gifts, but they aren't advertised; rather, their magic is woven into the fabric of their family, like fine threads, and it feels almost like a secret. The Sugar Queen doesn't have that: magic feels more like a nuisance than a gift.
The Ugly
Julian. He frightens me more than the ghosts.
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