The Sugar Queen

by Sarah Addison Allen (Goodreads author)

book data

1,836 ratings, 3.95 average rating, 620 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		29%
4		42%
3		23%
2		4%
1		0%

edit

published

May 20th 2008 by Bantam

binding

Hardcover, 276 pages

characters

Josey Cirrini, Della Lee Baker, Chloe Finley

setting

The United States

isbn

0553805495 (isbn13: 9780553805499)

description

In this irresistible follow-up to her New York Times bestselling debut, Garden Spells, author Sarah Addison Allen tells the tale of a young woman whos...more

[close] In this irresistible follow-up to her New York Times bestselling debut, Garden Spells, author Sarah Addison Allen tells the tale of a young woman whose family secrets—and secret passions—are about to change her life forever.

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.

Brimming with warmth, wit, and a sprinkling of magic, here is a spellbinding tale of friendship, love—and the enchanting possibilities of every new day. [close]

find at: Amazon | Half.com | Barnes & Noble | compare prices ($8.25)…

new topic
discuss this book

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Next Best Boo...: What are you reading?	13081	11059	2 hours, 12 min ago
You'll love this ...: What are you currently reading and why?	714	1039	6 hours, 18 min ago

friend reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

lists with this book

Best books of 2008

876 books | 3278 voters

Favorite Chick-Lit

243 books | 487 voters

More lists...

other reviews (showing 1-20 of 2,938)

sort: default (?) | date
filters: all | text-only

04/11/08

Jessica rated it:

bookshelves: recommended-reads

Read in April, 2008

While this is a good read, its storyline is too pat, its conclusion to easy, and its writing too forgettable to earn more than three stars. Would I read it again? Probably not. Would I want to reread parts of it years from now? Possibly. Would I read a sequel? Quite probably. You can draw your own conclusions from that :-)

Our heroine struggles with self-perception and a lack of self-esteem. Josey is supposed to be a Southern belle...living in a ski resort town in the mountains of Nor...more While this is a good read, its storyline is too pat, its conclusion to easy, and its writing too forgettable to earn more than three stars. Would I read it again? Probably not. Would I want to reread parts of it years from now? Possibly. Would I read a sequel? Quite probably. You can draw your own conclusions from that :-)

Our heroine struggles with self-perception and a lack of self-esteem. Josey is supposed to be a Southern belle...living in a ski resort town in the mountains of North Carolina. She suffers from a domineering mother who for personal reasons really doesn't like her, an unbelievable amount of guilt for tantrums thrown before she became a saint at the ripe old age of nine, a town of busybodies who all remember the tantrums (perhaps I should have reserved "unbelievable" for this portion of the plot), and isolation resulting from all of the above.

The point of The Sugar Queen is how Josey resolves all of these issues with the help of her polar opposite who shows up unexpectedly in her closet at the beginning of chapter 1. At the same time, various other people affiliated in some way with Josey or her family are going through their own, somehow completely related, problems. The book also contains a smattering of magic, which seems to have been included for no other reason than to help the reader suspend disbelief throughout a string of improbable events. Once you've suspended disbelief, it is possible to enjoy the book in all of it's feel-good splendor :-)

At it's heart, that's all this book is, a feel-good novel. A sad woman (and we know she's sad because at least four different people show up to say so and then disappear from the plot) finds happiness and love, a true love is saved, family problems are resolved, and death is established as an okay place.

If you have some extra time, like feel-good novels (and I personally do), and desire to learn a little about self-perception and a lot about why to not live your entire life in the same small town, you should give this book a chance :-) (less)

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

add a comment

06/09/08

Ewelina rated it:

Josey is a 27 year old that lives with her mother and likes eating sweets in her closet and reading romantic books. At a diner, she meets a waitress, Della, who becomes her fairy godmother and agrees on her closet getaway. When she finds love, Della decides to move on! Fictional!!

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

11/27/08

Judy rated it:

(review of isbn 0340935758)

Read in December, 2008

I'd really like to give this book three-and-a-half stars if possible! I did enjoy it but took a while to get into it - I wasn't too keen on the beginning, but became hooked about halfway through.

There are a lot of similarities with her other book, 'Garden Spells' - again it is a story with elements of magic realism, where the magic seems benevolent and determined to help people, but this time there are also some darker moments and it isn't pure escapism. I discovered this author bec...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

01/03/09

Leslie rated it:

Read in March, 2009

Let’s see…a story about a young single woman who hoards sweets and trashy romance novels in a cache hidden in her closet. Hmm...I’m on board! I’ll take chocolate and passion on the page over my problems any time. And so we have Josey Cirrini, the twenty-seven-year-old heroine of The Sugar Queen. She’s an almost over-the-hill Southern belle without a life or a date, no privacy from a domineering mother, and now has the town harlot camping out and black-mailing her in her bedroom closet....more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

06/26/08

Sidhe rated it:

Read in July, 2008

I requested this book at the library when a friend informed me it had been released. I didn't read anything about the story beforehand...I just knew it was a new book by the author of _Garden Spells_. I'm glad now that I didn't read any information or reviews, because it made the whole story all the more fresh.

Allen seems to be developing a theme between her novels in regard to characterizing a non-human object and giving it a magical and charming life and influence on the other ...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

06/15/08

Britt rated it:

bookshelves: fiction, identity, magical-realism, relationships

Read in June, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

This book has a lot of the same problems as Garden Spells and I don’t think Allen’s writing has improved much, but I enjoyed it much more. I think what made me like this one better is that I can relate to the main character. She has two qualities that are very important to me: She is a 20-something woman still living at home and desperate to get away, and she loves to eat. While my home life is not as sad as hers and the people around me don’t judge me for the brat I was as a child (which ...more This book has a lot of the same problems as Garden Spells and I don’t think Allen’s writing has improved much, but I enjoyed it much more. I think what made me like this one better is that I can relate to the main character. She has two qualities that are very important to me: She is a 20-something woman still living at home and desperate to get away, and she loves to eat. While my home life is not as sad as hers and the people around me don’t judge me for the brat I was as a child (which I was, absolutely), there’s still that desire to escape from the town I grew up in and not end up settling and sucked into a monotonous life. Also, I love food. I don’t hide mine, but I have stashes all around. I like to snack in my room, in the car, at work, wherever. So, I guess these things helped me to understand and appreciate the story more.

I love that Chloe randomly has books appear to her when she needs them. I love how persistent they are, how alive they are. I love that Josey has someone randomly appear in her closet and live there while helping her grow. I enjoyed watching Josey grow. I enjoyed the development of her relationship with Adam. I also like how Allen uses a food-related motif throughout the novel. That could seem a bit too cutesy and overdone, but for the type of book it is, it works.

I was a little annoyed that Chloe and Jake got back together. Allen made a big deal about how Chloe had never gotten to know herself, she had gotten lost in Jake, and how she needed to find herself. But I don’t think one month on your own and buying a house constitutes finding yourself. I guess it’s not as annoying since Chloe realizes this and vows to not lose herself again, but that’s hard to do when you’re focusing on someone else.

Something else that bothers me in most books is the way the main female character is portrayed. Often the main character will initially be described as plain or ugly or fat, but what we gather from the descriptions of the character and the responses of the other characters in the book, is that they are actually gorgeous and thin. Either the main character just thinks they are ugly or the author is using the Hollywood definition of ugly. Or, even better, nobody finds the main character in anyway attractive until she puts on makeup or loses lots of weight. So, Josey is initially described as, “pale and plain and just this side of plump” (p. 5). But once she starts wearing makeup, suddenly everyone realizes what a beauty she is. Bad message to send Ms. Allen! And “just this side of plump” is really not as bad as it could be, is it? This book is really not the worst of the offenders in this regard, but it’s the latest one I’ve come across. Just once I would like to find a book in which the main female character is described in a way that is very clearly unattractive in our society yet ends up finding someone who thinks she is beautiful. Why can’t we have stories like that?

I did think the book was predictable, I called some things that happen later in the novel before it was even half through. I also think that the characterization is not great. Each character has a back story that explains why they are the way they are, and they are interesting stories. But I felt it was too flat. It wasn’t real enough. I felt like she was following a formula for characterizing these people instead of trying to make real people. The whole book was a little underdeveloped, like Garden Spells. It could be much better if she tried to flesh out the characters and the story a bit more.(less)

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

06/13/08

Abby rated it:

27-year-old Josey Cirrini lives with and takes care of her elderly mother in their expensive house. She's docile and obedient. And any spare moment she gets she spends in her bedroom closet where she's hidden a stash of romance novels and candy. Having no friends and no life outside the oppressive house in which she lives, the novels and food are her only comfort. Then one day an unexpected visitor arrives. Della Lee, a somewhat trashy woman who has obviously run away from someone, takes up resi...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

05/01/08

Jeanne rated it:

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: fans of Alice Hoffman

I have really mixed feelings about this novel. On the one hand, I almost quit reading it after only a few pages. The writing is so over the top cheesy. In the first two pages, the author mentions the "feathery frost" and the "sugary frost." Too much.

But then the silly descriptions decreased (or I just skimmed them, I don't know), and the story picked up. This is the story of Josey Cirrini. She is 27, her mother's personal slave, and extremely wealthy due to ...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

09/06/08

Jennifer rated it:

bookshelves: adult-books

Read in October, 2008

This treacly romance was lauded by reviewers, but I found it as difficult to swallow as a spoonful of raw sugar. Two young sheltered women in their twenties struggle with their pasts and their current romantic relationships in a small North Carolina resort town. Nothing unusual there, except the author adds elements of magical realism that are not quite successful. For example, there is a strange woman living in the closet of one of the women who may or may not be real. When her presence is hurr...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

05/28/08

Liisa rated it:

(review of isbn 0340935758)

bookshelves: all-time-favourite-authors, books-i-adored-, books-i-want-to-read-again, books-that-moved-me-to-tears, vampire-werewolves-witches-mystical

Read in August, 2008

Quite simply, I adored "The Sugar Queen" by Sarah Addison Allen. It was an absolutely delicious read and I was bereaved when it finished.

I stumbled upon Sarah Addison Allen quite by accident after being "drawn" to the cover of her debut novel, "Garden Spells". I enjoyed her debut so much, I pre-ordered "The Sugar Queen" but it was still with hesitance that I picked it up. I LOVED "Garden Spells" ~ what if this wasn't up to par?
...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

02/20/08

Elisa rated it:

Read in February, 2008

The more days that go by, the more I realize how much I liked this book. The right mixture of magic (books that show up just when a girl needs them...my kind of magic), romance, community, messiness and mystery.
I have thought about these characters often since finishing it. They are well developed and friendly. A 28 year old girl stuck with a society loving mother, a dead father who owned the town and a stranger in her closet. That is not even talking about the maid, who calls her "...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

1 comment

09/03/08

Capri rated it:

Read in April, 2009

I really enjoyed this book. It was silly at times, made me laugh, but still had enough depth of characters and plot to not seem shallow. I read a few other people's reviews of the book and was suprised by how poorly they rated it. I loved how the chapter titles were all candies and treats that somehow related to the events in the chapter. I loved how Josey thinks of everything in terms of which food it is like and how that makes her feel. I enjoyed the other characters as well. (I don't want to ...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

2 comments

05/26/08

Amanda rated it:

I enjoyed this a lot. There are two things that stood out - first that although it was pretty obvious how this would end - that it was really fun to get there. Also, one of the characters has books that follow her around - the right book at the right time... I love that. I wish the right books would follow me around!

Sometimes I read a book that has a plot twist (say, a special unstated relationship between the characters) and I can see it coming a mile away. This one snuck up on me ...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

03/17/09

Princess rated it:

Read in March, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Like this review? yes

add a comment

03/13/09

Perryvillereference rated it:

bookshelves: fiction, megan, romance

The Sugar Queen is the sweet sophomore offering of novelist Sarah Addison Allen. Nestled away in the sleepy southern resort town of Bald Slope, three young women find themselves in trouble up to their necks. Della Lee, the town bad girl, is on the run from her abusive boyfriend. Chloe is broken up over the betrayal of her lover, unsure she can forgive or if she should. Her special ‘talent' of finding books just when she needs them has been more of a nag then a help this time. Finally, Jose...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

01/17/09

Jill rated it:

Read in January, 2009

I am a huge fan of magical realism. I love those books that deal with real life situations in real life settings but add just a smidge of magic. In this book the magic is subtle but delightful. A character has books that magically appear and then follow her until she reads them or learns what they want to teach her (e.g. a book on home ownership appears as soon as she buys a house).

The main story in this book concerns Josey, a mouse of a woman beaten down by her aging mother. Jos...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

07/03/09

Bookczuk rated it:

(review of isbn 0553384848)

bookshelves: bookcrossing, read-on-recommendation, sometimes-fluff-is-good

recommended to Bookczuk by: Elizabeth

My girlfriend Liz gave this to me to read the afternoon before bumma died. "You are Chloe", she said. "You and book are just like Chloe and books."

I had put the book away in a bag when we packed up bumma's things and only just pulled it out. It was a light, enjoyable read, and I had to chuckle when reading how the right book always found Chloe at the right time, whether she needed it or not. It became even more apparent when I recalled how the other day, I was...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

02/14/09

Michelle rated it:

Read in February, 2009

I was excited to read this novel after reading Sarah's first novel, Garden Spells, and I wasn't disappointed.

While I think some of the details & writing of Garden Spells was a little more enchanting, the twists in this novel were less predictable and the characters were just as engaging, so I would say I enjoyed the equally. My co-worker, who lent me both novels, enjoyed this novel a little better than Garden Spells.

I tend not to like novels with a lot of fantasy or make...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

05/19/09

Jadewik rated it:

(review of isbn 0553384848)

bookshelves: book-club, i-own

Read in May, 2009

This is another book I really enjoyed reading, but it had elements to it that were just plain bizarre. For one, it took me a while to get used to how OLD the main characters in the book were and how immature they acted. Josey is in her late 20's, still lives at home, has never been on a date and acts like she's 10 years old! Through most of the book, I was picturing college aged kids (fresh out of high school kids) who were sort of flippantly trying to discover themselves.

... but tha...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

02/06/09

Marian rated it:

Read in March, 2009

Candy--yum. Cake--yummier. Handsome mailman--yummiest. Fairy godmother/half sister in the closet--weird. Stifling, unforgiving mother with serious red sweater issues--mean. Unconventional "super powers"--confusing. Snowy first kiss--fantastic. Four f-bombs--unnecessary. Twist in the end--surprising. Not bad.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 146 147 next »

polls

Vote for your choice for our nest group read beginning July 1st.

The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc A Novel

2 votes, 16.7%

Made in the U.S.A.

1 vote, 8.3%

Garden Spells

1 vote, 8.3%

The Sugar Queen

2 votes, 16.7%

The Lucky One

0 votes, 0.0%

The Wednesday Letters

1 vote, 8.3%

A Gracious Plenty

1 vote, 8.3%

A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories

0 votes, 0.0%

Fair and Tender Ladies

4 votes, 33.3%

12 total votes

1 comment Sign in to vote!

More...

recent status updates | recommend it | blog it

combine
other editions (10)

More editions...

quotes from this book

"It was the best first kiss in the history of first kisses. It was as sweet as sugar. And it was warm, as warm as pie. The whole world opened up and I fell inside. I don't know where I was, but I didn't care. I didn't care because the only person who mattered was there with me." More quotes...