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Jan 15, 2012

Nancy rated it:

For generations, the Waverly family has made their home in Bascom, North Carolina. Each of the Waverly women possesses a unique magic which has made them a curiosity in the town, but their oddness also keeps others at a distance. Claire is a caterer who uses the enchanted herbs and flowers in her garden to prepare exquisite dishes that affect the eater's feelings. Claire’s aunt, Evanelle, gives odd and random gifts that she knows the recipient will need in the future. Her younger sister, Sy More...

11 comments like (33 people liked it)

Apr 15, 2008

Grace rated it:

Yes, this book is definitely reminsicent of Practical Magic in plotline. I can't imagine anyone not thinking so...a beautiful old house, two magical sisters whose mother died when they were young, one practical and a homebody, the other a wild woman with a daughter who comes back home to escape an abusive man. Um...sounds familiar. Very.

BUT

The author creates an amazing atmosphere, and the basics of the plot may be the same, but the details are entirely new and lovely. More...

8 comments like (44 people liked it)

Jun 13, 2008

Sara rated it:

Chicken soup when you're sick. Chocolate when you're hormonal. Lavender for your bathroom. Citrus for the kitchen. Pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. Peppermint at Christmas time.

This book completely spoke my language - that of food and how we are connected to what we serve, eat and order. We may not be able to put magic into our cooking, but as a mother I know there are certain things to feed my family for certain reasons, and that can be sort of a form of magic (at least to the little ch More...

2 comments like (45 people liked it)

Apr 21, 2008

Dorlana rated it:

It is really difficult for me to find a book that suits me. I love stories, and I love to read. Since I don’t have a lot of time to read, I have to be really picky. Which means, if it hasn’t grabbed my attention early on, I normally don’t continue.

When I saw Garden Spells on the shelves in the book store I immediately wanted to read it because of the cover, the title and the blurb. I knew for sure that this was a book that I had to read.

I was so excited when I sat down an More...

3 comments like (11 people liked it)

Dec 06, 2007

Erin rated it:

What I learned from this book is...if an apple tree throws its apples at you, for goodness sake, pay attention already!

This book is lovely, magical, enchanting. I sat down to read just one chapter, basically to decide whether it was worth holding onto even though it was already overdue. At 2:30 a.m. I finished the whole darn thing. Couldn't stop myself. I floated in a state of suspended reality, where time had no meaning.

The basic idea of the book: two sisters expe More...

5 comments like (16 people liked it)

Jun 28, 2011

Amanda rated it:

In Bascom, North Carolina, everyone is destined to live up to their family name. Clark women are lascivious femme fatales, Mattesons will be wealthy and will put family duty first, Hopkins men always marry older women, and the females of the Waverley clan always manifest a quaint magical talent. Fate is heavy-handed in Bascom. There's no escaping your name and there's no escaping your heritage, even though Sydney Waverley, just like her mother before her, has tried.

Sydney grew up a More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jul 22, 2009

Ruth rated it:

In a small southern town, Claire Waverly runs a catering business out of her small family farm, but her quiet, secure life is turned upside down, when a new next-door neighbor moves in, at the same time that her footloose, wilder younger sister Sydney comes home. Sydney is on the run from an abusive ex, and she and her six-year-old daughter Bay need a place to hide and recover. But Sydney's history, both in the town and out of it, has a way of catching up on her. This book is basically about r More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 16, 2008

Debbie rated it:

I made one of my departures from YA into the adult book world with Garden Spells. This is a book about place and belonging and love. It centers around the Waverley family, specifically, Waverley women. Claire was only 6 when her mother brought her to the Waverley family home in Bascom, North Carolina, where she has lived quietly ever since, but her early experiences have made her terrified of becoming close to people. Claire's younger sister, Sydney, was born in Bascom but left after high school More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 14, 2008

Heather rated it:

Well, this is tricky. I really enjoyed the book. I enjoyed it the first time I read it when it was called "Practical Magic" by Alice Hoffman. Was it plagiarism? I'm not sure - that's for Hoffman's lawyers to decide, but if you enjoyed the following things about Hoffman's book, then you'll enjoy this one:
- a lovely garden where the plants grow in an atmosphere of magical realism, out of time and season.
- two sisters who seem polar opposites, who suffered the loss of thei More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2008

Margaret rated it:

I wasn't sure I was going to like this book... but then I never am. That seems to the mantra that I open every book with: distrust of the author's skill, interests, etc. I was encouraged early on by the author's gift for language... Bits like "She was so Southern that she cried tears that came straight from the Mississipi...", and "Memories, even hard memories, grew soft like peaches as they got older."

Ah, you're thinking that this is one of those dreary South More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jul 09, 2009

Carm rated it:

Set in North Carolina, we explore the lives of the Waverly women and their strangeness in a community where everyone has their expectations for the long family lines native to the area. The Waverley's have a garden where an enchanted apple tree grows and Claire masterfully creates foods with properties that do more than tantalize the taste buds. The ideas behind this are great and this first novel for Sarah Addison Allen might be a fun summer read for someone less picky than me. While I enjoyed More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Sep 16, 2008

Christine (AR) rated it:

Two sisters deal with being magical in a small town. Practical Magic by way of Allende.

I don't care if this is almost the same story as Practical Magic; I thought it was lovely. A very fast read, very prettily written, and it has some absolutely beautiful moments. Really nice.

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 07, 2010

Karla rated it:

Sometimes you just need a good enchanting fantasy with humor, heart and charming loveable characters. I enjoyed the differnt points of view and the revealing look into their personal jouney for love, strength and fulfillment. It captured everyday loss, pain, and personal growth and twisted in the perfect touch of whimsy.
There is a unique magical apple tree that grows in the Waverly's back garden and each Waverly woman or girl has an special gift to share with the little town of Bascom, More...

4 comments like (9 people liked it)

Sep 11, 2008

Juushika rated it:

The Waverleys are a strange family: each of them has a special gift and a prophetic apple tree grows in their backyard, imbuing the entire garden with magic. But when wandering Sydney escapes an abusive boyfriend and returns back home to live with her introverted sister Claire, the Waverley sisters must learn to step outside of their eccentricities and discover life, love, and happiness. Despite the dark elements—an abusive boyfriend, an abandoning mother—Garden Spells is unmitigated fluff. As l More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 28, 2008

Bonnie rated it:

I saw Sarah Addison Allen's new book "Sugar Queen" at Barnes & Noble and thought it looked interesting, but was unwilling to pay the price for a hardback book on an untried author. So, instead I picked up "Garden Spells" because of its beautiful cover and interesting synopsis. I'm VERY glad I did.

The story and the magic were...well...magical...and enchanting. I love gardens and books where people have green thumbs, unlike myself. The garden is a main charact More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Oct 10, 2007

Lauren rated it:

Most likely the best book I've read in a while. The story enfolds you from the very first page. And i have nothing but praise for it so i will make it short.

I definitely identified with at least one of the characters if not all of the them. I saw parallels from the novel to my life and i think a lot of readers will feel the same way. I believe that is what makes a story good, when you can place yourself in the situations the characters have placed themselves in. That's what ma More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Stacey rated it:

I picked this one up because it was $10 at Barnes and Noble (yeah coupons!). I figured that if they recommended it and it cost less than dinner, I'd give it a try.

This was a fun, quick read. I haven't read or seen the movie "Practical Magic", but I do typically like Alice Hoffman's books. I didn't have a problem with this story line being recycled since I've never encountered it before.

This book was entertaining and well written. There were moments that ma More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 04, 2007

Ellen rated it:

Garden Spells is a wonderful, gentle romance set in Bascom, North Carolina. Claire Waverly has an orderly life as a botanical caterer. Her flower and herbal recipes are known to help others gain clarity in their lives. Her own life becomes clouded by the handsome neighbor next door and the return of her sister Sydney with her young daughter. The Waverly girls are all gifted with a type of magic, abilities to help others through their various talents. It has a similar feel to "Like Water More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 08, 2008

Siobhan added it

This book is completely twee and unoriginal, and I am a little embarrassed to be reading it. It's the literary equivalent of eating a whole box of cookies -- but not even good cookies, more like Snackwell's. Mediocre and unsatisfying.

(And yet I am reading it anyway.)

Now that I've finished it, I can say definitively that the barrage of five-star reviews for this book kind of makes me lose my faith in humanity. Even if you like this kind of writing, it is so clearly a whole More...

3 comments like (6 people liked it)

Mar 11, 2011

Audrey rated it:

I thought this was lovely. Simple, light, magical...similar to Alice Hoffman. Finished it in one evening and truly enjoyed it.

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 16, 2008

Danielle rated it:

I loved, loved, loved this book. It reminded me of Practical Magic with a bit of Simply Irresistible thrown in. I had a hard time putting it down because of my enjoyment.

Yes, it is predictable. But I really liked the everyday magic--there's a real feel-good vibe to this book. I liked the characters and the depiction of a small town. Sure, entire families are categorized with specific traits, but there was a part of me that found comfort in that.

Great summmer escape r

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 15, 2011

MichelleKCanada rated it:

The Waverley family. The sisters Claire & Sydney. Sydney's daughter Bay and Evanelle Franklin their distant relation (cousin). I also can't forget to mention the Apple Tree because it was just as much it's story too.

See all the wonderful thing I have to say about Garden Spells on my Book Review blog

http://anotherlookbookreviews.blogspot.c...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Marta rated it:

Set in today's world, the family of "Waverly Women" are all enchanted. One works magic with the foods as a caterer from the herbs in her garden. Another "sees" odd things that people need--she doesn't know why they need the things she gives them, but she gifts little things that then become critical in the lives of those who receive them. A fun read.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

William rated it:

Fascinating premise, ineptly implemented.

The author is a graduate of the Octavia Butler/Rosie Lyons School of Literature which features victims instead of protagonists.

Shamelessly manipulative.

The family of witches in a magic garden is a great setting for a novel. It is pathetic that the author could not do any better than this.

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

May 05, 2011

Robbi rated it:

In her debut novel, author Sarah Addison Allen, takes readers on a journey to Bascom, North Carolina into one of the most beautiful gardens you could ever image, with a lot of sentimentality, a little big of magic, and a compelling story about a family. The Waverlys have always lived in Bascom and always had a magical garden, often to the envy of neighbors, but also setting them apart from everyone else. For Sydney Waverly, this was always a bit hard to deal with. Unlike her older sister, Claire More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 31, 2010

Angela rated it:

I absolutely loved this book!Loved,loved,loved it! The language and imagery are exquisite and the story is satisfying like a perfect dark chocolate truffle.
Or smelling the perfect flower. I want to live in this town. I want to know more about flower magic! What a well crafted piece of art.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 04, 2010

Glenda rated it:

The Waverlys have always been curious family endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their own home town of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for the feisty apple tree that throws apples and allows the eater of the fruit to see the biggest event of their lives.
After reading the first 2 chapters, I thought this a little corny, but I was interested enough to continue reading and it turned into a charming, enchanting, and heartwarming sto More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 10, 2011

Ash rated it:

Garden Spells,

SAA's first novel, and my last to read of hers.

After I read The Sugar Queen I quickly obtained her other three books. Since Garden Spell was the only other paperback book of hers I had, and it is my Mom's favorite, I saved it for my trip to England. It wasn't easy mind you! I had to carefully plan how to read the other two, trying to savor them and not read them well into the night with excitement and joy. I was able to save Garden Spells, after loving the p More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 17, 2007

Rosalyn rated it:

I thought the story here was quite charming--although the book itself has a couple of sex scenes (nothing too explicit), which might put off some readers. The writing style was lovely and the characters endearing, however.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 01, 2010

kari rated it:

I liked this book and will read this author again. The characters are clearly drawn and I hoped they would all find what they were seeking, even if they didn't think they were seeking anything.
Claire was a little tough to understand, why she kept resisting Tyler, even as she was so attracted to him. Sydney, fleeing an abusive relationship, but more than that, fleeing the way of life she'd chosen, was a great opposite to her sister, Claire. I enjoyed the interactions between these two as th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)