Review – The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Magical Realism
Length: 280 pages
Publisher: Bantam
Release Date: March 10, 2010
ASIN : B001NLL784
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Bought for Kindle
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Emily Benedict has come to Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother’s life. But the moment Emily enters the house where her mother grew up and meets the grandfather she never knew, she realizes that mysteries aren’t solved in Mullaby, they’re a way of life: Here are rooms where the wallpaper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbor, Julia Winterson, bakes hope in the form of cakes, not only wishing to satisfy the town’s sweet tooth but also dreaming of rekindling the love she fears might be lost forever. Can a hummingbird cake really bring back a lost love? Is there really a ghost dancing in Emily’s backyard? The answers are never what you expect. But in this town of lovable misfits, the unexpected fits right in.”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I bought for Kindle.
Story (4/5): This wasn’t as good as “Garden Spells” or “The Sugar Queen” but it was still a well done magical realism read set in a small town setting. The story is mostly about these two women trying to find their way through life and find love in this small town. However, there are some heavy secrets that haunt both them and that haunt the town of Mullaby…some of these secrets are strange and magical in nature.
Characters (4/5): You follow two main characters. Emily is sixteen and trying to recover from her mother’s death, she hopes Mullaby will hold some secrets to her mother’s mysterious past. The other, Julia, is in her lower 30’s and was drawn back to Mullaby by the death of her father. Julia has a plan to sell her father’s restaurant and get on with her life outside of Mullaby, but events from her past are haunting her. Both characters are displaced and either new or just temporary to the town of Mullaby. The side characters are just as interesting as the two main ones, I enjoyed them all.
Setting (4/5): I enjoyed the setting of Mullaby. It’s a modern small town setting with some magical secrets. It is beautifully described and has a sort of peace to it.
Writing Style (4/5): I always enjoy the peaceful tone to Allen’s book and the beautiful descriptions. She does an amazing job of blending in subtle magical realism to a mysterious story. She also does a great job with characterization, making character complex, easy to relate to and believable. This was a feel good book that pulls the reader through with a good mystery. I did think the big reveal was a bit lackluster but I enjoyed the story and writing style as a whole, so ended up enjoying this.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this and am happy to have read it. It didn’t feel quite as magical as “Garden Spells” and the flow was a bit off (maybe just too much switching between characters). Still, I did enjoy it and would recommend it to those who enjoy peaceful mysterious stories set in small towns that have a bit of magical realism added in. I plan on checking out the rest of Allen’s books as time goes on. I think I have “The Peach Keeper” and “Lost Lake” to read still.
