Sugar Queen, The - Review

Title: The Sugar Queen

Author: Sarah Addison Allen

Synopsis: “Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter is her favorite season, she’s a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her 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 her closet harboring Della Lee Baker, a local waitress who is one part nemesis – and two parts fairy godmother. With Della Lee’s tough love, Josey’s narrow existence quickly expands. She even bonds with Chloe Finley, a young woman who is hounded by books that inexplicably appear when she needs them – and who has a close connection to Josey’s longtime crush. Soon Josey is living in a world where the color red has startling powers, and passion can make eggs fry in their cartons. And that’s just for starters.”

Review: Everyone needs a little magic in their lives. I know I do. My first experience with the novels of Sarah Addison Allen was when I read Garden Spells last year. I loved it. So when I saw that she had two other novels out I had to buy them both. Of course, after a novel as good as Garden Spells I was expecting The Sugar Queen to be a bit disappointing. Imagine my surprise to find this novel as enchanting as her first. I love the way that Allen writes, and I savored every word of this novel. My favorite part is when Adam first realizes that he’s falling in love with Josey.

“She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled slightly. His breath caught.

“He felt a strange stirring, something he hadn’t felt in a very long time. It felt a little like when a limb falls asleep but then slowly, surely, there’s a tingling, an almost uncomfortable sensation… of waking up" (page 153)

I think I liked this description because I had a similar experience about a year and half ago, and until now I didn’t have a good way to explain what that “waking up” felt like. (My reaction was a bit different from Adam’s however; I got scared and ran away from the situation. It was a reflex that I regret now, but one that it’s too late to change.)

I like Sarah Addison Allen’s novels because her characters are real people who are fortunate enough to have a little magic in their lives. If you could use a little magic in your life you should read this book!

Publisher: Bantam Dell a division of Random House, Inc.

ISBN: 978-0553384840

If you like this book you may want to read:

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (ISBN: 978-0553590326)

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman (ISBN: 978-0425190371)