Amazon.com: The Girl Who Chased the Moon: A Novel (9780553807219): Sarah Addison Allen: Books

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen


Sarah Addison Allen is one of my favorite authors, I have loved her since her first novel Garden Spells came out. Her writing is so magical, and the story has a fantastic flow. She's very subtle with the magic she includes. Kind of giving a literal turn to certain phrases. The heat of passion in the Sugar Queen means the cook literally can't be near her boyfriend or all her food stock becomes useless.

So, in the highly anticpated - by me - The Girl Who Chased the Moon - we meet Julia and Emily. Emily is a recently orphaned teenager with no choice but to live with the grandfather she didn't even know she had. Julia is an adult woman trying to run from her troubled teenage years. With that understanding, though, Julia takes Emily under her wing. She is also trying to spare Emily the pain of finding out what her mother did before running from the town. Julia is counting down to her own freedom Mullaby. She left sometime during high school to go to a reform school to deal with her issues, and never looked back...until her father died leaving behind terrible debt. So she fashioned a plan to sell off the house and pay off the restuarant in 2 years. Then she would sell the restaurant and buy a bakery in her new hometown. She is a magical baker, and Sawyer - her love interest is magically attracted to her because of it. There's a twist in there as well.

Emily's mother did a terrible wrong to the Mullaby's main family, and the entire town turns that blame on Emily. Her grandfather, the "gentle giant of Mullaby" admits his part, as he spoiled his daughter through his own grief. He does stand up for Emily, though, when it counts. I love that in her room, there is wallpaper that changes based on mood. It was lilacs when Emily showed up, it became butterlies, and goes through even more changes. Vance, her grandfather, says it's been up since his own sister was in the room, and there's no getting rid of it. You can't remove it, and it goes right through the paint if you attempt to paint over it.

It's a good story. I ate it up in a day, and then wanted another slice. :) I have to learn to savor these things. It's not her best work. Garden Spells and Sugar Queen were the best. But The Girl Who Chased the Moon is fully worth getting and reading.

I was not paid for this review - I wasn't even asked to review it - but if you want to buy from Amazon, I will get a commision if you click the box above.

The Monday Melee « fracas

The Monday Melee « fracas:

1. The Magnificent: Name someone you absolutely adore, and tell us why. I adore my mom because she is trying so hard to be a better grandparent than either of her parents. My oldest adores her as well and would probably spend loads of time sleeping over if he wasn't so wildly attached to my hip. :)

2. The Muddy: Tell us something about life you just don’t “get”. I don't get why people feel the need to create drama in their lives. It makes me tired just hearing about it and when it starts impacting my family it gets annoying. Just live your life people, accept what you can't have, work toward what you want and try to heal. It makes me grateful for my "boring" life.

3. The Magnetic: Name something or someone good (or bad) you’re drawn to and you just can’t help it. Tell us if you want to change this or not. I'm drawn to Richard Anderson, and it's a good thing. He's sort of my father-in-law, and is granddad to my kids. He is one of those men who is wise even beyone his 80+ years. He always gives good advice, listens very well, and tries to reserve judgement. In fact, he only seems to be truly annoyed by the same thing that I don't "get" - see above. :) He makes me laugh, and helps me with the boys when Chris isn't there. And he treats me like a lady. I swear he's the last man on earth to actually hold a door open, and he even helps me load the van when I'm alone. I used deny the help, but now I accept it graciously and thank him. Guess I'm grateful to Chris because I couldn't have chosen a better father-in-law or friend.

4. The Mainstay: Who or what is something you just can’t live without? Why? I can't live without my glasses. No really, I'd be legally blind without them, I'm sure. Everything is blury and I can't even read a book without them, to get the page close enough, it ends up being too close and I get a headache. I know I couldn't drive. I might be able to walk places, but only if I had been there before and during the daylight hours.

5. The Masquerade: Tell us something about yourself we wouldn’t already know. I am completely average. I have no shining talent in anything. I've tried lots of stuff, and I'm good - really good - at nothing. Sometimes it gets me very depressed, and I'm so jealous of my husband who is an electronics genius, but it's who I am. Completely middle of the road in all things, unless I am awful at it.

6. The Mettle: Tell us about a time you showed courage in yourself, or tell us what you wish you had the courage to do. I wish I had the courage to sell off all my posessions and become a traveler. Go to a place, work at whatever I can find, move on when I feel the need. Yup, I want to be a rambling man. lol