Book Review: The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
Title: The Sugar Queen
Author: Sarah Addison Allen
Format: Paperback
Genre: Magical Realism/Women’s Fiction
Source: Personal Copy
Published: May 20th 2008 by Bantam
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
From Goodreads.com
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.
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.
In the past few months I’ve discovered just how much I love books with Magical Realism, and Sarah Addison Allen is the Queen of the genre (in my opinion at least!)
From the moment I picked up Sugar Queen? I knew I was going to love this book. The opening paragraph is about Josey, and her preference for colder weather. But the way it’s written, there’s so much more to it. I have to give major kudos, because Sugar Queen is a fairly small book at 276 pages, but there is so much packed into those pages! As with all of Sarah Addison Allen’s books, it moves quickly and sucks you in at the start. You’re turning pages late into the night to find out how it ends.
Josey is an only child, raised by her mother (whom you love to hate!) and was raised to know that she would take care of her mother into her old age – which is just what she does. She has no friends, no lover and no real life of her own. Outside of her closet, where she packs her dreams and her love for sweets. Unfortunately, her closet is now home to Della Lee, a local waitress with a less than desirable legal history. And just how Della Lee gets there, and what comes next? Well, this is a great part of the book that I don’t want to spoil, but Della Lee is life-changing for Josey!
Thanks to Della Lee, Josey meets Chloe who quickly becomes a new friend. And Chloe’s story and Josey’s intertwines in more ways than I could have imagined! (And have I mentioned that Chloe has a magical relationship with books?? I would give just about anything to have Chloe’s life in that aspect!!)
Sugar Queen is a quick book, with a few twists that will just suck you in and keep you reading! I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Magical Realism, you will adore Sarah Addison Allen’s tales!
