The Night Garden: A Novel by Lisa Van AllenMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I gravitated towards this book after hearing that it reminded some of Sarah Addison Allen's work. I am a HUGE fan of her work so I was (of course) interested in finding something similar! There are definitely threads of this book that are reminiscent of Sarah Addison Allen's work but it's not quite as engaging as I'd hoped. I quite liked this novel - it's a very sweet little story that I found interesting but not quite as compelling as I'd hoped. Perhaps it suffered in comparison to one of my favorite authors? I'm not sure. I definitely enjoyed this one but just not to the level that I was hoping!
If you enjoy magical realism, I think this is a novel you may enjoy. Although I'd recommend not looking for the next Sarah Addision Allen novel but instead just enjoying what Lisa Van Allen has here for you. It's a very sweet story that I did enjoy. It just wasn't everything I'd hoped.
I'm not sure what it was that caused the story to fall a little flat for me. It had such potential to shine but didn't quite deliver. I wanted just a little bit more of something ... something to take it from good to spectacular!
I'll be keeping an eye out for future novels from Lisa Van Allen in hopes that her writing continues to get better and better! She truly does have such potential!! Give this one a try and see if it resonates with you!
NOTE: I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
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