Bev’s Imaginary Book Club: Hello Beautiful, The Plot and Garden Spells

Time for an overdue (haha) book chat! Three in total, each wildly different yet unbelievable must-reads in their own way. Each non-put-downable, gripping, horribly sad and energizing.

Y’all ready for dis DUN DUN . . .dun dun dun dun dun DUN DUN…

sorry.

Hello Beautiful– OMG.

You know those books that span the decades, that follow the grit of a broken family from day one to the last page, that dive into the tenderness of what love can do, and then immediately turns around shows you the havoc that love can wreak, that leave you gutted but satisfied yet on the verge of a complete mental breakdown?

Welcome to Hello Beautiful. It’s wonderful.

Four sisters, all very close. Then you have William Waters entering the picture. William comes from a severely broken family. So when he meets Julia (one of the sisters) and falls in love with her vivaciousness, and the bond that her family extends to him, he’s hooked. Until something happens. And it all falls freaking apart.

It has a massive Little Women vibe (it even references it a couple of times), so you’ll be emotionally dead immediately. Doesn’t follow the story exactly, but more like a modern take on it. However the mom in this story is NOTHING LIKE Marmee March so I’ll prepare you for that heartache now.

You’ll cheer for the sisters. You’ll get upset at the sisters. You’re constantly teetering between, “Yes! Live your life, ya strong woman!” to “Wait how could you DO THAT.”

There’s also a basketball thread to it, which for me was a lot of fun to follow.

You have to read this is what I’m getting at.

The Plot – WHAT!

Okay, it was awesome. At first I didn’t realize what the word plot could mean. A plot of land, a plot in a story, an evil secretive scheming plan to take over the earth.

But it’s literally a book plot. Which funnily enough is the plot of this book. It’s a book within a book.

Book book book.

What happens is: this aspiring student writer dies (early on, this isn’t giving anything away), and the professor of the student (who is struggling himself to put out a new best seller) does the unthinkable DUN DUN DUUUUN.

Straight up yoinks bro’s plot and slaps it in his own book. (!)

But no one could even know this, right? a) Student’s book was never published. b) Professor had his unpublished draft. It’s as safe as can be!

Guess again, Chachi.

You have to get in this immediately or I will scream.

There’s love in it. There’s an upstate New York bed and breakfast in it. There’s a bit of misty Seattle and gritty New York City in it. You’ll be hooked. Swearsies.

Then come back and tell me if you saw that ending coming. W H A T.

Garden Spells: innnnnnn love.

First of all, I adore anything Sarah Addison Allen does, touches, is.

This is her debut novel, and it is spectacular. The backbone is simple: The south. A house. A garden. An apple tree. Two sisters. One estranged but begrudgingly finds her way home with a five year old daughter. The other grounded in life but fighting the urge to feel. How that comes together, you ask? Well, in the most delicious, syrupy, oozing-with-magic, small town way imaginable. There’s a tinge of fantasy, but it’s not cheesy. It’s mystical. There are characters that you wish you could stick in your pocket and carry around forever. There’s lust! There’s JEALOUSY. There’s abuse. There’s sisterhood and motherhood and neighborhood gossip and an intense richness about the book that leaves you the best kind of warm and fuzzy.

Order this right now if you need an uptick in life giddiness.

So there we have it! I’m reading Demon Copperhead right now (hoooooooly) and it is heavy heavy heavy. But so beautifully written. I can tell this one will stick around for a good long time.

Your turn! Did you read any of the above? And what would you recommend for me to add to my never-ending stash?

Spilleth.