(4.5 stars)
🕊"There are birds, and then there are other birds. Maybe they don’t sing. Maybe they don’t fly. Maybe they don’t fit in. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather be an other bird rather than just the same old thing."

-Magical, enchanting, quirky and heart warming.
The characters in the book are Zoey (who has an imaginary ghost bird named Pigeon), two estranged sisters, a henna artist, a chef, a writer and a few ghosts along with Zoey's quirky and secretive neighbors.
Where they all live at the condo called the Dellawisp in Mallow Island, South Carolina. Well known for it's marshmallow making long ago.

All of the characters have a story to tell and all of them are stuck on the past, unable to move forward. However, they find that if they come together, they can overcome the past and move on together. That friendship and forgiveness can heal all that they've been through.

Absolutely loved the characters and all the turquoise birds that surround the Dellawisp! This was such an amazing read and I would definitely read it again! So heart warming and definitely a book that I needed to read.

A few more of my favorite quotes/sayings:
•"Don’t hold on to old love so hard you forget to live. Old love isn’t the only love you’ll ever have. And I can tell you from this side that it never really goes away, anyway."
•"If the people around you don’t love or accept you just as you are, find new people. They’re out there." ♡

*Special thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press publishing for sending me an early arc ebook copy of this for my honest review. I also just had to get the physical copy too! Love the cover!

This book. It was somehow so light filled and refreshing, even while dealing with darkness. I am SO glad I read it. It will no doubt be one of those books that sticks with me for some time. Light, but dark, whimsical, but literary, entertaining, but serious with characters that were easy to love. A MUST read.

One Sentence Summary: When Zoey takes over her late mother’s apartment on Mallow Island, South Carolina, she sticks herself into a community afraid to gather due to another prickly resident as well as a mystery surrounding the death of that prickly resident.

My thoughts:

I haven’t read a book by Sarah Addison Allen since Garden Spells came out. I remember how beautifully magical I found that one, so was curious about whether and how her writing might have changed. Other Birds felt more like a found family and mystery story rolled up together with just a sprinkle of magic thrown in, so I found myself disappointed that the magic I had loved in Garden Spells wasn’t as strong in Other Birds. But the story of a group of people coming together thanks to an eighteen-year-old was absolutely lovely, even if I was missing Zoey herself a bit too much throughout the story.

The characters in Other Birds really shone. I found them all to be fascinating with their own intriguing stories and secrets. Uncovering all of them felt like just half the fun. The other half was watching them slowly orbit each other before they closed the distances and formed a beautiful little family. Zoey sparkled with her kind, pure heart despite all the pains she’d experienced in her short life. She was a little ball of energy, the perfect catalyst for getting this group together. I just wish there had been more of her in the story. Instead, it felt more like Charlotte’s or Oliver’s story as I felt they had more page time. Oliver I could understand. It’s his mother who died, and he has a complicated history with her and The Dellawisp, the apartment complex they all live in. His journey back home was both a little flimsy and heartwarming, but I really loved the relationship he and Zoey formed. Charlotte almost felt like an outsider to me, keeping herself and her secrets firmly tucked away despite them haunting her every day. I thought she was interesting, but she was so much quieter and, being older, more mature than Zoey, making her not quite as interesting, though her romance with Mac was sweet even if I was expecting it. Mac just felt like such a sweet gentleman the entire book. Sure, he has his secrets, but he’s clearly there for everyone else. While I liked him, he also felt a little too two dimensional, almost as though he were holding me at a distance so I couldn’t get to know him. Frasier was fascinating. The only person of color in this community, I loved the relationships he had with everyone else and I just found him so charming. His own secrets were a lot of fun and really helped flesh out this story for me. Then there’s the reclusive Lucy who has a complicated history. Since she was such a recluse it was impossible to get to know her, but her heart comes out little by little.

And then there are the ghosts and the birds. There’s a story of what lies beyond death wrapped in these pages. Souls linger, either because they are unwilling to let go or because someone else is unwilling to let them go. It was a bit of a strange recognition of grief, but also speaks so well to how people live and love. Overall, I didn’t really feel the ghost stories added a whole lot to the story, but they were nice touches. I did really like all the birds, though, especially Zoey’s invisible bird Pigeon. The dellawisps as a whole had an interesting personality and I found myself feeling quite amused by them. I loved how prevalent they were and how the pages were just dotted with them. Pigeon’s antics were fun, but I was sad as Pigeon faded from the story, though it was a fantastic commentary on Zoey’s own character and maturation.

I adored Mallow Island and would move there in a heartbeat. Named for the marshmallows that were once mass produced there, there’s still something sweet in the air and in everything about the island. I liked that it was set far from the rest of the world, but was still easily accessible. It felt like something of a haven wrapped in sweetness. It was delightfully small town without everyone knowing everyone else, probably in large thanks to the tourist population. There were little pockets of non-touristy spots that spoke to different pasts and histories as well as closely guarded secrets not many seemed to actually be privy to. It was a lot of fun to explore the island and everything it had to offer with the characters.

Other Birds is really a very sweet story. It’s about a group of people coming together, though only one of them seems interested in solving the light mystery opened at the beginning of the book. It’s the secrets that keep the story going, and the tenuous relationships the characters start to form. I loved watching them come together with Zoey at their heart, even if I was sorely missing Zoey’s perspective. This story flowed really well, making for a light and easy read that touched on things a shade darker. I was disappointed the magic just seemed to fade as the story went on, but it was nice to see the characters who had so relied on it change and grow, allowing for the magic to fade and the magic of family, love, and friendship to take its place. It was also disappointing how jarring I found the end to be. This isn’t a long book, and I felt it really showed at the end. Things came to a close rather abruptly for me, especially since the writing was so lovely and magical, and then it just kind of ended. Overall, though, this was a light, easy read with a sweet story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

I have been a fan of Sarah Addison Allen since first reading Garden Spells over six years ago. I had little magical realism experience, and her writing prompted my love of the new-to-me genre. I quickly devoured everything I could find written by her. As soon as I found out she was publishing a new book, I knew I had to read it. Boy, the wait was worth it! This story did not disappoint! Other Birds had all of the elements that I love. I was transported to beautiful Mallow Island, a mysterious and magical place filled with curious birds and fascinating yet painfully broken characters. Secrets and stories longed to be told. Throughout the novel, Sarah delicately handles some difficult issues, including hoarding, death, child abuse, family problems, fear of the past, and the inability to move on. Even though there was a certain melancholy feeling, one truth rang through: friends can become family, and that love and friendship can help heal the past's hurts. The author does a phenomenal job creating the Mallow Island world. She seamlessly weaves the tales of Zoey, Mac, Charlotte, Lucy and Lizbeth Lime, Frasier, and Oliver into a beautiful story of growth, acceptance, finding love, and releasing the past. I cannot recommend this charming and magical story enough. It earned 5+ stars from me.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Sarah Addison Allen, for giving me this opportunity.

Zoey Hennessey's mother has passed away sending her on a trip to Mallow Island, South Carolina to retrieve her belongings from her apartment building known as the Dellawisp. Upon arriving Zoey meets her mothers neighbors who.she can see is an unconventional group of people. Her first night in her moms apartment one of the neighbors dies and it looks as if it could have been murder and not natural causes. An intriguing mystery ensues bringing forth incomplete stories.that.beg.for an ending. Zoey wants to help those who have become lost find their way to a happier ending. Can the people of Dellawisp come together and learn to trust? This was an enchanting read that wants you to see that love can be real.

Other Birds is a delightful story about a secret, out of the way apartment building called the Dellawisp, named after the turquoise birds that live there.

Zoey Hennessey is moving into her dead mother’s apartment at the Dellawisp and hopes that some memories are left behind so she can learn more about her mother’s past. As she meets each neighbor, she’s able to draw these quirky individuals together. From Charlotte - a girl on the run, Mac - the burly, red-headed chef, two estranged sisters - Lizabeth and Lucy Lime and a few ghosts, Zoey begins to create a community. After long-time resident Lizabeth Lime is killed by a falling bookshelf, Zoey volunteers to clean out her condo revealing an old secret.

The atmosphere in this novel takes you away to a magical, Southern world where love, and a little of the unexplained, creates a connection between the past and the present. An endearing cast of characters, intriguing details and a touch of magic all adds up to a heartwarming and moving read.

Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this title before its release.

Beautifully written story that is filled with magic and heart. This story centers around Zoey a new resident at the Dellawisp on Mallow Island. . This is the home of the namesake, Dellawisp birds along withMac, Lucy and Lizbeth Lime, Frazier and Charlotte. These unique characters each have stories that are heartwarming and fragile. As the characters interact we get to know the characters and their paths lead them to find something in each other that they have been missing.
I have been looking forward to this book for a long time. I love Sarah Addison Allen’s stories and this one did not disappoint. She has a gift of writing magical stories that make you feel what the characters are going through and are truly heartwarming.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest reveiw

4.5 ⭐️

#NetGalley #OtherBirds #sarahaddisonallen

I adore Sarah Addison Allen, and couldn't wait to read Other Birds. The description of the beautiful Mallow Island off the coast of South Carolina leaves the reader feeling as if they are right in the middle of it, surrounded by a beautiful old apartment and tiny turquoise birds. I loved the characters and their backstories, and the magical touches left on every page. This book is a delight.

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen was everything I was looking for in a book. I just fell in love with Mallow Island, South Carolina, The Dellawisp and Zoey Hennessey. I loved all of the magical realism that took place in this story and loved how Zoey brought everyone together. While there were times this story was a little slow I still enjoyed the story. I feel like I have to read more from Sarah Addison Allen now that I have experienced Other Birds.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin Press for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this book. I enjoyed the charming, whimsical story that got better as it went along. It somewhat reminded me of the House on the Cerulean Sea. A delightful read.

First ever Sarah Addison Allen reader here - and this book was just wow! I finished it a couple weeks ago and it's still with me. I have been left with the most wonderful book hangover - complete with the feeling of falling in love and being wrapped up in the warmth and comfort of a wonderous moment. I thoroughly appreciate the notion “Not everything has to be real to be true.”

I was under Allen's spell immediately after reading the book synopsis: When Zoey comes to claim her deceased mother’s apartment at the Dellawisp she meets her quirky and secretive neighbors, including a young woman with a past, two estranged middle-aged sisters, and a lonely chef, and three ghosts. The sudden death of one of Zoey's new neighbors sets off a search that leads to the island's famous author and to a long-estranged relative of the sisters. Each of them has a story, and each story has an ending which hasn't yet been written.

We meet so many wonderful characters in Other Birds each struggling with the past and searching to find themselves. Zoey and her invisible pigeon entering college years and desperately looking for roots. Charlotte with a love for henna art and a life on the road. Mac and his fears of letting go to the woman that loved and supported him. Frasier’s love of the dellawisp and his mysterious connection to Lizbeth. Lucy, more shadow than person and lastly Oliver, Lizbeth’s son.

This is a heartwarming story about found families. It's filled with quirky characters, magical realism and the uniquely added ghost point of view. I enjoyed learning about each one and the gentle teasing apart of tangled mysteries. And there's a warm thread throughout - being different is ok.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martins Press and Sarah Addison Allen for sharing a wonderful novel full of hope and friendship and new beginnings.

I've been a fan of Sarah Addison Allen's work ever since I read The Peach Keeper. I knew she'd taken some time away from writing novels to care for a loved one, so I was thrilled when Other Birds was released. This is a poignant deep dive that examines what it means to be loved, and what happens when we take the bold risk to love someone knowing they might not love us back.
Allen is a master at writing magical realism. Her ability to examine the unseen things of this world then weave them into a story is truly remarkable. As always, the characters she brings to life on the page are outstanding. How she skillfully weaves all the plot threads together into such a beautiful story is beyond me. No spoilers of course but the plot twist is truly next-level.
Above all, I was so moved by her ability to study and examine heartache then transform it into something so beautiful and infused with hope.
I did receive an ARC which I'm super grateful for and I also purchased a gorgeous copy via Book of the Month. Other Birds is a novel that will stay with me for a long time. I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

I enjoyed this book as much as I did her previous ones. This book made me wish I had a ghost looking out for me. I loved that everyone at the Dellawisp was trying to get away from their past, but also trying to be better people. The death of resident was all that was needed to start a chain of events that would ultimately start everyone on a path of forgiveness and give them the ability to move on with their lives.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book but have loved others by Sarah Addison Allen. After hearing her discuss the losses she suffered and her mother being the inspiration for this story, I knew I had to read it. The quirky but lovable characters are from dysfunctional families and have their own issues and scars but when they find each other and learn to let go of their pasts, that's the true magic of the story. Charming, heartwarming and unique with bursts of magical realism, this book is a wonderful escape from reality.

Other Birds is an artisan marshmallow of a book, a delightfully sweet, fluffy story about a world we wish existed.

Eighteen year old Zoey Hennesey has never really had a home. Her father provided a roof over her head but he and her stepmother made it clear it was done with the greatest reluctance and that they expected her to leave as soon as she could. Fortunately, her deceased mother left Zoey both a trust fund and a condo in Mallow, South Carolina. Just weeks after high school graduation Zoey finds herself alone at her mom’s unit in the Dellawisp complex with only an invisible bird for company. But she doesn’t stay lonely for long. Much to her surprise, something about the move has transformed her from the shy, sad girl who didn’t have a single buddy the last few years into someone who seems to have a knack for making friends.

One of the things henna artist Charlotte has always loved about the small Dellawisp complex is that the neighbors don’t interact. They have a nod and smile kind of acquaintaiship with little conversation and absolutely no sharing of secrets. To be fair, they haven’t had much of a choice. Lisbeth Lime, one of the residents, runs screeching out of her unit if they make the slightest of sounds outside their own homes – sometimes she loses it even if the sound comes from inside! Still, the solitude enforced by this behavior means that Charlotte’s secrets have stayed her own and for the first tme in forever, she hasn’t had to pack up and move just to keep people from prying. Life’s pretty great – until she loses her job.

Mac is still grieving the loss of his foster mother, the only person in his life who ever truly loved him. He goes through the motions necessary for existing but he isn’t really living. He might be the head chef of a five-star restaurant, with notable awards under his belt and write ups in fancy magazines, but after hours he comes home to his condo at the Dellawisp and has only a cat – and a ghost – for company.

Oliver Lime hasn’t been back to the Delllawisp since he left for college. His mother Lisbeth is a hoarder who has no room in her home or her heart for her son. If it hadn’t been for the elderly property manager Frasier, Oliver probably wouldn’t have had clothes that fit or food to eat the entire time he was growing up. Which is ironic since his aunt Lucy lives right next door – but she had as little interest in Oliver as his mother did. Oliver has no intention of ever going back to that dysfunctional place, where his mother and aunt have been waging a silent cold war for decades.

But on Zoey’s first night, a mysterious death pulls all the neighbors but Lucy out into the shared garden. Before Charlotte knows it, that moment of bonding results in her helping Zoey with a project and spending afternoons showing her around town. Mac finds he suddenly has people to cook for in these two lively young women. And Oliver unexpectedly learns that home isn’t a place but the people in it.

There is a romance in this story but while the two characters like each other basically from the start we are at the 85% mark before there is even talk of kissing. The emphasis here is very much on how having a broken childhood because you come from a bad family doesn’t have to make you a bad or unhappy person. All the characters have difficult backgrounds – Frasier was raised by an alcoholic grandfather, there was a terrible secret in Lucy and Lisbeth’s house, Zoey was unwanted, Charlotte was raised in an abusive commune, Oliver was raised by the deeply troubled Lisbeth and Mac’s mother deserted him. Their stories all show how a single helping hand can make a huge difference and how we don’t have to let our pasts dictate our futures. I both loved and struggled with this theme. On the one hand, resilience makes for a much better, happier story than the idea that we might sink in the dark, dangerous waters we are born in. On the other hand, the author rebuilds her characters’ lives with almost too much ease. Everyone is quirky rather than damaged, and the ghosts that represent their pasts helpful rather than haunting. I’m glad this isn’t a dark or depressing narrative, but the sweetness is cloying and overly saccharine at times. The magical surrealism – with its benign ghosts and invisible birds – gives it an almost fairy tale feel rather than the heftier, more realistic tone that the depths of these characters seemed to cry out for. Instead, everyone bonds and builds each other into a better family than the one they were born into.

Which is lovely. Found family can be one of life’s greatest treasures and Mac, Oliver, Fraser, Charlotte and Zoey truly deserve their good fortune. They are, all of them, kind, decent people any of us would be thrilled to have in our lives. I was enchanted by the way they connect and how much that connection heals the holes in their hearts and lives. One of the final scenes in the novel, involving Zoey and college, brought some tears to my eyes. It’s such a contrast from how the tale began and shows the importance of being open to letting others in. The sweetness of it all could have been overwhelming and shallow but it’s also so very heartwarming and cheering.

Other Birds is a fantastic meringue of a book, practically bursting with positive energy. The characters are all delightful people with unique personalities and the kind of eccentricities that make them interesting and fun rather than odd. The author’s lyrical prose, whimsical plot and charming setting make the book a complete joy to read. If you are looking for something delectable, something that will reinforce your faith in the world and the people around you, something that will renew your belief in the sheer goodness of life – look no further. This book is that burst of fictional affirmation you’ve been waiting for.

A beautiful story by a wonderful author. Assorted people with assorted stories living in a housing complex. Love the characters and the unraveling of their stories. Lots of magical moments!

SAA is probably top three fave so I would have died from shock if I didn't like this one.
On the other hand, I HATE it because it makes me ache that I can't crawl inside the book and just live in that story.

I absolutely loved this book! I loved the beginning, the middle, the end and I even loved the acknowledgement.

This book is about healing. We all have something to heal from, whether it is physical or emotional. We are all there...This book introduces us to the stories of several different folks. There are even a couple of ghosts added to the mix.

Read the book, you won't be disappointed.

Many thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for this advanced readers copy. This book released August 30, 2022.

I fell in love with Sarah Addison Allen’s writing in Garden Spells way back in 2007. I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to read and review her latest release, Other Birds. Magical realism can be hit or miss but Allen has found a beautiful balance here.

Boiling this story down is surprisingly difficult. There are so many stories; everyone and their mother has a POV but it worked in this tale. I enjoyed following along each of the characters and the gentle teasing apart of tangled mysteries.

Zoey and her invisible pigeon entering college years and desperately looking for roots. Charlotte with a love for henna art and a life on the road. Mac and his fears of letting go to the woman that loved and supported him. Frasier’s love of the Dellawisp and his mysterious connection to Lizbeth. Lucy, more shadow than person. Oliver, Lizbeth’s son. Each of the characters were beautifully developed, and I found myself wishing I could be a part of their little community. The two budding romances were a delight to see!

Other Birds is ultimately a story of healing, letting go of plans that no longer align with you in the present, forgiveness, and found family. As cozy as it is powerful, SAA has found a way to keep me thinking long after finishing Other Birds. Musing over what it means to heal and finding yourself. Being comfortable with friends and community but also within your own skin. It was beautiful, and it makes me want to reread Garden Spells all over again.

Excuse me while I go find a pretty witch ball to hang in my favorite space.

This was my first book by Sarah Addison Allen, and I enjoyed it. I liked the southern setting and getting to know all of the different characters. Definitely a good read!