I found this story a little dragged on and hard to follow and pay attention too, I didn’t really feel like a lot of the characters had much personality

This was lovely. Immediately wanted everything to turn out alright for the characters. The main character was likable and determined. It's rare that I get invested into two characters but you can't help it with this novel.

It took me a really long time to get into All The Pretty Places by Joy Callaway but once I did I was hooked. I loved the story and following Sadie on her journey to find love. I love a historical fiction novel and this one was right up my alley.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for this gifted audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

So if you are fan of watching the Gilded Age of HBO then this is the book for you. I am finding the Gilded Age to be pretty fascinating. I really enjoyed this story and the characters. I loved how strong the Heroine is in this story especially in this time frame. It was a great story to get lost in and the narrator was excellent as well.

I both read the ebook and listened to the audiobook. I really enjoyed the gardening/horticulture theme of this book. I also enjoyed hearing about the author’s notes on how this book was based on some family history. The story was much more focused on the romance than I had expected and I found it to move along rather slowly. Overall, a heartwarming tale of love and determination.

This was such a surprising and lively read for me. I love the nod to the great outdoors and the wonderful way that the author uses imagery to show all of the incredible work that Sadie does. The sweet nod to her own family history cannot be overlooked and I absolutely adored that aspect every time I thought of it while reading.

It is a simple and heartwarming story of the girl and her devoted love for the beauty that can be created with a simple touch of beautiful blooms.

The novel covers the history of economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It also shades the lite on women's rights in the late 1800s and how they began to shift into the directions so well known today. And finally, it reminds us of a simple beauty we so often miss to see that surrounds us every day.

All The Pretty Places is a beautiful novel filled with many historical facts, and it is built on a true story, the author's great-great-grandmother. It is an inspirational and charming story. Many thanks to NetGalley for a free and advanced copy of the novel.

This book was a bit dry and not for me. I still find it hard to believe that anyone would let ho of their love of their life for a nursery, like where does that happen?? Also I think the way it ended, all perfectly well seemed a bit rushed and it was forced. Also I still don't understand where and how that tornado came to happen and only somehow destroyed their nursery and nobodies else's?? My flower knowledge grew form this book but it wasn't for me at all.

this was okay, but read very juvenile and i didn't feel connected to the characters or what happens to them at all. i can see other reader enjoying this a lot tho!

— thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the free digital ARC.

Rye, New York 1893

Engaging novel based upon the life of the author's great-great grandmother. All of the details in the author's note following the epilogue were fascinating.

Sadie Fremd loves two things: plants and Sam. Unfortunately, her father doesn't support either of those interests. Mr. Fremd wants financial security for Sadie, which in his mind is a wealthy husband and society life.

The author does a nice job of painting historical details and class differences from the time.

Nice job by the narrator Cassandra Campbell.

This story was good, but it fell a bit flat for me. Sadie Fremd is the daughter of the owner of a large nursery in Rye, New York. Sadie loved growing plants and flowers and designing large landscape projects and working alongside her father. Her father wanted her to be married to a wealthy man with a secure fortune because this was set during the Gilded Age where many businesses were going under, and wealthy families were left with nothing. Sadie fell in love with Sam, the man who worked for her father and loved plants as much as she did, but her family didn't think he could provide Sadie with a life that suited her. Sadie however was refusing all the proposals her father set up for her. Sadie only wanted to run the nursery and build gardens and parks around the city where the people who were suffering from poverty and pollution could go to bring a little joy and color in their lives. Sadie was benevolent and forward thinking and I liked this about her.

I had trouble understanding how Sadie's dad couldn't accept Sam because he wasn't wealthy, when Sadie's own dad had come from being poor and worked his way up to being wealthy. I feel he should have been more understanding and accepting that people could work hard and create their own wealth, just as he had. Also, the fact that Sadie kept changing her mind about if she should marry and to whom, it got a bit tiresome of her going back and forth. But the descriptions of the plants and gardens was very well-written, and I really enjoyed that.

This story did however make me want to build a greenhouse in my backyard.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #HarperMuseAudio for an advanced copy of this audio book.

Although the premise of the story was good, the narration was monotone and lacking emotion. For this reason, I did not finish this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a love story set in the opulence of the Gilded Age. A love between a couple, a love of community, a love of heritage, and a love of natural beauty. Beautifully descriptive and presenting a good portrait of the times, this is a sweet, almost magical story.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This was a sweet story to listen to. The characters were well thought out, and I enjoyed the historical aspect a lot. The narrator did a good job as well!

This one is really tough for me to review. I listened to this as an audiobook and I honestly believe, as much as I absolutely looooove audiobooks, I really think I would have enjoyed this one a lot more if I’d read the physical book.

I loved the historical aspect of the book and the storyline whilst sometimes a little frustrating, was overall a wonderfully written story but something just got a little lost in the audio. It was too easy to lose focus and at times it felt a little rambling.

Set in the Gilded Ages in Rye New York a family desperately tries to hold onto their family business, Rye Nurseries. Known for employing many of the town’s Irish and Italian immigrants the family are doing everything in their power to survive the depression sweeping the town in the late 1890’s.

As daughter Sadie struggles to make her father understand that just because she is a woman, she is well suited to take over the running of the business once her father retires, but given the era, it’s a notion her father won’t hear of. He wants his daughter to have a life where she is safe and protected, and provided for, and the only way to do that is to marry well.

Unfortunately for Sadie, she doesn’t love any of the upper-class society men, her heart belongs to a fellow gardener who her father will never accept as being good enough for her.

Argh, even as I write this, I’m reminded of all the things I really loved about this book. As I mentioned, I really think I would have enjoyed this one a lot more as a physical book and would have given it a much a higher rating.

One of my favourite parts of the book was the author’s note at the end and I highly recommend reading it (but not before you read the book – spoilers 😊 ). The author explains where her inspiration for the story came from and it’s a truly fascinating read.

A huge thank you to both NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to All the Pretty Place.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Liked it, fun while I was reading it

Set in Rye, New York in Westchester county during the Gilded Age and the beginnings of the Great Depression, this book tells the story of Sadie Fremd, a woman who is expected to marry for stability and give up her desire to take over her family's nursery and gardening business.

I enjoyed the storytelling, with Sadie being a well fleshed out character with real loves and desires well beyond most women of her time. The opulence of the age and her family's part in the exotic horticulture for the exterior grounds of the vividly described locales was very interesting to me because of my love of gardening. Her dilemmas felt real.

This book is historical fiction with a love story, that wasn't too formulaic. I read it pretty quickly and really liked the cast of characters and greater community of Rye.

The narrator, Cassandra Campbell, did a good job, I had no trouble understanding who was saying what, where, when, and with what expression/intension.

Thank you to Harper Muse, NetGalley, and author Joy Callaway for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All the Pretty Places is out June 9, 2023.

The gorgeous cover is what first drew me to this book. When I had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook version, I jumped at the chance. Based on the compelling true story of her great, great grandmother, Joy Callaway delivers a beautiful story of sacrifice, romance, community, and gardening all during the Gilded Age in upstate New York.

Sadie Fremd is the only daughter of a middle class German immigrant whose well known flower and plant nursery has earned him a place in high society. With older brothers uninterested in carrying on the family business, Sadie tries to convince her father she’s the best person to take over. However, in 1893, New York, women don’t run businesses. Despite her knowledge and love of plants, her father’s only wish is for her to marry well to keep the family legacy alive especially with the recent economic downturn.

When a former love comes back into her life, Sadie’s forced to confront her own circumstances. She sees the need for sharing flowers and plants not only with the wealthy, but the downtrodden in most need of a little beauty. As Sadie attempts to spread her love of plants and create new opportunities for the nursery, she risks not only her father’s anger, but her heart as well. When the nursery is threatened, will she be willing to sacrifice true love for her family and the people she’s come to care about?

I could hardly put the audiobook version down. The narrator did a fantastic job bringing these characters to life all with various accents. I enjoyed the emotion she interjected into the story. Her pleasant voice made for easy listening as well.

I enjoyed Sadie’s story. At times, I was frustrated with the confines of the Gilded Age. It’s clear Sadie’s vision and talent are what the nursery needed, however her father’s insistence that she marry for money made this a nail-biter as to who she’d end up marrying. It came down to the last few chapters, and even then I wasn’t sure if she would choose convention or find a way out of her circumstances. Loved the descriptions of the plants and flowers. Each time an unfamiliar plant was mentioned, I wanted to google it to see what it looked like.

It’s a vividly written romantic story I recommend to garden and historical fiction lovers. I received an advanced listener copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to provide a positive review.

Joy Callaway is a new author for me. I am typically not a romance reader. However, I loved this book! The characters are so well written. You can visualize the gardens. I found myself cheering, aching and fighting for Sadie. Ms. Callaway takes information from her great grandmother to bring “All the Pretty Places” to life. The narration is well done too!

Thank you #NetGalley, #HarperMuse, #JoyCallaway, #CassandraCampbell and #All the PrettyPlaces for my honest review.

Thank you for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook of All the Pretty Places.

I enjoyed the horticulture and upper social class setting throughout the story. The love story and Sadies ambitions were a highlight of the story, while Sadie’s stubbornness towards the middle and end became frustrating, only to end up getting everything she wanted as though she was a spoilt daughter from a wealthy family. The end did come with a twist as I did not expect the family to loose everything with the tornado as they did.
Overall I give the book 3 stars. While it peaked my interest, it didn’t suit my personal taste, but I do know of friends who would love this and have already told them to look out for it.

The "horticulture hazards" are real! This book spoke to me as the wife of an arborist. I laughed, I cried, and I rolled my eyes. A fun read that was great as an audio book.