As a person who loves both gardening and cooking, this book really resonated with me. It had interesting characters, good world building, and a plot that felt both magical and universal. It was fun, mysterious, and compelling.

However, while I did enjoy this book, I had a few issues with its delivery. There are a lot of characters, subplots, scheming, and aliases, as well as journal entries from even more characters—the deceased (mostly) members of the two main families in the book. Sometimes it was difficult to keep track of who was who and who did/or was doing what. And those journal entries... They were fine, when they were a sparse scattering, but there was a point where there were a lot of entries. They distracted from the main story and read like information dumps.

Despite my issues with some of the stylistic choices of delivery, this book has a good story and a powerful message. At its heart, it is a book about family and family legacy, community, and second chances. And it reminds us all of the power and magic of forgiveness.

What I liked most about this book is the relevance given to cooking a dinner for the first time to her family as if it is a coming-of-age rite and acceptance ritual. There are lots of rules regarding ingredients, the garden, who can or can not cook from the garden, and what some ingredients signify, giving it all a magical realism and mystical feeling. At the same time, Graham is the kid in town who is patient to be a friend and grounds her to the daily problems of society more common to others.
It's a bit slow read but interesting.

Magnolia Carter lives in Humble Hollow, a small town in the New Jersey Pine Barrens where her family has lived for generations. They have an unusual calling; they serve magical dinners that change people’s lives because of the ingredients that they grow on the farm. They used to just invite friends and neighbors, but now hunt down customers willing to pay high prices in order to have a source of income. Maggie has not yet cooked one of these dinners, but has been studying the effects of various ingredients and planning her menu. She often hangs out with her cousin Clementine, and her brother Corny and cousin Bay also are very involved in the business. When former customer Miguel (who was fed an acai bowl that gave him self-confidence and a good work ethic) wants to take his newly earned wealth and buy the property next to the Carter’s, the family wonders if this will ruin their magical crops. The town has fallen on hard times, and Maggie’s family hasn’t been as involved in the community as they were in the past, but Maggie wants to participate in the yearly Factory Days celebration. She partners with classmate Graham, whose uncle Timothy has an odd connection to the town and is raising Graham after his mother was imprisoned for embezzlement, which the two claim was a miscarriage of justice. Maggie finds journals kept by family members, and learns secrets about the hereditary powers, even though she seems to be lacking in some of them herself.

This is a departure from Leavitt’s usual realistic writing, like her young adult novels Sean Griswold’s Head (2011), Going Vintage (2013) The Chapel Wars (2014) and middle grade books The Pages Between Us (2016) and North of Supernova (2023). It’s more of an allegorical fantasy like Cole’s The Empty Place or Walker’s Once Upon a Fever with a heaping helping of the magical cooking that occurs in Littlewood’s Bliss or Larocca’s Midsummer’s Mayhem.

My favorite character is Magnolia aka Maggie. I was shocked by the sudden twist with Timothy. I truly enjoyed this book. The plot was great and the characters exceptional.

The Garden Just Beyond was a combination of supernatural and humor. The story is about a family with a special garden, whose fruits and vegetables grow out of season at the whim of the garden and endow the eaters with special gifts. The family holds expensive and exclusive dinners for paying guests and take turns cooking the meals. Maggie, however much she wants to participate, cannot see the garden and cannot hold dinner conversations without many funny gaffes. There is a threat to the garden, old family secrets are revealed and lessons are learned. The book has a sweet message of not burdening oneself with hostility and letting go of resentments and feuds. It is squeaky clean and appropriate for late elementary ages on up.

I received an advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.