Review: First Frost

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Garden Spells was my first Sarah Addison Allen read, and it instantly left me wanting to read more of the author’s work. With there being a second Waverley Family book, I knew exactly where I would be heading for my next Sarah Addison Allen read.

Garden Spells was a truly magical read, one that left me in love with the magical realism world Sarah Addison Allen had created. It was such an uplifting story, with so many positively feelings, that I was left feeling light and breezy for days after reading it. I went in expecting the same thing of First Frost, but I was given something very different.

Whilst First Frost is a wonderful sequel, I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I enjoyed the first book. It grabbed me, it was an interesting story, and I enjoyed returning to the characters; however, it wasn’t what I had imagined it would be. The feeling of this book seemed to be much darker. Not that this was a dark read – considering the gritty crime novels I read on a regular basis, I doubt I could ever label a book in this genre truly dark – but it was not the light and fluffy read of Garden Spells. Whilst Garden Spells focused upon showing us all the good in life, this book seemed to exist to demonstrate not everything is perfect.

I love a good realistic read, yet it felt unusual for the sequel of Garden Spells to have such a feel to it. Due to it being so different, it took me a while to fall deep into this story. I enjoyed the tale, but it didn’t trap me in the way the first book did. It is still an enjoyable story, it still has many of the happy feelings sprinkled throughout, but it jarred with the Waverley Family image I had in mind.

Whilst it was nice to revisit the family, I can honestly say I did not enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed the first book. It was a good read, but it wasn’t what I’d expected.

View all my reviews