I remembered enjoying Emily Carpenter’s debut novel, Burying the Honeysuckle Girls, back when it first came out. When I had the chance to read a follow up, Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters, I immediately jumped at the chance. In looking back, I realized I never posted a review of the first book, so here you’ll find a mini review of both books. These books are connected by certain elements (and a character or two), but they are separate stories that focus on completely different things.

Burying the Honeysuckle Girls

I read Burying the Honeysuckle Girls a few years ago—before my blog—and I wanted to briefly revisit it before getting into the follow up book, Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters. Told in two timelines, Burying the Honeysuckle Girls is about generations of women plagued with mental health issues and superstitions.

Althea Bell comes from a long line of women who have had a breakdown on their thirtieth birthdays. The superstitions and lore about the Bell women are colored by stories of madness. Althea knows the last three generations of women in her family all succumbed to the darkness that seems to haunt them.

Fresh out of a stint in rehab, Althea has returned home days before her thirtieth birthday. Her father has never shared the details of what happened to her mother, just that she died on the way to Pritchard, a local asylum where she was headed after her breakdown. With her thirtieth birthday approaching, Althea needs to know what happened to her mother.

Unfortunately her father has Alzheimer’s and her brother is running for governor. They don’t want whatever is about to happen to Althea to taint her brother’s opportunity, and he’s looking to have Althea committed to the same asylum where her mother died. Althea turns to her childhood friend Jay for help. Her father told her that her mother died of a brain aneurism, but Jay and Althea look into Pritchard Mental Institution and discover that she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

On Althea’s thirteenth birthday, her mother was dying and told Althea to “wait for the honeysuckle girl” who will find her. Althea has a box of items her mother left her with, and she uses those clues to search for answers to the mysteries that plagued the women in her family. Where did they all disappear to and what really happened to them on their thirtieth birthdays?

I was pulled into Althea’s story, and I enjoyed the flashbacks to her great-grandmother’s story—Jinn, the original honeysuckle girl—nearly a century earlier. The women in this family experience quite a bit of trauma from the men in their lives. Southern gothic vibes and tragedy make this a haunting, compelling read.

Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters

Based on hearing they were connected, I expected Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters to be a sequel to Burying the Honeysuckle Girls, but it really isn’t. These are standalone novels that are linked by a thread, but can be read alone or in either order.

Similar to Burying the Honeysuckle Girls, this is a multigenerational story set in Alabama. In the present timeline, Eve Chandler is searching for answers about her grandmother, Dove Jarrod. Dove was a famous faith healer and evangelist in the 1930s. She passed away eight years earlier, leaving Eve to maintain the charitable foundation that Dove started. Dove wasn’t the person that many thought, though. She was a con artist hiding many secrets from the public. A documentary team has been shooting a film about the miracle worker, but someone else besides Eve knows what dark secrets Dove was hiding.

Flashing back to 1934, a young orphan escapes the Prichard psychiatric institution where she was born. She was expected to live there even after her mother’s tragic death in the facility. That young woman was Dove, and she went on to build a name for herself as a healer. In between those, Dove reinvents herself as she needs to in order to survive. At one point, she became a singer with the Hawthorn Sisters, but there was always a man following her every move.

Now that Dove has died and Eve is holding her secrets, the man that followed Dove has turned his sights on Eve. Eve is looking for answers, but can she unravel the truth about what her grandmother is being accused of? And what will it mean for her future?

This has a similar vibe as Burying the Honeysuckle Girls, though it lacked a small part of the magic of that book. In the first book, I was equally invested in Althea’s story as I was her great-grandmother Jinn’s. In this book, I felt much more invested in Dove’s story and Eve’s. Eve didn’t have the same character development as Althea did, for starters. Althea also had her own story, but Eve’s story was more about Dove than about Eve.

The southern gothic vibes that I loved in the debut book were just as wonderful in Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters. This book also had a slight air of the supernatural to it, in addition to the mystery. Steeped in family secrets, this was not quite as sad as I found the first book. The tension kept me hooked, despite some dispersion in the plot that took awhile to get the hang of. There were much less heavy themes in this book as well, which made the tone lighter but also detracted from the weight of the story for me. Carpenter’s writing and poignant storytelling kept me interested.

Another great mystery by Emily Carpenter, this was an easy and engaging read. I liked that Dove was such an elusive character in the book. Though Eve seemed to know her best, it also sometimes felt like Eve didn’t really know Dove at all.

Final Thoughts

The multigeneration spin, the southern gothic vibes, the setting in Alabama, and the emphasis on family secrets are the threads that hold these two books together (and the psychiatric facility). Each book has a different story to tell about a different family. I personally connected more with Burying the Honeysuckle Girls, but I’ve seen several readers say the opposite and they preferred Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters. These are easy reads and both are available through Kindle Unlimited if you subscribe and have the audiobook option available.

Fans of multigenerational stories and women’s fiction will love these books!

Book Spotlight: https://travelingwitht.com/2023/09/09/book-spotlight-womens-fiction/ Published September 9, 2023

I actually liked this one a lot more than I thought I would since it's an ARC I accepted several years ago when I was a very different reader. First and foremost, I listened on audio, and the audio performance was very well done. The time jumps were a bit confusing, but I think that was more a "me" problem than the story's fault.

The story was definitely spooky and atmospheric and felt distinctly Southern. I don't think I ever fully bought into the mystery at the heart of the story, though I was more interested in the location of a missing rare coin than I ever thought I would be in a book. It could be a me thing, but I just truly did not understand the MCs motivations and thought how she handled some of the conflict in the book was a little strange. I did really enjoy the romance sub-plot though, which I don't necessarily always love in these types of books.

Overall, this book wasn't bad, I just don't think it was quite for me. I would try another book by the author, though, because I really enjoyed the writing style.

Emily Carpenter has mastered captivating her audience. Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters was an intriguing mystery. It has many layers and a dual timeline that will keep you turning the pages.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Eve Candler, along with her mother and brother, help run a charity founded by her grandparents, Dove and Charles Jarrod. The Jarrods were evangelists who gained fame and fortune through revivals and prayer meetings in the Depression-era South. During a trip to Dove’s hometown in Alabama, Eve is attacked by a mysterious man who threatens to reveal secrets about Dove that will destroy her legacy and everything Eve has worked to maintain since Dove’s death - unless Eve can help him find something.

I really enjoyed this book. The dual POVs/timelines worked really well to advance the story while simultaneously maintaining enough mystery to keep me guessing. I thought the plot and the final twist worked well, too.

I do wish Eve had been written as a little bit older. Even though she grew up with the family business, it didn’t really make that much sense that a woman barely out of college would essentially be running such a well-known charitable foundation. Although, perhaps consistent with Eve’s age, I found her to be frequently immature.

All that being said, I enjoyed this book a lot. It seemed like the historical aspects were well-researched. I would definitely be interested in reading the author’s other books!

What is the cause of unbelief? This book effectively investigates the causes of belief and unbelief. I found it interesting that Emily Carpenter used a faith healer to examine this. I really enjoyed the flashbacks to the 1930s that was every other chapter. It added a richness that would be lacking if the events were simply discovered via the present day characters. If you liked the author's other book, Burying the Honeysuckle Girls, you will like this one.

Dark, atmospheric, and propulsive, Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters took me back to one of my favorite dysfunctional fictional families and left me breathless! I was completely engulfed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy.

I just never really got into this one. The flow wasn't as strong as I would have liked and I ended up skimming the last 20% just so I could be done with it. Bummer. (less)
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I read Burying the Honeysuckle Girls a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it. Therefore, I was delighted to learn about the sequel and later to have the opportunity to read it. The only thing I wish I had done before reading this book was to reread Burying the Honeysuckle Girls again. That's also my advice, read Burying the Honeysuckle Girls first, then this one. Despite trying to remember the storyline and characters from the first book, this book was fantastic. The writing in this book is excellent, and Emily Carpenter is an amazing writer. Carpenter's story captivated me and I'm eager to read more of her books in the future.

I was not aware that this was a continuation of a story when I downloaded it and I believe that to get the best experience reading it I should have read the first book. Even though it’s not marketed as a series getting to see the main characters background would be helpful. At this time I do not have a desire to read a new series so I will be setting this one aside

difficulty reading this book, the story became convoluted and boring, seemed too made up and unreal. not enough substance and story line was not that interesting to me, struggled to continue the read

DNF - Did not finish. I did not connect with the writing style or plot and will not be finishing this title. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

I've been reading this book over a long period of time now, it's just not really captured my attention enough to want to binge read it or pick it up more often. I did enjoy it while reading, maybe I'll try and read it again at another time. The book is well written, I didn't really have a great liking for any of the characters. I'm sure many people will really enjoy this book!
Thanks the netgalley

I'm currently clearing out all of the books that were published in 2019-20 from my title feedback view!

I did not connect with Eve at all. Her grandmother Dove was a healer and traveled healing the followers of her and her sister. Well turns out, it was all a scam. She was faking. There was a lot of back and forth POV’s that just got too foggy for me. Sooo many characters, it was hard to keep track. Overall, it was a good read. I just think it could have been better.

I really enjoyed this book. This is the second book I read by Emily carpenter. The first was Burying the Honeysuckle girls and I loved that one too. The characters are very well developed and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

I could not care less for any of the characters, and the mistery ended up boring me.
Sad, because the premise seemed interesting.

Oh my goodness Emily Carpenter is a star! If you have not read a book by her you are missing out! This book was amazing and captivating! You can never ever be disappointed by a book by her!

I absolutely love works from Emily Carpenter! She always has that special thrill or twist included in her stories that draws me in with each page.

Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters by Emily Carpenter is a historical fiction novel with a touch of magical realism. No, it is not based in the WWII era.

The story is entertaining. The protagonist is tasked at finding a rare coin from her grandmother's era to prevent a huge loss to her legacy as a renowned preacher and faith healer. The narration takes place in alternate timelines of the past and the present, and the plot is revealed bit-by-bit in every cycle.

Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.

Verdict: One time read.