This book encapsulates all the things I love about Sarah Addison Allen's writing style. Tight plot, wonderful characters, intriguing storyline that sucks you in and holds you captive. To be completely honest, it was a little hard for me to read due to a recent loss, however upon completion it gave me a peace I didn't know I needed. Highly recommend diving into the world, just don't get divebombed by the birds.

I have been anticipating a new Sarah Addison Allen book for years. This was not my favorite of hers, but still enjoyable.

I loved this book. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I finished it. This is my first book by Allen and after reading Other Birds, I definitely plan on reading other works by this author. I liked the magical realism and how I could picture every detail perfectly. I felt like I was in the book with the characters. I really liked the characters in this book (and pigeon), along with the island setting. Would definitely recommend this to others who are looking for a magical read.

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen. This author has such a great imagination. She never fails to grab your attention and entertain you. I always look forward to Ms. Allen’s latest novels. Mallow Island and the Delawisps are waiting for those looking for a great summer read. Thank you Net Galley for the chance to read this novel.

I was captivated from the first chapter in this engaging novel threaded with ghosts and the people who they watch over in a small, old building of condos. It is also the story of a young woman, Zoey the college girl trailed by Pigeon, who moves to the complex and draws the other residents into friend relationships: Mac the chef trailed by Camile and Frasier trailed by Lizbeth. They are joined by Oliver and Charlotte who each have their own stories. This group of formerly detached people form bonds they all need and are desperately missing.
It is a lovely story of hard childhoods that formed these adults, each wanting connections but not knowing where to find them until Zoey arrives to touch their lives.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A beautiful and sweet story about a group of people on a little island off of Charleston. Zoey comes to Mallow Island before starting college. She meets a cast of eccentric characters including Lizbeth, whose home she ends up cleaning out, Charlotte who is a henna artist, Mac, a chef who wakes up covered in corn meal every morning and a bird only she can see named Pigeon. We find out more about each character and I loved the stories and people weaving together. My one gripe is Lizbeths story which I think could have used more (won’t say more bc of spoilers)but overall I really loved this story. I think this would also make a great book club pick!

I’m trying to decide how I feel about this book. It’s very…different. There are many characters, none of which are particularly great, just average people from unique circumstances all living in a shared building. And none of their individual stories feel like they really go anywhere significant. There are a few revelations about each, but there are just so many. Plus the ghosts. Plus the imaginary bird. It’s an odd story.

I have loved every book by Sarah Addison Allen. Her soon to be released Other Birds was a delight to read! It is a story of Zoey who moves to Mallow Island to go to college and live in her deceased mother’s apartment at The Dellawisp. She meets the other residents who are
somewhat quirky and secretive. This is a whimsical, magical story of family, loss, birds, ghosts and so much more!
Just loved this book and would highly recommend.
Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the eversion ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Sarah Addison Allen for
another wonderful story.

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Other Birds
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Sarah Addison Allen
ᴠɪʙᴇ↠ A whimsical island, a quirky community, strange birds & ghosts
ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ↠ In love 💕

📖 ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪᴛ’s ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ:
⛲️ A cute whimsical apartment complex
📜 A long lost story waiting to be found
☠️ A death that might be suspicious
⛲️ Lonely residents that need each other more than they realize
🍡 An island made famous by marshmallows

💭 ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛs ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋ:
↠ I love the way magic and whimsy is sprinkled throughout a book that is ultimately about life and finding your people and path in the world.

↠ The mystery of Lizbeth Lime and her sister Lucy is immediately intriguing, quirky and at times humorous.

↠ The book is told from varying perspectives of the residents of the apartment complex (both dead and alive). I loved hearing everyone’s stories. The heartaches and pasts that they’ve tried to move on from but won’t be able to until they let others into their worlds.

↠ The ghosts that still linger and the man that takes care of the building who can see them are humorous and endearing.

↠ This book makes you think about how everyone has an untold story and what you think you know about someone is never the whole story. All the characters are so complex and interesting and I loved learning about their lives.

↠ This book leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy. Initially my favourite characters were Mac and Charlotte but by the end I loved them all for their unique stories and hearts!

———————-
Review will be posted to Instagram @Firefly.Lane week of July 11 & a Pub Day post when it comes out

Other Birds is a magical and heartwarming tale set on the whimsical and sweet Mallow Island near Charleston, and tells the story of a group of people young and old living at the Dellawisp that never had loving families of their own. When Zoey moves in to the studio apartment left to her by her mother, she's leaving behind a father, stepmother and stepsiblings that didn't have much interest or use for her. An outgoing and friendly personality and the death of one of her neighbors only days after she moves in has Zoey slowly bringing the rest of her neighbors together - starting with Charlotte. Charlotte is adrift when Zoey reaches out to her, and from a crummy childhood of her own, but a friendship with Zoey quickly forms and then begins with other neighbor Mac, a chef that grew up on the island and yes, you guessed it, also grew up in less than ideal circumstances. Through landlord Frasier, Zoey also reaches out to Oliver. Oliver's mother Lizbeth is the tenant who passed away, and whose misunderstood sister Lucy also lives in the complex. With the help of some friendly and cantankerous ghosts, as well as a live person with a less than honest agenda the tenants of Dellawisp become a family for each other that they never had. While the ghosts of the book stretch the book into the realms of magic realism, this is still a sweet story grounded in the scenic South and the richness of the characters and their relationships with each other. Addison Allen will pull at your heartstrings with the lack of love many of the characters have experienced during their lives, but where she truly shines is not making you feel sorry for the characters - they don't need your pity, they just need each other to go from surviving to thriving. Definitely a great book and one to read if you need a feel-good story to make you believe in the goodness of others. A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I’ve loved her books in the past. They always felt magical and beautiful. I would recommend this book :)

Zoey is 18-years-old and has just graduated from high school. She heads from Oklahoma to a little island off the coast of South Carolina called Mallow Island. She’s inherited a small studio apartment from her mom in an eccentric old building. Her mother died when Zoey was a child and it’s one of the few things she has of her mother’s. As soon as Zoey moves in there’s a accident with one of the neighbors and the tragedy puts the residents on a crash course getting to know each other as they figure out the mysterious happenings going on in the building.

I’ve read several of this author’s books. They are charming, entertaining, and always a bit magical. Ultimately, this book is about creating the family that you need rather than just accepting those who are related by blood but don’t appreciate you.

Thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for an advanced copy of this book. It will be released on 8/30/22.

I can still remember the sweet, magical hold that Sarah Addison Allen's book, Garden Spells, had on me fourteen years ago. So, I was truly excited to see that she had a new book coming out after a long time away from publishing.

This story is about a group of misfit people who are running away from things in their past, who all find each other living in a small cluster of condos that are watched over by some unusual birds, on Mallow Island, South Carolina. These characters are all looking for second chances in their lives, with the hope that things could change, while also being surrounded by others like themselves and ghosts from their past.

I'm glad to see that so many reviewers loved this book. However, it just did not resonate with me. I liked the book but the setting, the characters and the storyline felt very one dimensional and the magic, for me, seemed to be missing.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Other Birds is a wonderfully written story by Sarah Addison Allen. Her quirky, magical tales are always a delight to read.

When Zoey arrives on Mallow Island, South Carolina, she feels both like she's come home and like she's an outsider who doesn't belong anywhere. Her mother emigrated from Cuba many years ago, and landed on Mallow Island, South Carolina. When she married, she and her husband lived in the South for a few years, until he lost his job and decided they would move back to where his family lived in the Midwest.

Zoey's mother brought her back to Mallow Island a few times before she passed away, when Zoey was only 7. She remembers very little about her visits to Mallow Island as a young child, but now that she is 18 and headed to the College of Charleston, she is glad to have her mother's apartment to live in during the summer and on school breaks. She doesn't have a great relationship with her father or her stepmother, who was all too excited to turn Zoey's room into a crafting space.

The apartment is the loft unit at The Dellawisp, a small complex of apartments hidden off a side street. The dellawisps (birds) fly everywhere, and seem to communicate with the manager, Frasier. The other apartments house a chef, an artist, two middle-aged sisters who don't talk to each other, and a bevy of ghosts. When a tragedy occurs at The Dellawisp, the other residents slowly begin connecting with each other. It turns out Zoey is the breath of fresh air they all needed to move on and exorcise the ghosts in their lives.

I really adore the way Allen writes, and her take on magical realism. Her books feel both grounded in Southern culture and alive with magic and fantasy. Maybe that's less of a contradiction than it should be, given that the South is a place where ancestors are kept alive through their descendants' storytelling.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy of this wonderful book.

Thank you to the publisher for my review title. All opinions are my own.

My goodness. Sarah, I have missed you. Really, really missed you. Anyone ever asks for a NC author rec she is absolutely one of my go to’s. I mean. Come on. Magical characters. Stunning atmosphere. Heartfelt and charming stories that wrap me up like a warm blanket. That’s SAA.

This title. Oh my. It was all those things. I adored the characters. You can not go wrong with a Southern ghost. I don’t need to say more. Sarah speaks for herself. Pick this one up. Enjoy. Savor. Try not to rush off to move to a little island near Charleston. I’m doing my best with that as well. Sigh. Mallow Island. You hold my heart.

This was such a charming and magical story, as are all Sarah Addison Allen's novels.
Set in a small apartment complex, "Other Birds," brings together several characters, all living their own separate, lives. Those lives start to become become intertwined when Zoey moves in.
As she reaches out to each of her neighbors, we start to see more of their lives, and their history, and the "ghosts" that haunt them.


Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Other Birds is the first novel we have had from Sarah Addison Allen since 2015, and it was worth the wait. I was so excited to have another book from her and to get an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for this review.

In Other Birds, Allen takes a departure from her usual mountain setting and takes us to Mallow Island. Mallow is a fictitious island off the coast of Charleston, SC. Once famous for marshmallow and candy shops, the island is mostly tourist trap now.

Soon to be college freshman Zoey has moved to Mallow and in to her dead mother's apartment at the Dellawisp. Named after the strange breed of bird that inhabits the courtyard, the Dellawisp only has five inhabitants and one of them dies shortly after Zoey moves in.

Other Birds i just as magical as Allen's other books. It is almost calm and peaceful in the storytelling and the setting. It makes you feel like you have had a renewing break from life. Other Birds comes out August 30th, so per-order your copy now by clicking on the book image!

Sarah Addison Allen has been one of my favorite authors for years. This book does not disappoint - there's a little bit of otherworldliness we come to expect with Allen but it's just a beautiful story. Can't wait to recommend it to others in August.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah Addison Allen’s Other Birds follows five people who reside at a small condo complex on an island off the coast of South Carolina. The fifth and most recently-arrived resident, Zoey, catalyzes a series of events that will change all their lives. Oh, and she also has an invisible pet bird.

Found family is a major theme throughout this book. Allen expertly weaves together different plot strands and character arcs, bringing the residents of The Dellawisp into collision in a variety of ways. This allows her to build relationships between characters who had previously kept to themselves, and in many cases, they find something in each other that they desperately needed.

These found families aren’t limited to humans, either. One of the Dellawisp residents has a cat who plays an important role in his life. Frasier, the complex’s caretaker, dotes on the small blue birds who live on The Dellawisp’s grounds and gave it its name. And Zoey’s bird, even though she can’t see it, provides companionship to her in what has, up until the start of the book, been a fairly lonely life.

Another central element of the novel is a fictional book, Sweet Mallow, whose reclusive author lives on Mallow Island (though not at The Dellawisp). Allen does something really clever here: not only does the book itself play a role in the plot, but some elements and themes of that book are echoed in the larger narrative of Other Birds. The Amazon blurb for the book describes it as having magical realist elements, and that’s definitely true. The reader finds out early on that ghosts exist in the setting, and there’s also that invisible bird. But the way some parts of Other Birds reflect parts of Sweet Mallow takes the speculative elements to a deeper level. Is it just that the author of Sweet Mallow was inspired by the events of his life to write his book, or does the causal arrow also point in the other direction?

This is the first book of Allen’s that I’ve read, and it makes me interested to check out more of her work.

Lovely novel about the family we choose and how their love can heal. Each of the residents of the Dellawisp, Zoey, Charlotte, Mac, Oliver, and even Frasier and Lucy benefit from the friendships that develop. The masks are peeled back, and, for maybe the first time for each, they are loved and accepted as they are., a revelation to most.
Zoey is the catalyst to creating this family from the closed off, guarded residents, each holed up in their condo, afraid to reach out to their neighbors. When Zoey bounces into their lives, the shells crack and healing begins.
A life affirming novel with a few of the departed looking on!