Sarah Addison Allen has an impressive catalog of work but this title is my first by her even though her name has been on my radar for years. I've always planned on reading S.A.A. and I was trying to wait until the pandemic was over but since that's never happening I jumped in now with this title and I am so very glad that I did.

S.A.A's writing style, I've read, is magical and charming - I certainly found this to be magical, charming, and captivating. I will absolutely read more of the author's work, past and future.



eARC kindly provided by St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley. Opinions shared are my own.

The Dellawisp is an old cobblestone building on Mallow Island that has been refurbished into 4 apartments and a studio. While the apartments are full of lonely people, all hiding from something or someone, the studio is inherited by Zoey, a recent high school graduate at loose ends until the start of her freshman year in college. Zoey quickly gets involved with one occupant after another, bringing all the residents and their secrets (and ghosts) out into the light. I've really missed Sarah Addison Allen's special, magical books and was so happy to be given access to this ARC.

Sarah Addison Allen is one of my all-time favorite authors. Her tone and characters tilt toward the melancholy, featuring deeply drawn, quirky folks with intriguing backstories. She wraps them around surprising twists and magical elements for a thoroughly engaging read.

Other Birds doesn’t disappoint, following college-bound Zoey and her reclusive neighbors as they attempt to bury their past lives while hiding out in a mystical apartment complex. As usual, food is an important element of Allen’s novels, including a spirit who showered love on needy children in-life who now sprinkles cornmeal over one of her grown proteges nightly. In addition, Zoey’s invisible bird companion and tiny, teal “dellawisps” provide comic relief with their demanding antics.

I fell in love with the characters – living and passed - as they wrestled with haunting complexities and eventually discovered paths to the light. Twists, mystery, and romance added flavor along the delightful journey. I always savor an SAA novel, interspersing them into my reading as a special, lovely treat. Her mixed genres even encouraged me to write my own debut, Divine Vintage.

We've waited a long time for another story from Sarah Addison Allen. It was worth waiting for! Mallow Island is such a magical place...or maybe this cast of characters is magical. This story about love and loss...the need to hold on and then to let go, was so sweet. I want to visit Mallow Island, but only if I can stay at The Dellawisp and see the tiny turquoise dellawisps...oh, and meet Frasier. If you're a fan of magical realism, you really should visit Other Birds.

I love the magical elements that Sarah Addison Allen incorporates into her writing. This book satisfied me in so many ways. I really needed a book that was positive and inspiring and this was definitely that book. The story is so simple yet like the best cooked meal had several layers. Each character had their own story yet they were able to complete each other effortlessly. The book shows that we can find family in the most unusual places and that sometimes it's ok to let go of our secrets either by sharing them or just deciding to move forward into the future unencumbered by our pasts. Truly lovely story!

Sarah Addision Allen takes what could be an average story, pleasant to read but not especially memorable, and then turns that average story on its head. The pages become a joy for the reader.

Zoey has inherited her mother's condo on Mallow Island. The Dellawisp Condos have flocks of tiny birds, Dellawisps, found no place else on the island, or maybe the world. That is the first unusual thing Zoey discovers. Each condo resident has some kind of secret they are hiding from the rest of the world. There are ghosts or spirits, some ready and willing to be released, others hanging on with all their might. Zoey is friendly, outgoing and soon becomes friends with the residents. But where will it all lead? The residents find themselves opening up to Zoey, and as they do, their secrets may set them free.

This was a lovely addition to Sarah Addison Allen’s catalog of books. I was so happy to see that after a few years hiatus that she had a new book out. It’s definitely not her best book but it still had some lovely characters and an overall good story.

What a beautiful, lyrical novel. I was so enchanted (yes, enchanted!) by the storytelling and characters that Sarah Addison Allen so deftly presents to the reader. A young woman’s return to the South Carolina apartment complex where her deceased mother lived becomes a window into the lives (and deaths) of all of the neighbors. The way that the author creates a sense of place is so complete that the reader feels entirely immersed in the world. While this book does lean on themes of loss and grief, there is also beauty and community in it. I recommend this novel wholeheartedly. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC for my honest feedback.

A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this early and review, all opinions are my own!

As a NC reader, I am always on the lookout for local authors and Sarah Addison Allen is one of my favorites! I was so excited to see she had a new book coming out and I’m very thankful I got the chance to read this! I loved this book! 5 stars!

I adore Sarah Addison Allen's books, and I had been missing her books. She had taken an extended hiatus due to a breast cancer diagnosis and losing her mother and sister. Despite her tragedies, she is back with Other Birds and better than ever.

Zoey goes to live in the apartment of her deceased mother, and as she meets the surrounding tenants, she realizes that there is more than meets the eye about everyone. Having always been withdrawn from others because of her "invisible" bird, she struggles to make friends...until she discovers that the others have secrets and pasts, just like she does. The book is told from several points-of-view and even shares some "ghost" stories along the way. Everything blends together nicely, making this difficult to put down.

The beautiful ways that SAA reveals the characters' dreams and secrets had me mystified while reading. I thought I had understood a character until I would read another page. I have always enjoyed the magic realism that only SAA can incorporate so seamlessly into her stories. She makes you believe in the extraordinary!

For all the fans of magical realism, Sarah Addison Allen is finally back with another novel to take us away with your lyrical storytelling that wraps hope, grief and resilience all into one story! As always, she lays out and builds an incredible sense of place that will feel like you've been transported. There's a thick layer of sadness to her story, but it also shows redemption is a more robust portrayal than past works. A sweet story that you'll want to let it wash over you.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! Sarah Addison Allen returns with her signature sytle in this story of a girl who moves to her mothers's old apartment on Mallow Island off the coast of South Carolina and finds family. Each resident of the complex has a story to tell with connections to pain, sorrow, and love. As Zoey meets and interacts with the residents, their worlds expand and there is beauty in the prose. Would highly recommend to fans of Sarah Addison Allen, but also to any reader looking for a soft, compelling read.

Another spellbinding book by such a talented writer. When Zoey comes to takeover her deceased mother's apartment, all kinds of wonderful and magical things begin to happen with the neighbors. Utterly enchanting.

I wanted to love this book as I loved books by this author in the past. I just had a lot of trouble connecting to the plot which I found confusing.

Other Birds is both a love story and a ghost story, but most of all it is a story about living life to the fullest and the ability to let those we love soar and achieve their full potential.

Centered on a quirky cast of characters on an island off the Carolina coast, all of whom live in a condominium complex called the Dellawisps. Zoey is returning to her mother’s condo for the summer before she starts school as a way to reconnect with her past. Shortly after she arrives, her neighbor passes away and she is tasked with locating a story that she has left behind.

Alternating between characters and the resident ghosts of the complex, Allen weaves a beautiful story about relationships with those who raise us, both good and bad, and finding ones own way in the world despite being an “other bird”. Full of fun magical realism, this book is highly recommended for anyone looking for a feel good story with a bit of mystery thrown in.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Sarah Addison Allen for this digital advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

I read several books by this author when I was in my very early 20s and loved-loved-loved them. I loved them in a kind of way that has made me afraid to read anything else by her since then, in case it doesn't feel the same. I grabbed this based solely on the author and didn't read any blurbs or a description, so I had no idea what to expect.

The book, from the beginning, rotates through the entire cast of characters, focusing each chapter on one, mostly in 3rd person but focusing on their perspectives and backstory; there are also a smaller number of chapters in 1st person from 3 others. This rotation made it hard to feel settled in the first quarter of the book, hard to know where it was going and who was important. This became less jarring as the story started to become clearer.

The magical elements were on-screen immediately, making this feel less like magical realism, as I expected from this author, and more blurring towards paranormal. Not bad, just not what I assumed. Some of the supposed-magical elements actually ratchet back a bit with a few explanations, but it doesn't seem like the magical bits follow clear-cut rules.

ARC from NetGalley.

I really like Sarah Addison Allen's books. She is a wonderful writer. However, I could not get into this one. I really tried, and maybe I'll give it another shot, but this was not the book for me. I'm not sure what it was, but I found each page hard to finish and kept waiting for the moment to suck me in.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press.

I like Sarah Addison Allen's books. I like her style, her writing, and her particular brand of magical realism. I was excited to get an ARC of Other Birds and I enjoyed it.

Zoey is a recent high school graduate who has moved to South Carolina to attend college in Charleston. She arrives on nearby Mallow Island the summer before her freshman year begins. She has a condo here that was left to her by her mother, Her father has all but abandoned her now that she is 18, and she seems to have no real friends or other family. She is determined to learn more about her mother while on Mallow Island, and befriend the other occupants of the condos in the small complex.

All of the characters are the sort who only exist in books - quirky and eccentric to the extreme. Zoey is no exception - she has an invisible bird who follows her around. A death in the complex occurs, and the residents come together as they never have before in the aftermath.

This story has ghosts, magic, birds, love, and community-as-family. It's just a sweet, lovely story with a whole lot of whimsy and charm.

Other Birds was a thoroughly enjoyable walk off the beaten path. Zoey, the main character, is likable, innocent and hopeful; I started rooting for her almost immediately. Sarah Addison Allen does a great job making the reader invested in her past, present and future all at once. The cast of characters whom she meets quickly embrace her, while her family cheerfully moves along without her as she heads off into the world at a very tender age. We gradually learn all the characters’ backstories and how they ended up where, and how, they are. Some of their eccentricities are grounded in reality; others deal with their pain in more fanciful ways. As the book moves from one character’s point of view to the next, I never felt irritated at moving to a less interesting character or storyline as I have with many other books. The only criticism I have is that I found a few of the realistic parts of it a bit a of a stretch. The book shines so brightly that any deviation from absolutely wonderful was very noticeable. Anyone looking for a bit of a break from regular life would do very well to step into the world created in Other Birds.

I loved everything about this story of a set of neighbors who live in an apartment building on Mallow Island. They each have their own story of loss and sadness and things they are running away from and yet they find family and kindness and love with each other. This story of love and loss and magic is absolutely beautiful to read.

There is a little magical realism in this book, but I didn't think it was too much. I loved the way it was weaved in and what it represented. A really beautiful story about a chosen family.

with gratitude to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an advanced copy.