The Garden was weird and interesting until it wasn't.

In an unnamed near future, Evelyn and Lily, two elderly sisters, live in a walled garden and sleep in the kitchen — just about the only part of the main house that isn't closed off. Isolated from the outside world, their lives head off in a new trajectory, forcing truths and untruths to the surface for examination and contemplation, when a boy is found trespassing on their property.

What started out with a delightfully slip-sliding familiarity (at first it felt part We Have Always Lived in the Castle and part Grey Gardens), slowly descended into only actually playing around with weirdness — teasing with flashbacks that proved unnecessary, never fully serving or bolstering the main story's progress. Either this endeavor should've been shorter or more (not longer, per se), because this felt either overcooked or under-seasoned.

This was a good mystery/ thriller. I love the descriptions of the place..it was a unique dystopian tale. A lot different than most of the dystopian tales I have read. I liked the sisters a lot. Will definitely recommend this one.

A dystopian genre, of two sisters who have only each other after an unknown disaster wipes out the world and their garden, is all that remains from their past life. A thought-provoking story exploring the psychological effects of trauma and isolation.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for the digital copy of this book, to be published February 18, 2025

Nick Newman's The Garden raises a lot of questions about the future and how we would deal with our given lot. What will you do with the ones you love? Will you have hope, fear, or just live life by what you've been taught to believe? Throughout the novel I felt an underlying apprehension regarding Evelyn and Lily's state of being. I enjoy a good dystopia novel and The Garden hit all the marks.

The Garden by Nick Newman
Received as an arc.
Evelyn and Lily are elderly sisters struggling in life gardening, collecting food, keeping of the chickens. They live on their family’s old homestead that once had communal workers. They’ve been alone along time with people leaving or dying. Things are moved, a rock wall damaged, a newly baked apple pie disappeared then Until one day Evelyn thinks she sees something in the areas of the house that they blocked off. They discover an extremely starved and injured boy. They’ve been told no one was left. Where did he come from. They provide him care to heal and to help the sisters’ farm.
They find out their mother lied to them and there are others out there. Decisions need to be made to fee or prosper as another storm arrives.
5⭐️

Two sisters of indeterminate age, Evelyn and Lily, live alone in a big house with a big garden. The action kicks off when Evelyn is tending to the beehive and discovers that it's been moved. Lily, afraid of the bees, couldn't have been the one to move it. So what's going on?

The story is disorienting. The sisters only live in part of the big house - really, it was a mansion. They're self-sufficient, living off of the garden and provisions from the icehouse. Why is the rest of the house boarded up? How long have they been alone? What happened to the rest of the world?

Amidst the desolation, the sisters have their routine. Gathering eggs, tending to the bees, reading from the one book they have from the "old days", The Secret Garden. Evelyn is the older sister, protective of Lily, in both the present and the past. Lily, sheltered, still rehearses her dance steps, dressing up in ball gowns and getting her hair in place. Some major Grey Gardens vibe going on here - the sisters are elderly, the house dilapidated, their facade delusional. It's not hard to squint and see a raccoon ambling across broken floorboards.

Episodes from the past kick off sections of the book and we come to understand the sisters' story. Those parts blend in with events in the present which are disrupting their carefully maintained routine. The direction is unexpected, their behavior perplexing. The overall atmosphere is eerie and unsettling as we head to a shock of an ending.

My thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the digital ARC. (pub date 2/18/2025)

On the surface, this is exactly the type of book I’m drawn to. A sort of unexplained dystopian setting, confined to a small area, etc. but unfortunately I had a hard time fully connecting. I was interested throughout and enjoyed learning the little tidbits we did get. But never did I feel that pull you get when reading a book you really enjoy.

I have no qualms with anything specific and I thought the elderly main characters was a unique touch. I just wish this grabbed me how I expected it would.

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*Thank you NetGalley for this e-ARC*

Up to this point, I have been pretty knee deep in Romantasy, and I thought it was time to take a break and read another genre. I do not necessarily regret that choice, but this was a rather dialectic way to go about it.

I give this novel a solid 3 stars, possibly bleeding into 3.5. At no point was I bored or wanted to stop reading, but at the same time, I was constantly checking to see how much I had left to read.

The best way I can describe it, if you have seen The Office, is that the novel gives you the same feeling as when you watch the first episode: uncomfortable, confused, and not quite sure if this is your thing. Eventually, it grows on you (and frankly I adore The Office), but it never quite got to the “I loved this” phase with me.

I am glad I read it, and I am still pondering its existence, but I will probably find something that is a real page turner next.

This book was a WILD ride. You never really quite understand what's happening, and you're not supposed to. The author gives you little hints here and there if you're clever enough to put the pieces together. I really enjoyed how since the story was from the 3rd person POV of the older sister I made assumptions about which sister was right and then slowly was shown that not all is as it seems.

I thought I would give something new a try but decided to dnf at 30%. I can see other people really enjoying it just wasn’t a story for me.

I almost decided not to read this one bc I wasn’t in the mood for something that sounded even just slightly obscure. I’m not even sure what possessed me to request this one in the first place, except for trying to branch out and for the hint at a little bit of mystery.

But the book sucked me in right away. Even though stuff with an unusual premise sometimes takes a while to hook me. I was intrigued by the story and invested in the relationship between the two sisters.

The brief glimpses back into their past added a little something extra. And I like that the “what happened” isn’t fully explained bc I don’t think it needs to be.

That it only took me about 24 hours to read shows how easy it is to get sucked into their garden world.

I would say this book is adult Dystopian in nature.
We are immersed in the world of Evelyn and Lily, sisters who survived a tragedy of some sort but I don't think it was specified if it was nature or manmade. They've lived in the same home all of their lives beginning there of course with their mom and dad. Their father was said to have left them and their mother became sick. She fervently loved her garden. After both parents are gone the two sisters survive on the garden's produce. They live only in the kitchen of the big house because they fear what might be beyond the walls. As time moves on in the story a little boy enters the story. From there things begin to take on a different slope. The ending was both interesting and surprising. Throughout the story we realize that the sisters are very different in personality, and as the last few chapters come together it's easier to see why and maybe how that came to be. But yet I was left with a few questions.

Thank you to Nick Newman, NetGalley and Transworld books for the e-advance review copy. You've got my honest opinion.

I went into this blind, picking it solely based on the gorgeous cover, and it was a total surprise. Newman masterfully builds a sense of dread as the book progresses and creates that delicious edge-of-your-seat feeling that something could jump out at you at any moment. Set against the vibrant and tranquil backdrop of the garden, the looming threat is unnerving and you feel the tension along with the characters. I loved being inside Evelyn’s head. I will not forget this book and can’t wait to read more from Newman.

I thought this would be a cozy cottage core fantasy book, and it was none of those things. It was advertised as being in the fantasy genre, and it has zero fantasy elements. The first fifty pages is mostly an accounting of the (out of their minds) main characters squabbling before anything actionable happens. I'm still a little unclear as to what exactly transpired at the end of the book, and there are a ton of questions I unfortunately did not receive answers to. I hope that the author of this book is okay.

Sisters, Evelyn and Lily, have been living in solitude since their father left and their mother died. Their garden, surrounded by a wall that blocks off the rest of the world. When a boy appears out of nowhere, the world around the sisters is disrupted.

Rating: 5/5 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Publication Date: 18 February 2025

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC in exchange for an host review!

I loved this book. I had to pace myself and let myself enjoy the suspense of the story. The atmosphere of the story was just amazing. I felt calmed but also on edge, waiting for anything that might happen.

Evelyn, Lily, and even the nameless boy are dynamic characters. I thought the sisters portrayed the different ways they experienced growing up isolated from everything. I appreciated the flashbacks, I thought this really helped flush out the characters.

There are a few plot twists that I didn’t see coming so that’s a plus.

I recommend checking out the Garden if you enjoy dystopian novels, suspense, and light sci-fi.

The Garden is the kind of book best gone into without knowing much so I'll try to just speak to generalities. First, Newman's characterization is excellent. The sisters jump off the page, fully-formed. The prose is gorgeous and hypnotic, this is one of the best things I have read in a long time in terms of the writing. Nick Newman has created a dark, disturbing world that will leave you thinking about it for weeks after you are done with it.

This was such a strange and haunting read, and scratched the itch for dark fiction that I didn't even know I had. I went into The Garden semi-blind, having only read the first line of the blurb before deciding this was an ARC I needed to get my hands on, and I am so grateful that I did so. Centering around two elderly sisters living in an isolated garden, The Garden is much like its titular landscape: insular and spare, yet devastatingly beautiful. Although inhabitants Evelyn and Lily have been there their whole lives, they (and you) leave this book forever changed.

I can't say much more without spoiling the premise, but suffice it to say the characters are what make this book unforgettable, and what incredible characters they are. Newman has such an eye for detail and for character-work, so much so that I'd definitely class this as literary fiction. Older sister Evelyn has lived her entire life as a protector of Lily and the garden. Tasked with being the strong one while their mother was alive, Evelyn now ensures that she and Lily follow her posthumous rules to the letter so that the sisters and the garden can continue to live. What is beyond the garden does not matter to Evelyn, nor what came before it. All that matters is staying true to the almanac their mother left behind and keeping the daily chores going, a task made harder and harder by the passage of time. Younger sister Lily lives in a frivolous state of being, reliving a childhood Evelyn can no longer remember. Decking herself out in her mother's jewelry, Lily practices ballet routines, plays games of hide and seek, and sneaks bites of pie, all while longing for something greater.

But strange things are happening: the beehives are moving, there are footsteps and shadows from within the larger house (of which the sisters only inhabit the kitchen, due to the rest of the house being filled with poisonous "men's things"), and food is disappearing. Lily blames her sister's memory, but when Evelyn finds a nameless boy hiding in the garden, their lives all change. The boy forces them to confront the way they've been living, to confront the reality that there may be an outside world, to make them question the how and why of the garden itself in a way that's so poignant without ever being saccharine.

What struck me the most is how much this resonated with me, how much I think this will resonate with others. I can't definitely say (my copy did not have the acknowledgments in it yet), but I would bet actual money this was a covid novel. The experience of intense isolation, the murky passage of time, the distrust and fear of the outside world...Newman's Garden brought all those emotions racing back to me in a way that was heartbreakingly cathartic. I was sobbing my way through the last 50 pages, while also frantically turning them to know Evelyn was okay.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and Nick Newman for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

A post-apocalyptic Grey Gardens - very original, very haunting.

This is about two elderly sisters living alone in what seems to be a post-apocalyptic world caused by extreme heat and climate change. Their lives and routines are disrupted when they find a boy inside their property walls, and their dynamics and clung-to beliefs start to shift.

The tension and sense of looming dread are very eerie. It takes a long time to piece together what brought about their circumstances and understand why the old sisters are so childish in many ways. Without knowing what is happening outside their garden walls, the sense of impending change and uncertainty propels the book forward.

The characters are so interesting and complex. I really loved this book, and haven't read anything quite like it before. I recommend it to anyone looking for something different!

The Garden by Nick Newman was a really fascinating and mysterious read. Two elderly sisters live alone in an old house surrounded by a garden they must tend to. When a mysterious visitor arrives in the garden, more questions about their existence and the outside world arise. Reminiscent of Plato's cave, I really enjoyed this.

The Garden by Nick Newman is a melancholy story. It follows Evelyn and Lily, two elderly sisters who live alone inside a walled up estate. They spend each day tending the land and doing what they must to survive. Then one day they discover a boy has broken through the wall and has been hiding within their house. His presence makes the sisters question everything that they thought they knew. This book is slow paced, only allowing us glimpses of what might have created the world these characters exist in. It’s unique and unsettling. Lily is the creative one, living in a fantasy of her own imagination. Evelyn is the practical one, making sure that they can eat from the meager plants she grows, always planning for things to go wrong. I felt sad for these women. They live based on what their mother told them, giving their whole future to this property. Their parents made choices out of fear that left their kids living an unfulfilled life. These girls never questioned it. Then to find that they could have had more, could have known more, at the brink of the end- that’s heartbreaking to me. The longer that I sit with this story, the more it impacts me. It is thought-provoking, sad, and ultimately, provides a kind of hope. 4/5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for allowing me access to an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Publication date February 18th, 2025. This review will be found on Instagram, StoryGraph, and Goodreads indefinitely.