This book starts out feeling a bit like Under the Whispering Door, which was a pleasant way to start. Main character Saika has been grieving the loss of her sister Fiona two years ago, and her magic hasn’t worked properly since then. Fiona wanted to have her ashes planted at Ash Gardens, where ashes are planted and grow into colorful trees. Saika isn’t as ready to let go of her sister in this way as she thought she was, and the owner of Ash Gardens, a beast named Frank, offers to let her stay until she’s ready to go, with Saika helping out around the deteriorating house in the meantime.
It would have been easy for Synclaire to go the wise, all-knowing mentor approach with Frank, and I’m glad she didn’t fall into that trope. As the book progresses, you realize that wouldn’t really have been possible anyway. Other characters who round out the cast are two cherubs, a fairy, an architecture witch, and a nature half-witch. I loved the racial, socioeconomic, and sexual and gender diversity of these characters. I also adored the introduction of a dragon named Beelzebub, though she isn’t a large part of the book.
While the storyline did keep me engaged, I didn’t love it the way I was hoping I would. I wasn’t as emotionally invested in the characters and their journeys as I could have been, resulting in the book feeling good but not great. There are times when Saika isn’t likable, and I had a particular issue with the way she did something essentially for someone else’s own good and seemed self-righteous about it, and I’m not sure she ever fully realizes that. Frank is also clearly experiencing some memory difficulties that for some reason no one comments on. There was a romance that developed between her and another character, and the initially unkind behavior of the love interest toward Saika was dismissed as “teasing.” I would have liked a slower approach to the romance, and because there was a part of the book where Saika is just sort of waiting for a particular event to happen, it seems like there could have been room to develop that relationship more.
Overall, I did enjoy the novel, and I recommend it. It will probably especially resonate with readers who are dealing with grief. I will readily check out the next book that Kay Synclaire publishes because I’d like to see how she evolves as a writer. This book didn’t quite live up to my expectations for it, but Synclaire shows creativity, and I’d like to see where she can take that. 3.5 stars.
This was an ARC I received from NetGalley, but my opinions are my own.