Other Birds

Another great story from Sarah Addison Allen, moving and interesting and whimsical. Loved it.

There was nothing really wrong with this book - it's a nice little book, the writing is good. I just wasn't blown away by it.

Since her mother died and her father remarried, Zoey hasn't really felt like she fit at home. She leaves Tulsa for Mallow Island, South Carolina, where she's inherited a studio apartment that her mother had owned. A mysterious invisible bird named Pigeon travels with her. The apartment building is small – just five units – and the courtyard is populated with tiny turquoise birds called dellawisps, after which the building is named.

Shortly after Zoey's arrival, a crotchety resident named Lizbeth Lime dies. She was a bit of a hoarder, and Frasier, the apartment manager, asks Zoey to take on the task of cleaning out Lizbeth's apartment. As she cleans, Zoey gets to know the other residents: Lizbeth's reclusive sister Lucy; Charlotte, a young woman reluctant to trust anyone, who may not be who she says she is; big-hearted chef Mac; and of course, Frasier, although he doesn't live onsite. Oh, and then there are the ghosts, too. Everyone has secrets, and no one is entirely what they appear to be. But Zoey, with her perpetually cheerful nature, manages to befriend the other residents and begin to learn their stories.

Allen's writing style is just beautiful. She draws word pictures that you can almost touch, and it makes it easy for me to envision the setting, the characters, the action as I read. Her characters are flawed, but the more endearing for their flaws. I was absolutely invested in what happened to them, even the ghosts.

At its heart, this is a story about coming home. A story about love and loss, and how either or both can sometimes keep folks earthly or ethereal trapped somewhere far longer than we need to be. It's also about the beauty of found family, and people learning to love and belong to the family they've found. I absolutely adored it, and I highly recommend it.

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. All of the opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

3.75 ⭐

This book ended up being super heartfelt. As will other books just under 300 pages that I've read recently, it's taken 200ish pages to get into.

If you like The House in the Cerulean Sea, you may also like this one.

Dellawisp is a building made up of five apartments on Mallow Island, and inside each apartment is a story. Zoey comes to live in one of these apartments, and she comes to learn the stories of the apartments and, in doing so, she grows to know the other people of Dellawisp.

The people of Dellawisp are broken, and their healing comes as they become vulnerable to each other and begin to come face to face with the traumas of their pasts.

Literally SO amazing and wonderful. It made my heart so happy and everything came together so nicely. This was such a wonderful feel-good book but it was also so raw and real (and I love that there was so much bird content) I Al so happy I got to read this

A beautiful story. I loved every page of it and I think I'll miss the characters and the place where they all live. The author built such a rich and magical environment and characters you actually care about. It also spans a wide range of topics: family, death, grief, mental illness, wealth and poverty, but most of all love. I'm not really sure how the author fit it all in!

I just finished Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen and this is my review.

Zoey didn't know what to expect when the cab pulled up to the apartment her mother had left her after she died. The building, full of South Carolina charm comes with the interesting name of The Dellawisp. Named after the little turquoise birds who reside there.

Zoey yearning to belong, sets out to befriend her neighbors. Charlotte, the girl who is always running away. The chef who isn't over the loss of his surrogate mother and 2 estranged sisters.... Everyone has their skeletons and they all seem to have a ghost too.

When one of the neighbors dies unexpectedly, Zoey is tasked with cleaning out the apartment and discovers the secrets hidden there. Can all the lost souls, dead and alive, make their way into the light?

This book exceeded my expectations. I found the book delightfully quirky with a hint of magical possibilities that really stretched the imagination on a realistic level. I really enjoyed how all the characters came together and became this little mismatched family. Every single character had something they needed to let go of in their pasts and I loved watching it all unfold.

I loved the setting of mallow island and I wanted to know more. I could just feel the vibe of the island, how it looked and smelled. I actually enjoyed the pace of this read, it wasn't super fast but just kind of hit it stride and stayed there. It was a novel take to have POV from the ghosts. I actually thought that was kind of clever. Loved the twist at the end too, it was very unexpected and I felt it was a smart way to end the book.

If you are looking for a beautiful women's fiction read with magical realism and a whole lot of love... This has to be your next book!

4.5 stars Thank you to netgalley and St Martin's Press

Cute. Not much more than that.

This was a fun, light, easy read. It might be nice for a beach trip or a long trip where you want to take your mind off of what you're doing ... or not have to think very hard. You do have to have the willing suspension of disbelief because there are ghosts in the story who have “speaking” sections, but the characters are lovable & sympathetic – all damaged in one way or another as children — . They come together in a lovely coastal setting with magical birds & yummy food. There was one element of the ending which I did not like; it didn't seem fair to one (or 2) of the characters, but otherwise, a satisfying ending too.

Sarah Addison Allen's first book in seven years arrives at a time when we have all been changed by catastrophic events including a global pandemic and (depending on who you ask) the partial or complete collapse of American democracy. On a more personal note, Allen experienced the death of both her sister and her mother in the course of writing this book. So I was wondering how the author's typical mix of Southern gothic and magical realism would land, and if the losses she endured changed her voice.

Zoey arrives at the Dellawisp Condos on Mallow Island, South Carolina, to take ownership of the unit previously owned by her late mother. She is starting college in nearby Charleston soon, but is glad to escape the cold treatment by her father, stepfather and stepsisters a few months earlier than planned. She is greeted by the elderly property manager Frasier, who fills her in on the other condo residents: paranoid, furtive Lizbeth Lime; her reclusive sister Lucy; young artist Charlotte; and genial chef Mac. But during Zoey's first night on Mallow Island, Lizbeth is killed in a horrible accident.

With nothing to do until school starts, Zoey agrees to clean out Lizbeth's apartment, which is full of boxes and boxes of seemingly useless flyer, receipts and other paper. As Zoey struggles to figure out the reasons for Lizbeth's hostility towards the world, she also strikes up a tentative friendship with Charlotte, who has issues of her own, and Mac, who carries the past with him in a very physical way. Everyone at the Dellawisp has secrets, one of which is about to be revealed in a way that puts all of the residents in danger.

The book's chapters are written from several different POVs, including Zoey, Charlotte, Mac, Frasier, and an assortment of ghosts who are lingering around, waiting for something to happen before they can move along. Zoey doesn't see or feel the ghosts, but she has an invisible pigeon who has been with her for many years. These paranormal touches are generally accepted by the characters, but they don't overwhelm the plot.

Zoey's arrival is the catalyst for change, as friendships start to build and a romance or two emerges. The tone is a little darker than Allen's previous books, but not at all bleak or depressing. She still knows how to tell a page-turning story that celebrates found family and explores the challenging dynamics of maternal and sisterly bonds. I may be more cynical than I was the last time I read one of her books, but I am still charmed and moved by the troubled, lonely characters who are looking for connection even as they are afraid of what will happen if they let down their guard.

ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for honest review.

Allen's books are whimsical and simply charming! Keep your imagination open to the possibility of the world being full of magic and miracles. Her creation of settings and characters make you want to move right on in with them. She creates families where there are none, makes misfits loveable, and make you wanting for more.
I have given all of her books a 5 star rating; but this one is a 4 because I wanted even more of her “magic” intertwined in the story and I wanted more to the ending. :)

That last chapter took my breath away.