Spoonfuls of Secrets Best Kept: "The Sugar Queen" by Sarah Addison Allen

Before summer got a bit overwhelming, I finished a book that was probably the biggest surprise of this year. It was quite the secret in terms of the plot line, especially since the author usually writes upbeat and magical books, not a bit dark and twisted.  While I didn't LOVE "The Sugar Queen" by Sarah Addison Allen as much as her magical, happy books like "The Peach Keeper", I could not stop reading it. Sarah Addison Allen is quite easily on my list of Top 5 favorite authors, but this book was her total curve ball for me and one that I would love to pick her brain about the reasons for choosing this type of plot line.

"The Sugar Queen" takes place in a mountain town in North Carolina.  The main character, Josey Cirrini, is a woman with a long list of struggles including mom issues and emotional eating at the top of the list. She spends much of her time in her bedroom closet hiding from her mother and eating sugary treats. One day she comes home to find a mystery woman in her closet. She is startled and tries to make her go away. The mystery lady is someone who Josey has known for much of her life and it's odd to her that she would hide in her closet.  She never leaves and her mother always complains about the extra noises upstairs. We soon find out that the mystery woman is in hiding from an extremely abusive partner.

Some of the themes addressed in this book are domestic violence, mental health, difficult family dynamics and self esteem. One of the absolute best parts of the book is the relationship that builds between the mystery lady and Josey. The mystery lady becomes a bit of a fairy godmother figure for her and really tries to help her step outside of her comfort zone and try new things. She also kicks her out the door to meet new people and have a social life.  The dialogue between the two women was really fantastic once they decided they could find common ground with each other.  This element of the plot is probably what kept me reading because it really showed the importance of solid girl friends in our lives.  Josey had no one, but this mystery woman knew she needed a friend and so it happened.

I was quite shocked at the details shared regarding domestic violence and when the book came full circle, I had to stop and take a deep breath and figure out where I had missed some key clues to the ending.  I honestly believe that I would have liked this book more if I hadn't expected a happy, fluffy magical plot line prior to reading it.  As is always the case with Sarah Addison Allen's work, she has an element of magic and romance in each of her books.  This book wasn't any different, but it was dark. The other element of this book that made it difficult to enjoy was my own issues with mental health, difficult family dynamics and self esteem. I wouldn't jump right to this book being a trigger, but there were times when I thought, "yep......felt that.....like yesterday." If you are sensitive to details of domestic violence and it might be a personal trigger for you, I'd definitely caution you in reading this book.

Overall, it was really well-written and the structuring of build-up, climax and ending were on point.  The ending was a total surprise and I didn't see it coming. I like those types of ending because I feel like the author took the time to write in such a way that it wasn't obvious from Chapter 2.  When authors make it obvious that early in the book, it is just lazy writing, in my opinion.

My recommended reading group would be age 16 and above.  It's a solid PG-13 read with themes of domestic violence, mental health and self-worth struggles.

The moral of the story: Sometimes the most unexpected person becomes your most critical ally.

Happy reading, my amazing, geeky lovelies!
-R

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