Show Me 5 Saturday: The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Since our host, Alipet, has been missing in action, Jenners puts up a Mr. Linky if you would like to play along. This meme will give each blogger an opportunity to give a brief description of a book they have read or reviewed during the week. It will work like this: Each Saturday you will post the answer to these questions.

Title of book you read: The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Words to describe the book: Magical fiction

Location or characters you met:

• Josey Cirrini: A 27 year old woman still living at home and being brow-beaten by her overbearing mother. Josey has a secret stash of junk food,romance novels and travel magazines in her closet but that's not all. The "contents" of her closet eventually makes Josey see life in a different way and gives her the courage to finally break away from her mother and find a life of her own even though it takes a lot of doing.


• Della Lee, a local down-on-her luck woman who makes it her mission to change Josey's very limited life. Oh, yeah, Della Lee has taken up residence in Josey's closet. Uninvited of course! Nothing it seems is going to get her to move out. Until she accomplishes her mission, that is! During the course of her residence, in a round about way, Della Lee introduces Josey to Chloe and lets Josey in on some explosive secrets about her family.


• Chloe Findley: sandwich shop owner who becomes acquainted with Josey when both of them really need a friend they can trust. The funny thing about Chloe is books find her. Whenever she needs some particular advice, books just show up beside her. How lucky is that! It's a good thing too because Chloe has a lot on her plate after she found out her long time live-in boyfriend cheated on her and now she must find her own place to live.

4. Things you liked/disliked about the book:

• I liked the way the author let me empathize with the characters' feelings. It was like being in their head at all times.


• I just loved the magical elements in the story that gave it a unique charm and appeal.


• Josey's mother, Margaret, was a most interesting character and I really liked the way the author kept slowly introducing new tidbits about Margaret's past and the ongoing tensions between her and Josey. It made for a most interesting plot thread.


• The twist at the end.

5. Stars or less for your rating: 4 **** Once I started this, I had a hard time putting it down. This is the third Allen book I have read (Garden Spells and The Girl Who Chased the Moon) and although I liked all three of them, I think I like this one the most. This one definitely gets 2 thumbs flippers up!

Disclosure: A copy of this book was borrowed for review from my county library system. Thanks to my tax dollars!