Other Birds

I don't usually gravitate toward this kind of book—part magical realism, part mystery, part heartwarming ensemble cast—but Other Birds surprised me in the best way.

Set in the quirky Dellawisp condos on a fictional island off the South Carolina coast, the story follows Zoey, a young woman trying to reconnect with her past while carving out a new life. Along the way, she meets a cast of unusual neighbors, each harboring secrets and ghosts—some figurative, some literal.

The characters are vibrant, and the writing has a gentle, whimsical quality. There’s a comforting rhythm to Allen’s style, even when the story touches on grief, trauma, and loneliness.

The ending delivered a few twists I genuinely didn’t see coming, alongside show more others I had a feeling about earlier on. Still, the payoff was satisfying overall. There was one part at the end that didn’t quite make sense to me—I won’t spoil it—but it felt a bit muddled or underexplained compared to the rest of the story.

Even so, I’m glad I picked this up. It’s not my typical read, but Other Birds won me over with its warmth, mystery, and a touch of magic. show less

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 show more 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. show less

Upon relocating to her late mother's former residence on Mallow Island, South Carolina, nineteen-year-old Zoey is met with an overwhelming sense of loss and solitude that has been a constant presence in her life since her mother's passing during her childhood. The apartment, called Dellawisp after the enigmatic turquoise birds that inhabit the area, becomes the setting for Zoey's unexpected connection with her fellow tenants, each carrying their own burdens of sorrow and heartache.

The enchanting element of magic woven into the narrative of this tale introduces a captivating layer of complexity that captivates the reader from the very first page to the last. As a fervent admirer of stories centered around the concept of found family, I show more found "Other Birds" to be an incredibly fulfilling and satisfying exploration of this theme. show less

Thanks to The Book Club Cook Book and St. Martin’s Press for a gifted copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this, even though it took a little while before I suddenly became so captivated that I couldn’t put it down. In fact, I’m still thinking about the characters, and was sorry when the story ended. This was a wonderful novel about identity, ghosts, second chances, and family. These misfit characters develop a familial relationship, like the flock of birds that inhabit the apartment courtyard where they all live.

It’s a mystery, a ghost story, an enchanting tale of lost souls and lonely strangers, the secrets that shape them, and the invisible threads that bring them all together.

I have always wanted to show more read one of Sarah Addison Allen’s novels – I even currently have two of her other books on my shelves – and now that I’ve just finished “Other Birds” I look forward to returning to her storytelling world of magic realism and charmed characters.

I highly recommend this heartwarming and memorable southern novel. Another one for my “Favorites” shelf! show less

Sigh. This book was beautifully fantastic. I loved it so much! Just everything about it, every detail, every character, every surprise revealed, was perfect.

Zoey is filled with youthful enthusiasm, dreams, and gumption. She moves into The Dellawisp hoping to learn more about her deceased mother, but is also looking for community, for a sense of belonging, friendship, and she is determined that the residents of The Dellawisp will become that for her. Her character’s life was not all roses all the time, but she is filled with optimism and fun that is hard to deny.

Her neighbors are a quirky lot. There is Charlotte, a bohemian spirit and henna artist, Mac, a James Beard award winning chef who is known for his use of cornmeal, the Lime show more sisters who maintain separate apartments and don’t interact, and Frasier, the caretaker. They each have their own stories, the stories that have defined them up until now, full of love and love lost, full of shadows with rays of light.

The Dellawisp itself is a magical place. It has been a sheltering comfort for those that live there, hidden behind the main street that smells of sugar, with its special birds that exist only there, in that one place. Until Zoey arrives, and shakes things up in her own sweet way.

I don’t want to delve too much further into this story here, because I don’t want to give anything away. But this book made me smile and and cry and I was under the spell of its beauty the entire time I read it. When it ended, I wanted more and I sincerely hope that Allen visits this world and these characters again in a future book.

Before I wind this up though, lets talk about the food in this book. I love when food and memory and love are intertwined through the pages of a book. I think so many of us have food based memories – I know that I do. I think of my grandmother and my uncle when I make coconut tarts and Empire biscuits; hot cocoa on snowy days, the chicken and stars soup and Vernors that my mom would make me when I was sick – I could seriously go on and on. And in this book food is wound up here and there and everywhere, but most of all with Mac, whom I adored. I was so inspired by this book that I actually spent five hours the other day cooking and baking, standing in the kitchen barefoot and cooking up Carolina Chicken Bog and Plum Berry Cornmeal Cake. And dang, was everything so delicious! We will be eating the chicken bog for days and I have been eating the cornmeal cake for breakfast and it tastes amazing paired with my cup of coffee.

I absolutely adored and loved this book! I actually can’t wait to read it all over again. show less

On a small island in South Carolina, buried behind the highly tourist-focused main street is a building made up of five condos. When Zoey Hennessy moves into her deceased mother's old condo, she has hopes of both connecting with the mother she barely knew and making some new friends. What she doesn't expect is that the death of one of the other tenants in the condo building will unravel the secrets of several of her new neighbours.

This was a really charming piece of magical realism with a strong theme of found family. All of the characters Allen crafts are deeply sympathetic and there are several reveals that occur over the course of the book that surprised me (although several I saw coming). If you're looking for a soothing read, that show more provides similar vibes to sinking into a warm bath, this might just be the read for you. show less

Series Info/Source: This is the second book in the Wild Magic series. I got this on ebook for Christmas.

Thoughts: I ended up enjoying this but not as much as Allen's other books. It takes a bit for the story to come together in this one. We spend the first part of the book hopping back and forth between random characters that seem only to be tied together by some sort of relation to Mallow Island. As some mysteries are unraveled, these characters do come together in a tighter way which I enjoyed. Previous to reading this I had read Allen's Waverly Family series (which I loved), "The Peach Keeper" (which I liked), "The Girl Who Chased the Moon (which I liked), and "The Sugar Queen" (which was okay).

Initially we follow Zoey who has moved show more into her mother's condo on Mallow Island and plans to go to college in the fall. Zoey's mom recently passed away and Zoey is struggling to get some peace with her mother by visitng the place where her mother used to live. We bounce between a number of other characters as well: Charlotte a henna artist who is always on the run, Daniel a new college grad chasing his dreams, Mack a chef, and the caretaker of the Dellawisp. We find that each of these characters is being haunted by ghosts and seeking to find some direction and peace in life.

I struggled to really engage with any of the characters here because of how much the story bounces around between them. All of these characters have troubled pasts. Zoey comes across as too eager and noisy right off the bat. Charlotte is too distant and dismissive. I did grow to enjoy them a bit more as the story went on. However, these weren't characters that really pulled me in to the story.

I did enjoy the magical realism throughout. There is some subtle magic here in the form of very subtle ghosts that influence and bother people. Allen does an amazing job with creating very realistic magical realism that feels plausible and magical all at once.

I also loved the setting of Mallow Island and the strange Dellawisp house. It was fun to learn about this island (whose history is linked with marshmallow candy). I also liked some of the twists and turns the story took and the secrets that were revealed. This does give some of the cozy feelings that Allen's books are known for. This story also has a theme of characters making a family for themselves and finding peace in their lives. This was enjoyable but a bit more scattered and less impactful than Allen's other books.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narration was well done. I would recommend listening to this on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I liked this and am glad I read it. However, it was not as good as a lot of Allen's other books. This book felt more scattered and less impactful to me. The story just took a lot more time to come together and really engage me as a reader. I did enjoy the setting and the magical realism here, but the characters were tougher for me to engage with. I will continue to check out Allen's future books; I just love how she does magical realism. If you enjoyed this book I would definitely recommend checking out The Waverly Family books if you haven't read those. show less