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Feb 14, 2018TSCPL_Librarian_Deb rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I really enjoyed Garden Spells so I was excited to read this sequel. I heartily enjoyed this one as well! It continues the saga of sisters who have special gifts and who are affected by the strange apple tree that grows in their ancestral home. Clair, whose gift centers around her cooking, has been focusing all of her time and attention on her new business - Waverley's Candies. The huge amount of time she is giving to this is stressing her out and also affecting her loved ones - including her favorite niece Bay. Bay's mom, Sydney, is wrapped up in her obsession to have another child. She is also worried about Bay, who is now a teenager and navigating ups and downs of teen romance and high school. There is also a mysterious man who has showed up in town and who seems extremely interested in the Waverley family for some not so good reason. As this followed this family through there ups and downs (mostly downs that they were hoping to turn into ups) I felt thoroughly engaged with the characters. I was most interested in Bay's story - a young girls desire to for love that conflicts with her peers, her parents, and even the boy in question. I was rooting for things to work out for her. I also enjoyed some of the side characters who popped up and the general quirkiness of the mysterious force from the apple tree and their gifts that was involved in their lives. In the end everything works out - perhaps a bit too neatly or quickly - but it was very satisfying. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a family story with engaging characters and interesting twists.