ARC Review: In the Shadow Garden by Liz Parker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Expected publication: September 13 2022
This book had a wonderful atmosphere. Between shadow garden itself, the tea leaves, the flower auras, it all came together to make for an absolutely captivating and enchanting read. This doesn’t suffer from purple prose or overwrought descriptions either, the writing just hits the perfect balance for maintaining that feeling all the way through.
I really enjoyed how the shadow garden worked overall - taking sorrow and healing it, to make emotionally strengthened harvest. It’s such a lovely metaphor the author chose for healing and growth and hope.
The mystery had so many pieces, and learning more bit by bit was done in such a smooth way. With the memory loss the town participates in yearly, it made it even higher tension when the reader and the characters are trying to figure things out. I got suspicions throughout the book here and there, which only served to ratchet up the tension even more for me as I read more.
I think my main criticism really is that I had trouble keeping track of characters. I am bad at it to start with, and trying to remember the three main families, generations, who’s related to who, even appearances at times was too much for me. I fuzzed out a couple of side characters by the end. I think it would have helped me if the family trees in the beginning of the book (they’re not that large but it doesn't take much to confuse me) had relative ages/birth year or the relationships between them.
Overall, this was a very lovely read, and great for an autumn witchy-nature vibe. The story really pulled me in, the mysteries just kept opening up even as some were solved, with perfect pacing. I definitely recommend this one!
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All the opinions are my own.
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