This one was just ok for me. I picked this one up after a 5-star read, and I had high expectations for it, all things that impeded my overall enjoyment of this book. Dark fantasy isn't usually my cup of tea, and this one was no different. I didn't enjoy the world building & magic system. The world felt flat and the characters frustrating. Might not be a series I continue.

Yep yep yep yep yep yep yep yep. That was good!

It has the vibes of a multigenerational family saga, without the trauma those usually involve. The setting? I suddenly want to live on a cherry orchard in Michigan! The characters? They felt so real, and not in a "every single one had a super detailed backstory" way, but in a "remembered" way. I love the way Patchett delivered the story and revealed who Peter Duke really was to us readers in a slow, gentle way. And while you have a mother carefully choosing what to tell, and what not to tell, her three grown daughters, as readers we aren't left in the lurch. We get every beautiful, flawed, heart-breaking detail, and I ate it all up!

oh and the Meryl Streep narrated audiobook!! 👩‍🍳💋

I knew this one was essentially a stand alone, and yet I wasn't prepared for a stand alone.

(If stand alone, why series shaped?) Anyhoos, I loved this one. I was really engaged from the beginning. A good balance of active plot and charming characters, in my opinion. I thought it did a good job with the world building, although I could've used a bit more of a primer on how the magic system worked (but that can be said about a LOT of fantasy). My main qualms about this one is just that I wanted more. I feel like we could've delved into the characters a tad more, and the world a tad more. Again, I just wanted a series. Although there are more stand alone a set in this world, so that will be nice!

As an audiobook listener, sometimes historical nonfictions go in one ear and out the other. All the dates and historical texts kind of muddle together and it's all hard to place in actual history. And this one did have that, but the added element of the fictional vignettes and the humorous footnotes kept me more grounded in this one. I think the podcast this book grew from will be one I'll have to check out.