The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

I can't say enough good things about Sarah Addison Allen's writing style. I haven't had time or energy to read much this month. Too much going on as my kid takes the GED, finishes college finals and in general tries to figure out where his life is going to go. So my reading has taken a backseat to "Mom Duty".

I set The Girl Who Chased the Moon aside deliberately for a time like this. I loved Garden Spells and The Sugar Queen. Seriously, nobody creates a quirky, magical world like Sarah Addison Allen. Her characters are beautifully thought out. The books flow like a gentle wave and carry you along in this rhythmic, soothing roil of glorious emotion. If you've read her books, you understand what I mean. If you haven't, you need to go pick them up and set aside some time to be enchanted.

So, The Girl Who Chased the Moon is about a town where magic is possible, secrets and lies, hope and redemption. It revolves around a series of characters - Emily, a girl who has just lost her mother only to be sent to live with the grandfather she never knew about; Win, a boy with an amazing family secret that could destroy not just him, but his family; Julia, a woman who has returned to town after the death of her father and is forced to deal with a past that she's avoided; Sawyer, a man who chose wrong and just wants to be where he belongs. The cast of characters from Emily's grandfather, an 8 ft. giant, to Stella, the hard living next door neighbor, is just brilliant.

I think this is Sarah Addison Allen's best book yet. It left me feeling light and happy and like magic is possible (which, considering I'm an emo kind of gal is a serious challenge). And that's why I saved it for a time when it felt like the rain just wasn't stopping in my life. It's that wonderful. It took this emo girl and kicked her in the ass (in a really good way).

I'd give this book a billion stars if I could. It does get 6 incredibly bright shiny stars (the highest I give) because it hits every mark of a truly beautiful book with perfection. I'm probably going to go back and read passages of it all day. Maybe I'll even re-read her other books. (Help! I need to figure out how to wipe this silly happy smile off my face.)