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All For One by Melissa de la Cruz
Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Blastaway by Melissa Landers
Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella
Cloaked by Alex Flinn
Death by French Roast by Alex Erickson
Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 8 by Ryoko Kui
The Drastic Dragon of Draco, Texas by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Fatal Fried Rice by Vivien Chien
Feast by Lindsay Anderson and Dana VanVeller
Float Plan by Trish Doller
The Hedgehog of Oz by Cory Leonardo
In Your Shoes by Donna Gephart
Julieta and the Diamond Enigma by Luisana Duarte Armendáriz
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
Like Home by Louisa Onomé
Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas
Lullaby For Eggs: A Poem by Betty Bridgman and Elizabeth Orton Jones
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
Mistletoe Murder by Leslie Meier
Moriarty the Patriot, Volume 3 by Ryōsuke Takeuchi
The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
Orsinian Tales by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Pho Love Story by Loan Le
Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman by E.W. Hornung
Read or Alive by Nora Page
Rockridge by Robin Wolf and Tom Wolf
Samantha Spinner and the Super Secret Plans by Russell Ginns
Twins by Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright

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5 stars: Completely enjoyable or compelling
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3 stars: Average
2 stars: OK
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The Night Gardener: 04/20/21

The Night Gardener

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier is a middle grade gothic horror. Irish siblings Molly and Kip have been sent to an out of the way manor on a small island. The villagers try to warn them away, saying the woods around them are cursed but they press on and make their way to Windsor estate.

Reluctantly they are allowed to stay but only after Molly offers her and her brother's services for room and board only. She has endless work ahead of her as it's clear the woman of the house can't keep up with its upkeep, nor can she afford other help.

Kip whose specialty is gardening is told under no circumstance is he to touch the tree that dominates the estate. It has grown so close to the house to actually be in the walls. The tree will be the house's undoing.

While the overall atmosphere of The Night Gardener is similar to Mexican Gothic by by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2020), the nuts and bolts of the narrative draw from a variety of classic sources (all named in the afterword). While reading, I was most drawn to the similarities with The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (1898). The feeling of familiarity is strong enough that I plan to reread the novella soon.

Auxier's novel also has a place on the road narrative spectrum. Molly and Kit are sibling travelers (CC) who have been forced into being itinerant workers after the death of their parents. Their ultimate destination is a place they can call home (66). Their current route is through the cornfield, or more precisely, the tkaronto (FF) as represented by the ever present mildew brought into the house by the maleficent tree.

Five stars

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