If you’re in the market for a cute autumn-y read, I’ve got you covered. Each month, I select a book with characters, themes, or elements relevant to college students and people in their 20s. In honor of Halloween, I’ve picked a cute new release about mystical creatures, witches, vampires, and love: The Only Purple House in Town. If that doesn’t sound appealing enough, just look at the cover. Isn’t it the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?
The Only Purple House in Town Summary
Told between two perspectives, we focus on the respective journeys of Iris Collins and Eli Reese.
Iris Collins has always felt like an outsider, even within her family. While her sisters have found success in their fields, she has jumped from project to project without success. This, naturally, has led her to debt, and when she unexpectedly inherits her great-aunt’s house, it seems like a small miracle.
Eli Reese is successful, but he wasn’t always. After his grandmother moves to a retirement home, he goes to find his childhood crush, the only person who stood up for him–Iris. He becomes the first of many tenants in her new B&B and grows closer to her by the day.
Throughout the novel, we get a glimpse into Aguirre’s contemporary fantasy world and see a variety of characters work together to create harmony in a house that’s as patchwork as they are. When faced by various challenges, they must work together to overcome the difficulties and remain true to themselves.
Amazon link here
Goodreads link here
Who Should Read The Only Purple House in Town:
If you’re looking for a scary Halloween thriller, this definitely isn’t it. If you’re looking for something cozy, heartwarming, and focused on found family, however, this is the book for you. I’d recommend The Only Purple House in Town to you if you like the following:
- Wholesome romance
- Fantasy creatures (witches, shapeshifters, etc)
- Contemporary magic
- Inclusivity
- Worldbuilding
- Found family
- Teamwork/renovation
Why I Picked It
They say that you can’t judge a book by its cover, but the cover is 90% of the reason that I bought this book. Just look at it for a minute. From the house itself to the cute little flowers on the edges, it’s gorgeous. I feel that it accurately captures the spirit of the book as well–whimsical, optimistic, and cute.
Found Family
However, the theme of found family is the primary reason I picked this for the October Book of the Month. Often, you spend your college and post-college years further away from your family. Even if you live with/by them, you’re in a newer, more independent stage. Your “found family”–roommates, friends, mentors, significant others–becomes even more important. This book perfectly reflects this.
Everyone wants to feel like they belong. The desire often heightens in the post-high school years are your strive to create your own adult identity. Especially if your identity is something that you’ve struggled with, I think you will find a lot of recognition and healing within these pages.
The Optimism
You can’t read this book without feeling a sense of optimism. Even when it’s over the top and not the smartest decision, Iris operates fully based on helping others and having an optimistic outlook on life. For those of us who live in the real world, this isn’t always possible. Especially if you’ve graduated college and are struggling a bit, this is a wonderful reminder of the beauty of the world and the power of relationships when you don’t have much.
Again, real life doesn’t operate like stories. But the attitudes in this story, the perspectives given, and the way that they treat each other are a beautiful reminder of what life should be like. For that reason, I’d really recommend this book, especially if you’re in a rut.
How Much We Can All Relate to Sharing Small Spaces
A bit silly, but definitely something that gave me college/20s BOTM vibes. In the story, all of the characters share a B&B. They deal with shared spaces, conflict resolution amongst roommates, and the adjustment that comes with that. If you’ve ever lived in a dorm, this is something that you can 100% relate to. Even the shared bathroom situation…I’m sure that those of us who graduated are happy to never repeat that beyond reading about it. However, this was a cute version of that close-quarters situation, and it was a little nostalgic to read about (not that I’d do it again!).
These are just a few reasons why I thought that The Only Purple House in Town made a great October BOTM for our age range. Below are some specific things that I loved and didn’t love.
Praises/Things I Loved
Here are some of my favorite things about The Only Purple House in Town:
- The Warmth–You could feel the warmth throughout this book. As each character built a relationship with the others, found a home, and became more comfortable in themselves, you felt it grow. These kinds of heartwarming things aren’t common enough in literature, and I really enjoyed it.
- The Renovation Arc–I don’t know if it’s just me, but I love stories that have some sort of renovation arc. They find an old place, work on it, and bring it to life again. The Only Purple House in Town had that, and it was super satisfying, especially at the end. The fact that each character contributed to the house’s restoration and found a purpose along the way only made it better.
- The Characters’ Energy–Even if many of the characters are based in stereotypes, I loved their energy in the book. My favorite was Henry Dale, the grumpy older man who finds his home with these people. He gave me Ove vibes from A Man Called Ove. Sally was a close second, just because she brought a ton of life into the story. Each of the characters had something complementary and different to offer, and it made the story very enjoyable.
- The Paranormal Contemporary Aspect–I loved how the author wove the paranormal/fantasy characters into the real world. With mentions of things like paranormal dating app struggles, hierarchies in those societies, rules, and clever puns, she made it feel very real and unique. It gave me Tera Lynn Childs (Forgive My Fins) or Lisi Harrison (Monster High) vibes. Seeing as those were two series I loved when I was younger, I loved this now.
Critiques/Things I Didn’t Love
Overall, I really liked this book. I read it because I wanted something heartwarming, and I did get that. There were a few things that I didn’t love, and those are here:
- Forced Inclusivity–The diversity in this book was good. It features people of different races, genders, ethnicities, and sexualities. I thought this was great, but at times, it did feel a little forced or over the top. Don’t get me wrong–it was great that some of the characters who hadn’t been accepted before found such a lovely home with the others, but it also felt a bit pushed at times.
- The Writing Style (at times)–The writing style could sometimes seem a bit juvenile or not fleshed out all the way. This definitely wasn’t the literary level of Taylor Jenkins Reid in Malibu Rising or her other books, but I wasn’t looking for that. It could just use a little bit of strengthening at points to be a truly polished book.
- The Premise of Eli–Okay, so the romance wasn’t close to my favorite thing in this book. Eli just creeped me out a little bit. He was written as a very wholesome character in his interactions with people, but his premise is that he’s a stalker. He’s been checking up on Iris since middle school and went to St. Claire. I understand stalking a childhood crush on social media every now and then to see what they’re up to. Curiosity is normal. But moving to a town for that person and making it a key point of your life are not healthy things. I personally could not reconcile the “sweet, innocent nice guy” side of Eli with this, and it pretty much shot the romance from the start for me.
- The Villain–The villain of this story is a stereotype and isn’t super developed. This is definitely a lighter read, so it’s not like I expected a ton of depth. However, a bit more of a motive other than just being a Karen would be nice.
A Final Word
The Only Purple House in Town is a wholesome, uplifting fall read. If you love paranormal romance without the gore and suspense, this is perfect for you. Have you read it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
