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puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Wild Beauty is a story that goes much deeper than the synopsis on the back suggests. Much like the flowers that feature prominently in the story, under the fairy tale beauty are roots that dig deep into the earth. Read it if you like magical realism, stories about family, and/or mysterious modern fairy tales.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Racism, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Biphobia, Body horror, Sexual content, Blood, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment
ifoundcallie's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
meagangrace's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexism, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Racism, Sexual content, Violence, and Lesbophobia
softgalaxy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
One of the most stunning books I’ve ever read. The descriptions of love, desire, grief, anger are poetry come to life.
I highly recommend if you want to be swept away by flowery metaphors and rich, emotional storytelling.
It is a slow starting book. I nearly DNFed it as I was a bit overwhelmed by the detail of the descriptions. But I was intrigued by the mystery of La Pradera and the power of the Nomeolvides women. I’m really glad I stuck it out. I think I just needed to adjust to the style of writing.
I highly recommend if you want to be swept away by flowery metaphors and rich, emotional storytelling.
It is a slow starting book. I nearly DNFed it as I was a bit overwhelmed by the detail of the descriptions. But I was intrigued by the mystery of La Pradera and the power of the Nomeolvides women. I’m really glad I stuck it out. I think I just needed to adjust to the style of writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
literarypenguin's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
From the very first sentence to the last paragraph I fell in love with this beautiful book and not just because of the stunning cover! It was a great story about family and romance and deep-held secrets that need to be unearthed in order to move on.
The story revolves around family, the family you are born into or a family you find on your way through life. The family of women is such a strongly bonded family and you can tell how much they all mean to each other, and how they would do anything for one another. Their family has lived with a curse for centuries but even a curse can't break the love they have. It only makes them stronger and more supportive of each other. I loved learning the stories of the many descendants of women and how they managed to thrive despite this darkness following their families.
The writing was beautiful and exquisite! Every sense and little detail felt whimsical and it really made you feel like you were on the grounds of the garden yourself! I fell in love with this author's writing and I can't wait to read more of her books hoping the writing is just as lovely as this one's. I can say that this writing succeeded in making you feel like you were a part of the story.
I loved Estrella! I fell in love with her no fear, caring, and honest personality. Her love for her family and how she would do anything to help them even at the cost of losing something for herself was so admirable. She loved passionately as well, for both men and women, but because of her family's curse, she didn't allow herself to love them or denied herself this love for fear of hurting them and herself. Estrella carries so much of her family and the burdens on her shoulders because she doesn't want to be seen as a mistake by her family. She wants to try to bring her family back in a positive light.
Fel was such a sweetheart! He was so sweet and as I learned more about him I fell in love with his character more and more! The way that he adopts these women as his own family and how they accept him no questions asked is so amazing to see! He can also be very protective and cares deeply for this new family. He is also shown to be intelligent and cunning when he needs to be. Fel and Estrella were so cute together and I loved their blossoming romance and watching it develop over the course of the story.
This book does have a very strong message. Besides the importance of family and that families love it also shows how in this world immigrants are shown to be lesser people and not worth remembering. How some secrets are buried for years before people eventually find out or in most cases never do. How these people had to work hard to make it in life only for others to treat them horribly and not deem them worthy enough to remember. It is something that we need to get better with and change for the better.
I highly recommend this book if you want a book with a beautiful cover and a beautiful story held within it's pages!
The story revolves around family, the family you are born into or a family you find on your way through life. The family of women is such a strongly bonded family and you can tell how much they all mean to each other, and how they would do anything for one another. Their family has lived with a curse for centuries but even a curse can't break the love they have. It only makes them stronger and more supportive of each other. I loved learning the stories of the many descendants of women and how they managed to thrive despite this darkness following their families.
The writing was beautiful and exquisite! Every sense and little detail felt whimsical and it really made you feel like you were on the grounds of the garden yourself! I fell in love with this author's writing and I can't wait to read more of her books hoping the writing is just as lovely as this one's. I can say that this writing succeeded in making you feel like you were a part of the story.
I loved Estrella! I fell in love with her no fear, caring, and honest personality. Her love for her family and how she would do anything to help them even at the cost of losing something for herself was so admirable. She loved passionately as well, for both men and women, but because of her family's curse, she didn't allow herself to love them or denied herself this love for fear of hurting them and herself. Estrella carries so much of her family and the burdens on her shoulders because she doesn't want to be seen as a mistake by her family. She wants to try to bring her family back in a positive light.
Fel was such a sweetheart! He was so sweet and as I learned more about him I fell in love with his character more and more! The way that he adopts these women as his own family and how they accept him no questions asked is so amazing to see! He can also be very protective and cares deeply for this new family. He is also shown to be intelligent and cunning when he needs to be. Fel and Estrella were so cute together and I loved their blossoming romance and watching it develop over the course of the story.
This book does have a very strong message. Besides the importance of family and that families love it also shows how in this world immigrants are shown to be lesser people and not worth remembering. How some secrets are buried for years before people eventually find out or in most cases never do. How these people had to work hard to make it in life only for others to treat them horribly and not deem them worthy enough to remember. It is something that we need to get better with and change for the better.
I highly recommend this book if you want a book with a beautiful cover and a beautiful story held within it's pages!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Biphobia and Homophobia
Minor: Blood
daphne_430's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Blood
alouette's review
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
honestly, i wanted to like this book more than i did, which is part of why i read it in one day. the other part is from it being truly dreamy and engaging! but even if i couldn't put it down, i still felt it lacking in some respects. notably, the characters, who all blurred together for me. even though i was invested in the revelations, the reflections on how we are accountable for the sins of generations before us, i was not particularly moved by the grief, love, or other emotions that the characters felt. especially because none of them, aside from Fel, got an introductory interaction- just a jumble of names to be cemented by one or two scenes where their personality mattered, and many where it didn't.
i also know little of the language of flowers or flower identification, so i felt a disconnect from that theme too. same for the themes of Christianity and the Latine connections/background. the immigration one i felt, but even that is because i come from an immigrant family, not because the writing made me feel much heart-wrenching emotion. i know it's a book of magical realism, but i wish it had been a little less abstract in exploring the themes and instead offered concrete foundations to make them more accessible. i understand that such a story as this comes from a writer writing for themself, and i admire that, but it wouldn't take much to bring in the context that would make this book touch the heart of even the least empathetic reader.
i also know little of the language of flowers or flower identification, so i felt a disconnect from that theme too. same for the themes of Christianity and the Latine connections/background. the immigration one i felt, but even that is because i come from an immigrant family, not because the writing made me feel much heart-wrenching emotion. i know it's a book of magical realism, but i wish it had been a little less abstract in exploring the themes and instead offered concrete foundations to make them more accessible. i understand that such a story as this comes from a writer writing for themself, and i admire that, but it wouldn't take much to bring in the context that would make this book touch the heart of even the least empathetic reader.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Biphobia and Colonisation
Minor: Violence and Blood
annalisaely's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I love plant magic, I love family love, I love girl love, I love woman-dominated stories, and this book delivered on all of those, plus exploring the editing of history by whoever's on top, the pros and cons of oral history, so many bi characters, and a genderqueer character (that's what she's referred to as by the author in the post-note, so that's what I'm going with).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, and Grief