Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Flowerheart

Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell

11 reviews

mimmixoxo's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

3.75

I do agree with a lot of the comments that it feels as if something is missing or the end is underdeveloped especially with Clara’s mother. Overall a fun and quick read that helped me through my latest reading slump. (Although be wary of content warnings)

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libriinks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-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

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blacksphinx's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book is a puff of cotton candy. Light, sugary, quickly consumed.

This book has a strong "fanfic author's first original fic" vibe. There is very little world building in this novel, and things you might think warrant an explanation (like the magic system) are glossed over, like we're already supposed to know. It's partially centered around a variation on a fanfic trope - hanahaki disease - and there's a small scene lifted directly from Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle movie. In fact, our protagonist's two-syllable name, her light blue and light green dresses, her long hair plaited into a braid, and our wizard love interest's black hair kept me wondering... If this started life as a HMC's fanfic I would not be surprised.

Overall, this is a book that comfortably fits in the YA section and would probably be a delight in most middle school or high school libraries. (This book also needs an LGBT+ tag on here, it's a queernormative setting.)

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jinjaritia's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-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

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a_ab's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Well, I didn't read it in full, actually. I read the first 4 chapters and the last 5 (out of 24 total). And I do not feel like I lost much in skipping the other 15, because at the time I resumed the book, things were going mostly how I imagined they would be going based on the beginning.

I don't think I could have suffered through the abuse of the main character's internal "magic" voice for all those 15 chapters. It was revolting and infuriating to me, but it would be extremely triggering for anyone who ever had to live through even a fraction of that kind of emotional abuse.

In that vein, I found the ending rather questionable in the proposed "happiness" of it. And there's no way I am going to revisit the chapters I skipped, - as far as I am concerned, nothing is worth putting up with the abusive BS, however internalized it is: get therapy or whatever it takes to weed it out until nothing but a detached clinical memory of it remains, and even that memory is there only so that it could be quickly recognized and weedkilled on sight if it ever sprouts again.

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lizgriffinwords's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted fast-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

4.75

Beautifully sweet and wholesome, with exactly the queer-normative cottagecore Howl’s Moving Castle vibes I was hoping for. The friends-to-more-than-friends element between Clara and Xavier never took over the story, which I appreciated. And though the stakes may have been “low”, they still very much mattered to the main cast. A few mysteries and threads were left open… so I’m desperately craving a sequel!!

Content warning for intrusive thoughts (cleverly anthropomorphized)

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clarabooksit's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-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

2.75

Great premise, loved the flower magic, zippy, easy read, but lacked substance and felt underdeveloped.

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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hopeful fast-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

3.5

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nutmegandpumpkin's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-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

A cozy fantasy that still has stakes and dark moments perfect for spring (also it gives off major Ghibli vibes which is always a plus)
✿
Overview
Writing Quality: 5/5
Pace: 4/5
Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 5/5
Description: 5/5
Ease of Reading: 5/5
Ending: 5/5
Personal Enjoyment: 5/5
✿

Something about this book emanated comfort for me. It felt like going outside after too much time spent inside, feeling the sun on your face and taking a deep inhale. I’d also like to add that the description was ✨scrumdiliumcious✨

I was immediately into the story from the start which is very rare for me. There were a lot of aspects to the story that I was pleasantly surprised by such as a sensitive & nervous male love interest, a plus-sized bi main character, and mental health rep through the magic.

I would classify it as a cozy fantasy that still has stakes and dark moments. The entire time I was reading it I imagined that it took place in the same universe as Howl’s Moving Castle.

I think that this book is not everyone’s cup of tea, but based on the lower rated reviews I’ve seen, most of them are due to expectations being largely different from the reality of what this book is. It is not a fantasy story that dives deep into worldbuilding, characters, or a complex plot. This is not to say these things don’t exist, they’re just much more subtle and Bakewell allows things to be left unsaid.

I found it to be a great light read that doesn’t get bogged down by larger-than-life concepts while still having an enjoyable plot.

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jamiebrito's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

This was not the cozy read I was expecting. I thought more Legends and Lattes/Cerulean Sea but this was more dark things happen with a sens of hope but I loved it! It was a beautiful story about mental health and accepting and loving who you are, no matter the flaw and the strength in the acceptance. The romance was so sweet as well. CW's(as listed in front of book)for absent parent, anxiety and depression, body horror, emesis, fantasy substance abuse, medical issues, and non-consensual enchantment. Buddy read with Ashley ❤️

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