Reviews

The Book of Flora by Meg Elison

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hurlyburlywitch's review

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

tori_torido's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I loved the character of Flora in The Book of Etta and was happy to see that she would be the main character in the third book in the Nowhere series. All three books share a travel theme: characters search for something. The Unnamed Midwife of book #1 needed hope after the plague and a safe home. Eddy of book #2 needed to come to peace with himself and find a place to be himself. Flora in book #3 already knows herself. She's sort of looking for a place where non-traditionally gendered people can be free. But she doesn't evolve or change in dramatic ways, as did the Unnamed Midwife or Eddy, so I ultimately lost interest in her story.

On the plus side: The explorations of gender identity and sexuality were interesting, feminist, and challenging. They offered stories and characters not found in many bills and for that I'm grateful to Elison.

yes_asha's review

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4.0

Although the thought of an archival library on water makes me anxious... this was a great read.

julianam's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

eudoralynn's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I had mixed feelings when I started The Book of Flora, by Meg Elison. I loved The Book of the Unnamed Midwife and The Book of Etta, but I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about Flora's story. I didn't care for Flora as I character in the Book of Etta, as Flora seemed to be heavily tied into the demise of Nowhere and the capture of Etta by the Lion. And even in the beginning of The Book of Flora, I didn't see redeaming qualities about Flora. She was a slave made into a slavers apprentice, all while being something that wasn't accepted at the time.

This book, and notabley the whole series, focuses heavily on LGBTQIA+ rights, and trying to understand where you fit into in a world not meant for you. I was happy Etta/Eddy was able to finally end up with like-minded individuals after fighting for their own beliefs for so long. As for Connie, the living child of Flora, they were an incel of their time, and it was interesting to see the slippery slope that was only recognized after they were too programmed into their beliefs.

I love the parallels between time periods, between before the Dying and after the Dying, on top of the ties into our current societal discourse regarding LGBTQIA+ rights, women's rights, and bodily autonomy.

I'm updating my review. This series was a 5/5 for me, through and through.

5/5.

taylasversion's review against another edition

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2.0

I think the discourse of fluid sexuality and gender identity in a post apocalyptic world is a very interesting one, and Elison’s writing is still as beautiful as ever, However the two sequels simply don’t have the same magic that the Book of the Unnamed Midwife holds.

The ending was lacklustre in comparison to the rest of the trilogy.