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carijacqueline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Abandonment
writingcaia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This is the coming of age of Alice Hart who at nine loses her father and pregnant mother to a fire, a fire she thinks she caused escaping her abusive, violent father. Initially, in very bad shape due to her fathers abuse, she stays in the hospital for a long time, and there she has only the librarian she met once reading to her, then a grandmother she never knew she had comes to take her when she is released, even though the trauma has taken her voice. And, there she goes into the unknown, into place that will be the secrets and the past hidden from her but always present, where truths and more lies lie, and the place where she will grow and love, and find that there, at Thornfield, where wild flowers bloom, a native flowers farm, florist and floriographist place, where abused and lost women - the “Flowers” - care for it, she too will blossom. But, will her overbearing, stubborn grandmother June allow her to fully be herself, to fully bloom?
So many secrets, so much violence in this family story, in these enchanting places, from a beautiful and raw seaside, to the dry and flowered native desert, in an Australia of abused women, abused natives.
Alice will have to brave it all and discover if she’s strong enough to break her family’s cycle, to have her voice and not let it be taken from her, to be the owner of her destiny.
I could talk about it all at length. The characters are rich and the history of the family so dense and complicated. The flowers, plant ones and women ones, and how they’ll play such a great part in all of it. But, I don’t want to give it away. I want you to brave it all with Alice.
For me the novel only failed in that I would have liked to know more of the implied final romance and more of some of the “Flowers” backstories and destinies, and the dog!!!
An absolutely gorgeous debut nonetheless, with, as you gathered, themes of family, abuse, coming of age, colonialism, and the good and bad people that shape one’s life.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Rape, Animal cruelty, and Death
Minor: Animal death and Alcoholism
kiwichill's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Stalking, Physical abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Deportation, Infidelity, Child death, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, and Child abuse
Minor: Medical content
littleolash's review against another edition
- 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
The writing was easy, yet beautiful, to read. I found myself enjoying the secret language of flowers and going back to discover what characters were saying to each other through them. I already want to read it again.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual assault
martieliz's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse
Moderate: Grief, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders
yuidf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy and Infidelity
readers_digress's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Very interested in reading this type of story of the cyclical nature of generational trauma.
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Alcoholism
spellygirl's review against another edition
- 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
It was also very slow paced, jumping around a lot
And committing the same mistakes as so many others. I know it happens in real life, but it still bugs me.
Checking trigger warnings is recommended.
Graphic: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, and Child abuse
Moderate: Confinement, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Infidelity, and Stalking
triciasreadings's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Animal death, Child abuse, and Violence
annabelle_plan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Animal cruelty