Reviews

Bloemen van de duisternis by Tatiana de Rosnay

jess_mango's review against another edition

4.0

My book club (and I think every other book club) read [b:Sarah's Key|556602|Sarah's Key|Tatiana de Rosnay|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1438863728l/556602._SX50_.jpg|2523229] back around 2006 when it first came out. That is the only book that I've read by Tatiana de Rosnay, so in my mind I had her in the WWII Historical Fiction author category. Well, color me surprised when this latest release from de Rosnay is NOT historical fiction but is instead near future fiction. The book is still set in Paris, like Sarah's Key, but has a completely different vibe.

Clarissa Katsef is an author living in Paris in the years following a series of terrorist attacks and climate change. The city is a much different place than we know today. Bees are extinct so flowers are very rare, deadly heat waves strike regularly. Clarissa has recently left her 2nd husband after he's betrayed her. She winds up living in a new ultra modern artist's residence where all of the apartments are occupied by writers, painters and the like. Each unit is wired with a Virtual Personal Assistant (think Alexa or Siri) and the residents must undergo regular health evaluations run by the mirror in their bathrooms. Clarissa starts becoming paranoid about her living situation and ropes in her teenaged granddaughter to help her investigate.

So, this ended up being way more suspenseful than I would've thought initially. But, I really enjoyed the ride! There were themes of betrayal, grief and moving on. There was also a lot about "sense of place", which was actually on of the main focuses of Clarissa's writing. I recommend this book to anyone who thinks that the Siri, GoogleHome, and Alexa are going to take over the world. ;)

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!

mollykeener's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

2.0

This book was on track to be a solid 3 star read, possibly rising to 4. But the wholly unsatisfying ended sank it to a 2. Sometimes unresolved, ambiguous endings that let readers decide the outcome are successful—not this time. Given the piercing authenticity with which the author crafts a near-future world of AI oversight, soaring temperatures, and fake gardens, to not resolve whether it is manipulation or imagination was weak. And the mistress? Ew.

crafalsk264's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Clarissa Katsef is an author began publication of her work in her 50s. As such, she is one of the oldest residents selected for an apartment in a new building specifically designed for artists. The building was brand new with state of the art features including an AI virtual assistant that controls  everything in the apartment from the lighting and climate control to the shopping and reception of Clarissa’s phone and email notices. Clarissa is escaping from her adulterous husband and desperate to find a new apartment. She has a daughter in her forties, a granddaughter in her teens. Her 98 year old father, a first husband and her current husband complete her family. 

From her first day in the apartment, Clarissa has an undeniable feeling of being watched. Her AI (Mrs. Dalloway) seems to be taking over more and more of her life. As Clarissa descends into depression, confusion, and extreme distrust of others grows, the reader becomes aware that she is living in a dystopian and Paris is no longer the world she has lived in.

De Rosnay incorporates aging, trust, identity, and a place in the world. The drama plays out in a refurbished Paris where there are no real flowers, birds and natural scents and sounds. The book considers how a society deals with life altering cataclysmic events and their aftermath. Clarissa’s journey of discovery is a turbulent upheaval of the life she thinks she knows and her place within it. The POV changes from a third party narrator to a first person perspective in pages from a notebook that Clarissa keeps regarding her feelings and efforts to understand what has happened to her. The book examines a sense of place and the weight of secrets. It also looks at some of the potential impacts of artificial intelligence on our daily lives.

I enjoyed this book but found some of it disturbing. The author did a good job of setting up the atmosphere of a dystopian world built on familiar elements. The suspense definitely grew and deepened throughout the first 75% of the novel before taking a surprise twist that ended the story in a totally unexpected way. I think a lot about what kind of world we would have after a cataclysmic event(s). Recommend to readers of mysteries, thrillers, suspense, science fiction, dystopian societies and artificial intelligence.

kemlynnhotmailcom's review against another edition

3.0

Original idea, not as clear in the storying telling as I like.

read_y_picker's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

bmpicc's review against another edition

1.0

So bummed. I genuinely enjoy her writing and I loved her previous books. This could have been a deep story. Main character dealing with grief and depression... with a side of Virginia Woolf & Romain Gary history. Instead it opted for Artificial Intelligence and then "jumped the shark".

Spoiler Alert: Who wants to build a robotic "buddy"? ugh... nope. And the worst part? No quotes jumped out at me this time :(

readingnightandday's review against another edition

3.0

Hmm. I liked this up to the last chapter. What about the apartment??

bridget_h's review against another edition

5.0

A thrilling, dark, futuristic, realistic (I know - contradictory!) read. This is unlike de Rosnay's other historical fiction novels and she excels here - I hope to see more books like this from her. I was really impressed how she blended a dystopian future with a very grounded present. Clarissa the main character was someone I immediately felt attached. There was a lot of content to cover in this book - AI, robots, art, climate change, relationships. I do wish there wish the book closed the loop on Jim and Adelka (the neighbors) a little better, and even Andy, though this is a minor wish. I was completed enthralled with this book and will definitely highly recommend.

gardenreadermom's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

I found this book very interesting in some ways, but overall there were just too many problems...global warming, international terrorism, lack of privacy, and overreaching AI to name a few.  I think it would have been better to focus and the last two.  

jennie_cole's review against another edition

3.0

Tatiana de Rosnay's novel are usually historical fiction however Flowers of Darkness is a cli-fi novel set in the near future. The story revolves around writer Clarissa who leaves her husband and gets a place in a new artist housing building but it comes with some requirements. Over the course of several weeks Clarissa becomes suspicious of the group running the housing but with all of the turmoil in her life recently will anyone believe her or just think she is losing it.

While I was not expecting a future cli-fi novel from de Rosnay I will say that I enjoyed it greatly. It is a blend of cli-fi, thriller, mystery, Paris-based fiction. It has something for everyone and is familiar enough while having some scary events that shape the world Clarissa lives in.