A review by bookish_leslie
The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry

hopeful mysterious slow-paced

3.75

Overall, I’m glad I read this book, but it confused me because I should have liked it more than I did. It had many of the story elements that I love:

  • An interesting premise
  • A mystery
  • Beautiful descriptions of atmosphere/place
  • A hint of fairytale magic

But sadly, for me, it fell a bit flat.

Pacing: First of all, the pacing was off. It was soooo slow through most of the book, and then the ending was quite rushed. I could only read small sections of this book at a time before wanting to put it down, and then it was often difficult to pick back up again.

Characters: I also couldn't connect emotionally with the characters. They were all just a bit stiff and flat, and it was hard to care about any of them or what they were going through.

Writing: I enjoyed the way the author described the different settings and also how she talked about stories and fairytales. I’m a sucker for words that flow in poetic ways.

“Not very long ago and not very far away, there once was and still is an invisible place right here with us. And if you are born knowing, you will find your way through the woodlands to the shimmering doors that lead to the land made just and exactly for you.”

With that being said, I occasionally had to re-read sentences. The dialogue felt stiff. Certain parts didn’t fit or flow together very well - to such an extent that I sometimes thought I’d accidentally skipped a page, but hadn’t. It was often repetitive, and the Peggy Andrews storyline was particularly awkward and under-developed.
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