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A review by blacksphinx
Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell
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.)
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.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Medical content
Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Mental illness and Fire/Fire injury
I want to list a brief content warning for an emotionally abusive relationship between a father and a son culminating in the child being disowned and kicked out . The situation is quickly resolved, but I figured if vulnerable (especially queer) teens are reading this book it was worth a mention.