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A review by luluwoohoo
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland (audiobook narrated by Louise Crawford)
☀️☀️☀️⛅
A powerful debut novel that tackles a tough coming-of-age journey well, but gets lost in its own need to prove itself.
My overall impression of this novel is that it tries to tell two different stories. The first half was, for me, much more captivating, following Alice's life with two broken families as she approaches adulthood. Unfortunately the dramatic whims of June and the unbelievable head-over-heels romance with Dylan spoiled what had been until that point relatively nuanced, and the second half felt heavy handed and one-dimensional in its exploration of the themes at hand. I think the story could have been more impactful without the unnecessary miscommunication signposted ahead of time.
Alice as a main character is sometimes a struggle to stay connected to, though it does track as natural given her circumstances. The mental gymnastics during her love affair was particularly well described and haunting, but overall her melodrama left me wanting a more mature voice of reason.
Ringland's writing is lovely throughout but does vary heavily between being overly descriptive and sparse. This works well during nature-based scenes but very much hinders the romance sub-plots, where we're given nothing of substance to understand why Alice falls so quickly and easily for almost every man who enters her life.
I wanted to enjoy this more, but it just wasn't a book written for me. I would still recommend it given the strong voice and heartfelt message.
☀️☀️☀️⛅
A powerful debut novel that tackles a tough coming-of-age journey well, but gets lost in its own need to prove itself.
My overall impression of this novel is that it tries to tell two different stories. The first half was, for me, much more captivating, following Alice's life with two broken families as she approaches adulthood. Unfortunately the dramatic whims of June and the unbelievable head-over-heels romance with Dylan spoiled what had been until that point relatively nuanced, and the second half felt heavy handed and one-dimensional in its exploration of the themes at hand. I think the story could have been more impactful without the unnecessary miscommunication signposted ahead of time.
Alice as a main character is sometimes a struggle to stay connected to, though it does track as natural given her circumstances. The mental gymnastics during her love affair was particularly well described and haunting, but overall her melodrama left me wanting a more mature voice of reason.
Ringland's writing is lovely throughout but does vary heavily between being overly descriptive and sparse. This works well during nature-based scenes but very much hinders the romance sub-plots, where we're given nothing of substance to understand why Alice falls so quickly and easily for almost every man who enters her life.
I wanted to enjoy this more, but it just wasn't a book written for me. I would still recommend it given the strong voice and heartfelt message.
"Life is lived forward, but only understood backward. You can't see the landscape you're in while you're in it."