Reviews

Where the Lilies Bloom by Bill Cleaver, Vera Cleaver

christine_exlibris's review against another edition

4.0

I read this as a teen many, many times and saw the movie. The character of Kiser Pease was played by the late, great Harry Dean Stanton, which was my first introduction to his fine acting skills. For some reason that only memory allows, I thought of this novel today and remembered how much I enjoyed it as a teenager.

grrrace's review against another edition

5.0

This was way less epic than I remember it being--I was surprised by how little time it spanned, but Mary Call was still wondrously tough so I still mostly loved it (Katniss of The Hunger Games so reminds me of her, and K. could totally have used her wildcrafting skills). I liked how the end wasn't about Mary Call giving up her own toughness or being saved by someone else (like Grandfather Boxcar Children), but realizing how much she'd underestimated the people around her.

p.s. In my memory I always saw Mary Call as young Jodie Foster and was convinced the actress who played her in the movie looked like Jodie, so I was totally surprised when I looked at the movie cover on imdb and saw the actress looked nothing like her.

sarahrigg's review against another edition

4.0

I read this as a preteen and adored it. Mary Call is a great character for a young girl to relate to, as she tries to hold her family together. When I was a kid, I was fascinated by the way they found and sold valuable wild plants to help with the family's finances.

dela46's review against another edition

4.0

I have probably read this book half a dozen times since I was a child, but I find myself drawn back to it every so often. I have always enjoyed the family's self-reliance and unyielding determination and love for one another.

alysonkent79's review

5.0

Still a favorite. And I had forgotten it takes place in the mountains of NC, which is where my family hails from. So that gave it a little more of a personal, relatable feel for me.

leonarkr's review

3.0

Incredibly depressing at times, but I appreciated the protagonist's struggles to keep her siblings together.

lucy_kenney18's review

3.0

It’s a good book it really is but I feel like it just didn’t have much of a plot I can’t even say they’re grieving for their father because any time he’s mentioned it’s just “nobody can know he died or we’ll get separated” and it’s not even that they’re trying to figure out ways to help the situation. They just keep lying and lying and as someone with anxiety it just made me anxious when characters would come into their house and request to see Roy.

a_kira's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

annablume's review

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Enjoyable read, but the point was....eh ok.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Death of parent, and Classism

julie_anne's review

emotional medium-paced

3.0