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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What an interesting fantasy realism book. As the cover can attest to, this book and its characters revolve around a garden of paradise where everything is ideal. Characters have gone there to escape their lives and start afresh so that they can heal from their past.
Our main character arrives to the garden after answering an advertisement for a job posting, heartbroken and stuck in her life. As the story progresses we understand the heartache that she went through and the obstacles she was unable to overcome in her old life. She forms new bonds and attractions and starts to feel better everyday. The only catch is she's also starts to feel suspicious. There are strange rules attached with this striking the perfect opportunity, and questions are not only unanswered but hostily shut down. There are many things to uncover in the garden of paradise. Peace Love and violence.
Our main character arrives to the garden after answering an advertisement for a job posting, heartbroken and stuck in her life. As the story progresses we understand the heartache that she went through and the obstacles she was unable to overcome in her old life. She forms new bonds and attractions and starts to feel better everyday. The only catch is she's also starts to feel suspicious. There are strange rules attached with this striking the perfect opportunity, and questions are not only unanswered but hostily shut down. There are many things to uncover in the garden of paradise. Peace Love and violence.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I had a very difficult time maintaining focus for the first 60%. Part of me wonders if I’m just not the intended audience. I can certainly see this book offering a kind of community for those struggling with fertility issues, but personally I think a book should offer you more. In short, it was a bit boring and pretty predictable.
I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I had a very difficult time maintaining focus for the first 60%. Part of me wonders if I’m just not the intended audience. I can certainly see this book offering a kind of community for those struggling with fertility issues, but personally I think a book should offer you more. In short, it was a bit boring and pretty predictable.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Alchemy Of Flowers, wonderfully narrated by Cassandra Campbell, is a beautiful story of pain, healing, and hope.
Following her divorce, Eloise moves from Colorado to France after accepting a job at a secluded garden chateau. The living will be off grid, peaceful, and quiet. This is exactly what Eloise is looking for after her painful marriage.
She's promised healing and solitude, but there are rules. No talking about the chateau with outsiders. Don't be outside at dusk. Absolutely no children.
Despite the strangeness of the rules and remote location, Eloise quickly bonds with the other workers and she feels herself start to heal.
Until she hears the giggling voice of a child in the woods.
This is such a beautiful tribute to mothers and motherhood, grief and healing, and hope.
The characters are all so pained and full of regrets, but in sharing that pain with their friends they find it easier to start healing.
That message should speak to so many of us. because we all just want to feel seen. Pain and all.
Following her divorce, Eloise moves from Colorado to France after accepting a job at a secluded garden chateau. The living will be off grid, peaceful, and quiet. This is exactly what Eloise is looking for after her painful marriage.
She's promised healing and solitude, but there are rules. No talking about the chateau with outsiders. Don't be outside at dusk. Absolutely no children.
Despite the strangeness of the rules and remote location, Eloise quickly bonds with the other workers and she feels herself start to heal.
Until she hears the giggling voice of a child in the woods.
This is such a beautiful tribute to mothers and motherhood, grief and healing, and hope.
The characters are all so pained and full of regrets, but in sharing that pain with their friends they find it easier to start healing.
That message should speak to so many of us. because we all just want to feel seen. Pain and all.
A very big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this eARC!
The Alchemy of Flowers intrigued me from the blurb alone, and the novel as a whole completely delivered. As I read, I truly felt transported into seeing things through Eloise's perspective. It's hard to get that right in writing, but Resau manages it with ease.
I also thoroughly relished the refreshing narrative of womanhood and motherhood, the discussion that one needn't birth their own child to feel that strong maternal urge, or be a true mother. It was utterly beautiful, and I can only hope many women read this and feel comfort that their stories are being told.
The Alchemy of Flowers intrigued me from the blurb alone, and the novel as a whole completely delivered. As I read, I truly felt transported into seeing things through Eloise's perspective. It's hard to get that right in writing, but Resau manages it with ease.
I also thoroughly relished the refreshing narrative of womanhood and motherhood, the discussion that one needn't birth their own child to feel that strong maternal urge, or be a true mother. It was utterly beautiful, and I can only hope many women read this and feel comfort that their stories are being told.
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a lovely read. The audiobook was beautifully read, full of emotion and the proper French pronunciation! Trying to escape from her past and infertility issues, Eloise takes a job at a secretive French garden enclosed within the walls of a private estate. There are rules that are to be followed if one wants to stay in Paradise. No gossiping. No leaving one’s room during dusk. No children allowed on the premises. This story mixes mystery, magic, the heartbreaking journey of infertility with found family and finding happiness again. I loved the characters and Eloise’s journey during her time in Paradise. A wonderful hug to those who have experienced a similar journey. Beautifully written and an impressive debut.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!
Thank you Harper Muse Audio and Netgalley for the ARC!
This book was heartbreaking and healing. Giving people warning that this book talks about child loss, pregnancy loss, infertility, relationships falling apart, and SA. It talks about healing from all of these in a place that is beautiful, but also showing that one cannot heal if one always runs away from the problem. If you aren't addressing what hurts you in the first place, how can you move forward?
I loved that the FMC healed in this book via everyday things, a friendship with a woman who can relate, a man who almost died, a young girl who helped get her smile back. It wasn't some grand thing, she just slowly felt better and came out of her shell day by day while living in the beautiful garden. But, I also liked that it showed that when one isn't trying to heal, the garden can be just as dangerous.
If you want a good cry, go ahead and pick this up!
This book was heartbreaking and healing. Giving people warning that this book talks about child loss, pregnancy loss, infertility, relationships falling apart, and SA. It talks about healing from all of these in a place that is beautiful, but also showing that one cannot heal if one always runs away from the problem. If you aren't addressing what hurts you in the first place, how can you move forward?
I loved that the FMC healed in this book via everyday things, a friendship with a woman who can relate, a man who almost died, a young girl who helped get her smile back. It wasn't some grand thing, she just slowly felt better and came out of her shell day by day while living in the beautiful garden. But, I also liked that it showed that when one isn't trying to heal, the garden can be just as dangerous.
If you want a good cry, go ahead and pick this up!
I actually hate everything about this.
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Such a wonderful read!
A well balanced mix of contemporary fiction and magical realism.
The characters were really beautiful and the plot was engaging and mysterious in the best way possible.
Would definitely read another adult work of fiction from the author.
A well balanced mix of contemporary fiction and magical realism.
The characters were really beautiful and the plot was engaging and mysterious in the best way possible.
Would definitely read another adult work of fiction from the author.