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itsviviactually's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
katherineshawwrites's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Wow. This book has everything I could ever want in a novel. Tension, romance, tragedy, horror, and a unique dark fantasy element which felt both brand new and classically eldritch and almost Lovecraftian. The emotions were perfectly balanced throughout, giving us moments of loving tenderness and cruel heartbreak in equal measure, which ensured my heartstrings were always being pulled in one way or another (in the best possible way).
I loved the characters, and watching Elodie and Ezri's love for each other be realised on the page was just wonderful. The mix between present-day story and memories of the past was done extremely well, drip feeding us just enough information to keep me hooked. The pacing was bang on, and there was always an element of mystery to the story right until the very end, which is something that is difficult to pull off well, but was skillfully executed here.
All in all, an excellent read which I would highly recommend for any dark fantasy fan.
I loved the characters, and watching Elodie and Ezri's love for each other be realised on the page was just wonderful. The mix between present-day story and memories of the past was done extremely well, drip feeding us just enough information to keep me hooked. The pacing was bang on, and there was always an element of mystery to the story right until the very end, which is something that is difficult to pull off well, but was skillfully executed here.
All in all, an excellent read which I would highly recommend for any dark fantasy fan.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Violence, Bullying, and Cursing
Moderate: Hate crime
shell_s's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Ghost Flower is a dark, original contemporary fantasy that starts and ends in sacrifice, but along the way comes found family and love worth fighting for.
This is as bittersweet, heartwrenching, and empowering a story of standing up to bullies and of queer true love and steadfast friendship, told in as literary a flashback-laden style, as I anticipated after having read Three Sharp Knives. After that first book I added the talented Jessica Conwell to a short list of authors who whose books I buy knowing I'm about to feel emotionally gutted.
In this novel as in life, children are difficult to control, even for an ancient deity of creation...and some ruthless parents only grasp harder for dominance the more their children question them and reach for independence.
And as in life, families and small towns are distorted by their need for secrets and keeping up appearances.
Parents are especially tricky to keep secrets from, and that goes double if you're the offspring of a malevolent deity like teenage Elodie is, or one of the few openly queer girls in a small town high school like Ezri is, raising hackles just by daring to exist without 'discretion' (read: shame) over being different.
And small towns like Washington's Rook Lake can be a hotbed of dark secrets and vicious gossip all at once, the pressure to conform and put on a pleasant facade positively smothering.
And another painful truth about secrets in these pages? When it comes to our heart's desire, sometimes it's ourselves we deceive the most, because deep down we feel unworthy of that special person, that unconditional love we hardly dare imagine.
The main characters of any book can make a story soar or falter for me, and this cast soars, sometimes literally. Elodie has convinced her progenitor Cennend to let her experience life among humans in a body she designed herself, but the lessons she learns aren't the ones her parent was counting on. Soon she's desperate to develop her anima (life force) manipulating powers for good, instead of joining Cennend's vicious plans with her corrupt following of Rook Lake's elite.
Ezri sees herself as Elodie's defender and the only one in a small-minded cesspool of a town who gets how awesome her awkward best friend is, and fantasizes about the two of them running away together—little guessing at the epic bonds tying Elodie to the land and its twisted sentient consciousness.
A study in contrasts, misfits Ezri and Elodie are impossible not to root for, the former tough and foul-mouthed and the latter gentle and generous to a fault, both loyal and fierce and occasionally funny and often self-doubting but inspired by one another to be their bravest and best selves.
Their tormentors are truly heinous and brutal and masters of self-justification (when they bother to reflect at all).
And then there's the mysterious entity that seems to watch Elodie's every move for reasons of its own, waiting to reveal itself and change forever what she thought she knew.
Elodie and Ezri must find their way to each other and their authentic selves past all obstacles, discover their own tenacity to survive and protect, and become all that stands between Cennend and its puppets who would destroy the world to remake it.
WHEN A BOOK ABOUT THE POSSIBLE END OF THE WORLD HAS YOU SEEING JOYFUL POSSIBILITIES IN A SEQUEL, BOOST THE SIGNAL!
This is as bittersweet, heartwrenching, and empowering a story of standing up to bullies and of queer true love and steadfast friendship, told in as literary a flashback-laden style, as I anticipated after having read Three Sharp Knives. After that first book I added the talented Jessica Conwell to a short list of authors who whose books I buy knowing I'm about to feel emotionally gutted.
In this novel as in life, children are difficult to control, even for an ancient deity of creation...and some ruthless parents only grasp harder for dominance the more their children question them and reach for independence.
And as in life, families and small towns are distorted by their need for secrets and keeping up appearances.
Parents are especially tricky to keep secrets from, and that goes double if you're the offspring of a malevolent deity like teenage Elodie is, or one of the few openly queer girls in a small town high school like Ezri is, raising hackles just by daring to exist without 'discretion' (read: shame) over being different.
And small towns like Washington's Rook Lake can be a hotbed of dark secrets and vicious gossip all at once, the pressure to conform and put on a pleasant facade positively smothering.
And another painful truth about secrets in these pages? When it comes to our heart's desire, sometimes it's ourselves we deceive the most, because deep down we feel unworthy of that special person, that unconditional love we hardly dare imagine.
The main characters of any book can make a story soar or falter for me, and this cast soars, sometimes literally. Elodie has convinced her progenitor Cennend to let her experience life among humans in a body she designed herself, but the lessons she learns aren't the ones her parent was counting on. Soon she's desperate to develop her anima (life force) manipulating powers for good, instead of joining Cennend's vicious plans with her corrupt following of Rook Lake's elite.
Ezri sees herself as Elodie's defender and the only one in a small-minded cesspool of a town who gets how awesome her awkward best friend is, and fantasizes about the two of them running away together—little guessing at the epic bonds tying Elodie to the land and its twisted sentient consciousness.
A study in contrasts, misfits Ezri and Elodie are impossible not to root for, the former tough and foul-mouthed and the latter gentle and generous to a fault, both loyal and fierce and occasionally funny and often self-doubting but inspired by one another to be their bravest and best selves.
Their tormentors are truly heinous and brutal and masters of self-justification (when they bother to reflect at all).
And then there's the mysterious entity that seems to watch Elodie's every move for reasons of its own, waiting to reveal itself and change forever what she thought she knew.
Elodie and Ezri must find their way to each other and their authentic selves past all obstacles, discover their own tenacity to survive and protect, and become all that stands between Cennend and its puppets who would destroy the world to remake it.
WHEN A BOOK ABOUT THE POSSIBLE END OF THE WORLD HAS YOU SEEING JOYFUL POSSIBILITIES IN A SEQUEL, BOOST THE SIGNAL!
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