Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell

19 reviews

avacadosocks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Addiction

Moderate: Mental illness and Body horror

druzyquartz's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Grief, Abandonment, and Addiction

yessicookie's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective slow-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

3.0

An interesting depiction of mental health in a world of magic, it was very exciting and intense in some parts! Other parts were a bit slower. I am curious about this fantasy world, i do hope to see a sequel.

I will issue a content/trigger warning for those with a fear of plants growing under their skin that is a recurring theme throughout the entire book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Body horror

Minor: Emotional abuse and Child abuse

asahome's review

3.75

TL;DR: A young woman must put aside her personal feelings in order to learn to control her magic. A new teacher helps her learn that Elsa (from Frozen) has a better way of dealing with her emotions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Medical content, Ableism, Mental illness, and Addiction

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Death of parent, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual content

Ableism:

the people in charge of the healers sect are unwilling to help people suffering from depression and anxiety and are unwilling to recognize it as a problem

Medical Content:

the main characters are healers, they deal with all things medical

Death of Parent, Vomit:

the parent vomits flower petals and there is a worry it will kill him

Warnings from the Inside Cover: absent parent, anxiety and depression, body horror, emesis, fantasy substance abuse, medical issues, non-consensual enchantment

camiclarkbooks's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted 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

4.25

One of my dearest friends gave me “Flowerheart” for Christmas so it moved to the top of my TBR. She said that it was a charming, cozy standalone and I’m happy to report that she was right (she always is)! 

“Flowerheart” was a fun YA fantasy that gave serious cottagecore vibes but did have some spooky elements to it. It reminded me of a lighthearted “Sorcery of Thorns,” which is one of my favorite books. 

Bakewell definitely leaned on the vibes of the book, but the characters were sweet and the plot was engaging. I love an element of mystery and a deadline from higher forces and “Flowerheart” featured both! 

As much as I enjoyed the book, I wasn’t totally satisfied with the ending. I’m not able to say much more without spoiling anything, but there were some consequences and decisions that everyone was distressed by until the end when they appear to have forgotten everything. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Abandonment, Addiction, and Drug abuse

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Mental illness

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Vomit, Body horror, and Mental illness

Minor: Drug use, Abandonment, Medical content, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, and Bullying

queenkath32's review

hopeful mysterious

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Drug abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

zimmermanrl15's review

adventurous hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Overall, I'd say it was an okay read.  This book gave me Howl's Moving Castle vibes so many times while reading it which was great, but it felt too much like reading a Howl and Sophie fanfiction. 

The plot and subplot felt a bit all over the place and some things that needed to be fleshed out some more were quickly rushed through. I think this story would have worked better as a series versus a standalone. I also feel like some of my gripes with the story may just be that I am an adult so I think a lot of elements of the story fall flat for me, but would be eaten up by someone of the intended audience. 

All this said, I do think the Catherine could absolutely be a powerhouse in the cozy fantasy genre. I'd love to see an adult cozy fantasy from her in the future!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse

Minor: Abandonment

mimmixoxo's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

3.75

I do agree with a lot of the comments that it feels as if something is missing or the end is underdeveloped especially with Clara’s mother. Overall a fun and quick read that helped me through my latest reading slump. (Although be wary of content warnings)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Addiction

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Vomit, and Chronic illness

sab_rose's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Abandonment, and Mental illness

Moderate: Blood and Cursing