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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The best thing I can say for this novel is that it made me want to reread Frankenstein. It started well, but ultimately failed to live up to it's promises. The saccharine ending was undeseserved and undermined the underlying point.
This book is so weird and precious.. and much bloodier than I expected! I enjoyed this so much but I was a little disappointed with the ending. Overall a great read and I will definitely read more from Noah Medlock if he writes anything else!
A Botanical Daughter, by Noah Medlock, has an intriguing premise and exciting potential themes—its exploration of queer found family and Frankenstein-esque horror—but ultimately, it failed to connect with me on either an emotional or intellectual level and left me indifferent rather than engaged.
One of the novel’s biggest weaknesses was its characterization. Simon and Gregor, two of the central characters, lacked any real depth. Characters can have negative traits—curmudgeonliness, for instance—and can still be likable if there’s something else that makes them endearing. However, these two felt flat, making it difficult for me to understand their motivations or feel invested in their relationship. Their dynamic lacked believability, as their relationship seemed more like an accident of circumstance than a genuine connection.
Also, Gregor’s mind is described as “fevered” early in the book, which set me up for a deep dive into the psyche of a mad genius, but in this case, the descriptor merely seems to indicate his thoughts and actions would be opaque. This book just didn’t provide me with enough insight into his inner workings to make his behavior or emotions feel meaningful.
Marketing A Botanical Daughter as a "witty horror" felt a bit misleading. I expect horror to provoke some reaction—whether fear, unease, shock, or suspense—but this book failed to do any of that for me. While I don’t consider myself an expert in the genre by any means, I expected at least some tension or discomfort, yet I found the horror elements were just too weak to leave an impact.
Additionally, I found there were some missed opportunities in theme exploration. The novel briefly introduced some intriguing ideas early on, they just weren’t developed well enough to be truly thought-provoking. There were two descriptions that stood out to me: one comparing an orchid to the Art Nouveau style—a style inspired by natural forms—and another describing a character’s mouth in terms of a perfect parabola—a mathematically defined shape. These moments hinted at a potentially interesting exploration of how humans impose structure and classification on nature, say, or perhaps even touching on themes of British imperialism. Unfortunately, the novel failed to fully explore these ideas, and my growing boredom kept me from seeking out additional examples that might have revealed a deeper thematic intent.
A Botanical Daughter had many of the ingredients for an engaging novel but it lacked the execution to make them compelling. While some readers might find value in its quieter moments or underlying themes, it ultimately did not work for me.
One of the novel’s biggest weaknesses was its characterization. Simon and Gregor, two of the central characters, lacked any real depth. Characters can have negative traits—curmudgeonliness, for instance—and can still be likable if there’s something else that makes them endearing. However, these two felt flat, making it difficult for me to understand their motivations or feel invested in their relationship. Their dynamic lacked believability, as their relationship seemed more like an accident of circumstance than a genuine connection.
Also, Gregor’s mind is described as “fevered” early in the book, which set me up for a deep dive into the psyche of a mad genius, but in this case, the descriptor merely seems to indicate his thoughts and actions would be opaque. This book just didn’t provide me with enough insight into his inner workings to make his behavior or emotions feel meaningful.
Marketing A Botanical Daughter as a "witty horror" felt a bit misleading. I expect horror to provoke some reaction—whether fear, unease, shock, or suspense—but this book failed to do any of that for me. While I don’t consider myself an expert in the genre by any means, I expected at least some tension or discomfort, yet I found the horror elements were just too weak to leave an impact.
Additionally, I found there were some missed opportunities in theme exploration. The novel briefly introduced some intriguing ideas early on, they just weren’t developed well enough to be truly thought-provoking. There were two descriptions that stood out to me: one comparing an orchid to the Art Nouveau style—a style inspired by natural forms—and another describing a character’s mouth in terms of a perfect parabola—a mathematically defined shape. These moments hinted at a potentially interesting exploration of how humans impose structure and classification on nature, say, or perhaps even touching on themes of British imperialism. Unfortunately, the novel failed to fully explore these ideas, and my growing boredom kept me from seeking out additional examples that might have revealed a deeper thematic intent.
A Botanical Daughter had many of the ingredients for an engaging novel but it lacked the execution to make them compelling. While some readers might find value in its quieter moments or underlying themes, it ultimately did not work for me.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
Frankenstein meets Fungal horror with a touch of queer romance in this story about two Victorian gentlemen, a botanist and a taxidermist, who have hidden their relationship in a botanical garden and have begun to experiment on creating a "daughter". Simon and Gregor are unusual men, they live together in their own botanical garden, dividing the space for each of their own separate work. Gregor is a botanist who yearns to get a place in the Royal Horticultural Society and has begun working on a new plant... a plant that he uses on a recently deceased corpse... a plant that is growing and becoming "aware." Simon is Gregor's partner and a taxidermist who spends most of his time working on his art in a dark basement. Together Simon and Gregor craft together a "Daughter" from the corpse, they create Chloe, an experiment who is growing and flourishing at an alarming rate... yet there is a cost to this growth and the maintenance of what Chloe is, is only becoming harder. Can Gregor and Simon figure out how to maintain their new daughter and keep prying eyes away... or was it a doomed experiment from the start? This was definitely an interesting fungal horror take on Frankenstein with a touch of queer romance in it. The story definitely had a ton of potential on some parts but other parts were really lacking. I loved the fungal horror and the experiment a la Frankenstein story, but what I really wish was further worked on and fleshed out was the relationship between Simon and Gregor, they might be called romantic partners but they didn't even feel like partners, there was no romance, there was barely any real relationship shown between the two and I just don't think that it works out well in the story without a strong relationship. I wanted their story to be explored, I wanted their strained relationship, their ethical dilemmas and fatherhood mentality to be explored in their relationship, especially since they are two queer men having a forbidden relationship outside the bonds of regular society. I feel like the book definitely is a good read it just isn't a great one and it has potential and fans of Frankenstein should definitely give a go though!
*Thanks Netgalley and Titan Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*
*Thanks Netgalley and Titan Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Murder
Minor: Homophobia, Suicide
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes