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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Leesa Cross-Smith has quickly become one of my favorite writers so as soon as I saw she had a new novel coming out, I jumped at the chance to get my hands on a preview copy. As with her previous novels Whiskey & Ribbons and This Close to Okay, her upcoming novel Half-Blown Rose is very much a novel exploring identity through a time of dramatic personal change. There’s a lightness and easy optimism to Half-Blown Rose that’s difficult to describe. Where so many novels about self-discovery feel heavy and rooted in tragedy, the heroine of this novel doesn’t feel dragged down by the betrayal she’s recently experienced. There are pain and anger to be sure, but it isn’t debilitating in the way so often portrayed. Nor does the main character’s transformation feel like it’s driven by a need to change specifically in reaction to what’s happened. Rather, so much of the novel takes place in a space of indecision and, therefore, of possibility, which lends even the more somber moments of the novel a hopeful undercurrent rather than a tragic or angry one.
Vincent is living in Paris, teaching classes at a local museum and selling her hand-made jewelry online after separating from her husband of twenty-four years. Her husband, Cillian, has published several novels but his latest is autobiographical in nature and delves into the origins of their relationship and a part of his past he never told her about – a child he fathered at fifteen with a girl his parents moved him half-a-world away from and whom he never contacted in the years since… It’s also a book he didn’t talk to Vincent about or let her read before it published, blind-siding her and laying their personal life bare for the world to see. As she decides what to do about her marriage, Vincent embarks on a flirtation with one of her (much younger) students, Loup, and finds herself more drawn to a possible future in Paris, especially since her children are grown. But what would her family and friends make of her developing relationship with Loup (and does she even care what they think)?
For the rest of my review, please visit my blog: https://wp.me/pUEx4-1bH
Vincent is living in Paris, teaching classes at a local museum and selling her hand-made jewelry online after separating from her husband of twenty-four years. Her husband, Cillian, has published several novels but his latest is autobiographical in nature and delves into the origins of their relationship and a part of his past he never told her about – a child he fathered at fifteen with a girl his parents moved him half-a-world away from and whom he never contacted in the years since… It’s also a book he didn’t talk to Vincent about or let her read before it published, blind-siding her and laying their personal life bare for the world to see. As she decides what to do about her marriage, Vincent embarks on a flirtation with one of her (much younger) students, Loup, and finds herself more drawn to a possible future in Paris, especially since her children are grown. But what would her family and friends make of her developing relationship with Loup (and does she even care what they think)?
For the rest of my review, please visit my blog: https://wp.me/pUEx4-1bH
slow-paced
medium-paced
3.5 stars rounded up.
This book is LOVELY. It's beautifully written in a dreamy, modern style. It's littered with playlists, good ones. Everyone is smart and interesting and attractive and thoughtful.
And that's my problem. This book is a dream. There aren't serious consequences for anyone's actions, or if there are, we aren't seeing them and our main character, isn't experiencing them. The result is a story that is wonderful to wander through but left me feeling a little bored and disappointed by the end.
Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC.
This book is LOVELY. It's beautifully written in a dreamy, modern style. It's littered with playlists, good ones. Everyone is smart and interesting and attractive and thoughtful.
And that's my problem. This book is a dream. There aren't serious consequences for anyone's actions, or if there are, we aren't seeing them and our main character, isn't experiencing them. The result is a story that is wonderful to wander through but left me feeling a little bored and disappointed by the end.
Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Vincent Wilde runs away from her home in Kentucky to her parents’ Paris apartment after learning, along with the rest of the reading world, that her best-selling-author husband, Cillian, fathered a child at 15 years old and never told Vincent in their 25 years together. Vincent (yes, after Van Gogh) explores Paris newly jolted from domestic comfort and committed to do What She Wants. That soon becomes Who She Wants when Vincent falls for Loup, 20+ years her junior.
Whew.
In texting about this book, my overall feelings were summarized thusly: The pacing was so, so off putting. I loved the writing and the lyricism. I was shocked by all the turns of events. I was confused by the lack of conversations about privilege and race. I continued to get Eat, Pray, Love and Carrie Bradshaw (obsession with Paris) vibes. I truly don’t know who the target audience is for this book!
The true shining light of this book is Cross-Smith’s style of writing: short vignettes rich with feeling and color. I think this style suits Vincent during her time in Paris because of her unwillingness (bordering on need) to feel untethered and free from Cillian and their life together.
My overall impression of Half-Blown Rose was the same as Eat, Pray, Love: who can afford to have this experience except for the elite? And thus, who is going to relate to this book?
Vincent acknowledges her wealth privilege briefly while with her entire family— two well-known and wealthy artist parents and two well-to-do siblings— in Amsterdam. To which they all traveled relatively last minute on a whim! What fun! And Vincent has the added freeness to leave Kentucky because her two children are not in the home and in their 20s. She supplements her Parisian life by creating jewelry and teaching art classes at a museum.
I tried not to be bitter but at the same time… excuse me?
I really was rooting for Vincent. Truly. I mean, for goodness sakes, she learned about her husband’s secret love child IN A BOOK at the time it was PUBLISHED for everyone else to read and learn too?! But then, I found myself wondering when I’d see her angry. And then, towards the end of the novel, when I’d see her accept consequences of her own actions. When I finished Half-Blown Rose, though, I wanted the best for her regardless.
If someone asked, “Should I read this book?” I’d respond with a shrug and say, “Yeah… sure.”
Thank you to Net Galley and Grand Central Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review of Half-Blown Rose by Leesa Cross-Smith.
Whew.
In texting about this book, my overall feelings were summarized thusly: The pacing was so, so off putting. I loved the writing and the lyricism. I was shocked by all the turns of events. I was confused by the lack of conversations about privilege and race. I continued to get Eat, Pray, Love and Carrie Bradshaw (obsession with Paris) vibes. I truly don’t know who the target audience is for this book!
The true shining light of this book is Cross-Smith’s style of writing: short vignettes rich with feeling and color. I think this style suits Vincent during her time in Paris because of her unwillingness (bordering on need) to feel untethered and free from Cillian and their life together.
My overall impression of Half-Blown Rose was the same as Eat, Pray, Love: who can afford to have this experience except for the elite? And thus, who is going to relate to this book?
Vincent acknowledges her wealth privilege briefly while with her entire family— two well-known and wealthy artist parents and two well-to-do siblings— in Amsterdam. To which they all traveled relatively last minute on a whim! What fun! And Vincent has the added freeness to leave Kentucky because her two children are not in the home and in their 20s. She supplements her Parisian life by creating jewelry and teaching art classes at a museum.
I tried not to be bitter but at the same time… excuse me?
I really was rooting for Vincent. Truly. I mean, for goodness sakes, she learned about her husband’s secret love child IN A BOOK at the time it was PUBLISHED for everyone else to read and learn too?! But then, I found myself wondering when I’d see her angry. And then, towards the end of the novel, when I’d see her accept consequences of her own actions. When I finished Half-Blown Rose, though, I wanted the best for her regardless.
If someone asked, “Should I read this book?” I’d respond with a shrug and say, “Yeah… sure.”
Thank you to Net Galley and Grand Central Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review of Half-Blown Rose by Leesa Cross-Smith.
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was swept away all weekend by this quietly beautiful upcoming novel by Leesa Cross-Smith- HALF-BLOWN ROSE. (Out May 31, 2022)
Vincent is a 44-year-old Black American woman who escapes to Paris after her husband reveals, through his bestselling book, that he fathered a child that he has kept a secret for decades. She spends a year enjoying art, travel, new friends and an intense affair with a younger man.
There are some (mostly) captivating writing choices - some parts that are written like a script describing the scene with a voiceover narrator, excerpts from Vincent’s travel journal, her playlists for events like train rides and dinner parties, and excerpts from her husband’s book. I didn’t love the excerpts from his book. They were a smart way to learn the husband’s story but I always just wanted to get back to Vincent. (Also, I was mad at the husband so there’s that.)
What I enjoyed the most is Vincent’s love affair with Paris and living another version of her life, discovering another self.
Warning: Major wanderlust likely. I didn’t envy the husband betrayal part but I must admit a solitary trip with no major responsibilities didn’t sound bad at all.
Thank you @grandcentralpub for the gifted copy!
Vincent is a 44-year-old Black American woman who escapes to Paris after her husband reveals, through his bestselling book, that he fathered a child that he has kept a secret for decades. She spends a year enjoying art, travel, new friends and an intense affair with a younger man.
There are some (mostly) captivating writing choices - some parts that are written like a script describing the scene with a voiceover narrator, excerpts from Vincent’s travel journal, her playlists for events like train rides and dinner parties, and excerpts from her husband’s book. I didn’t love the excerpts from his book. They were a smart way to learn the husband’s story but I always just wanted to get back to Vincent. (Also, I was mad at the husband so there’s that.)
What I enjoyed the most is Vincent’s love affair with Paris and living another version of her life, discovering another self.
Warning: Major wanderlust likely. I didn’t envy the husband betrayal part but I must admit a solitary trip with no major responsibilities didn’t sound bad at all.
Thank you @grandcentralpub for the gifted copy!
adventurous
emotional
relaxing
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