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shealwaysreads's review
5.0
🌺📚✨ #FlowerAndThorn #BookReview
Prepare for a mesmerizing journey with Rati Mehrotra's 'Flower and Thorn.' This October 2023 release immerses readers in vivid sensory descriptions and lyrical prose, creating an irresistible reading experience. 🌸🌿📖
Mehrotra's storytelling engages all senses, making the world of 'Flower and Thorn' come alive. Feel velvety petals, catch fragrant scents, and hear rustling leaves with each page turn. Imagination soars in this rich tapestry of sights, scents, and sounds. 🌼🍃🎶
The greatest strength lies in Mehrotra's captivating prose, making it impossible to stop reading. Anticipation builds with every twist, turn, and revelation, while the seamless flow ensures an immersive experience. 🌹📚💫
'Flower and Thorn' features complex, relatable characters. Invested in their journeys, you'll root for triumphs and empathize with struggles. Mehrotra's understanding of human nature adds authenticity and depth, making them feel like reflections of ourselves. 💕🌟👥
This mesmerizing tale weaves adventure, mystery, and romance. Set in an enchanting world, the young protagonist unravels secrets, discovering their true self. Beautiful settings and intricate plot twists keep readers guessing. 🌌✨📚
With evocative descriptions and a perfect genre blend, 'Flower and Thorn' is a delightful addition to any collection. Be enchanted by Mehrotra's spellbinding storytelling and transported to a realm where imagination knows no bounds. Don't miss it! 🌺📖💫
Prepare for a mesmerizing journey with Rati Mehrotra's 'Flower and Thorn.' This October 2023 release immerses readers in vivid sensory descriptions and lyrical prose, creating an irresistible reading experience. 🌸🌿📖
Mehrotra's storytelling engages all senses, making the world of 'Flower and Thorn' come alive. Feel velvety petals, catch fragrant scents, and hear rustling leaves with each page turn. Imagination soars in this rich tapestry of sights, scents, and sounds. 🌼🍃🎶
The greatest strength lies in Mehrotra's captivating prose, making it impossible to stop reading. Anticipation builds with every twist, turn, and revelation, while the seamless flow ensures an immersive experience. 🌹📚💫
'Flower and Thorn' features complex, relatable characters. Invested in their journeys, you'll root for triumphs and empathize with struggles. Mehrotra's understanding of human nature adds authenticity and depth, making them feel like reflections of ourselves. 💕🌟👥
This mesmerizing tale weaves adventure, mystery, and romance. Set in an enchanting world, the young protagonist unravels secrets, discovering their true self. Beautiful settings and intricate plot twists keep readers guessing. 🌌✨📚
With evocative descriptions and a perfect genre blend, 'Flower and Thorn' is a delightful addition to any collection. Be enchanted by Mehrotra's spellbinding storytelling and transported to a realm where imagination knows no bounds. Don't miss it! 🌺📖💫
bookishmillennial's review
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial
I thought this was a fun standalone young adult fantasy novel. I enjoyed the general premise of flowers being magical and revising history as if India avoided colonization by Portugal (set in 1600s). The desert was a cool setting, and I loved the magic system of the flowers (though I'd love to see it fleshed out a tiny bit more!). I'd love to see this come to life onscreen in some way!
Irinya was young, naive, impulsive, and a bit wide-eyed. However, I don't think that makes her a horrible FMC. I think it makes her a human one ;) There is a bit of romance in this, but I enjoyed the found family the most. Irinya is a nomad, and is a flower hunter. I never imagined flower hunting as dangerous, and I enjoyed how Mehrotra framed this. When Irinya and her best friend Fardan find an extremely rare flower (silver spider lily), they have the chance to really help their group to get out of debt. However, it comes at a price and thus starts her quest! This definitely had me hooked in the beginning!
Though I did feel some of the plot and especially the middle (from about 30-60%) was a bit disjointed and unfocused, this was a quick read. This wasn't my favorite standalone fantasy, but it was fun enough so I'd definitely read from from Mehrotra again in the future!
Also, here is the map! https://ratiwrites.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/flower-and-thorn-lr1-map-by-sarah-m.png
cw: gore, violence, war
I thought this was a fun standalone young adult fantasy novel. I enjoyed the general premise of flowers being magical and revising history as if India avoided colonization by Portugal (set in 1600s). The desert was a cool setting, and I loved the magic system of the flowers (though I'd love to see it fleshed out a tiny bit more!). I'd love to see this come to life onscreen in some way!
Irinya was young, naive, impulsive, and a bit wide-eyed. However, I don't think that makes her a horrible FMC. I think it makes her a human one ;) There is a bit of romance in this, but I enjoyed the found family the most. Irinya is a nomad, and is a flower hunter. I never imagined flower hunting as dangerous, and I enjoyed how Mehrotra framed this. When Irinya and her best friend Fardan find an extremely rare flower (silver spider lily), they have the chance to really help their group to get out of debt. However, it comes at a price and thus starts her quest! This definitely had me hooked in the beginning!
Though I did feel some of the plot and especially the middle (from about 30-60%) was a bit disjointed and unfocused, this was a quick read. This wasn't my favorite standalone fantasy, but it was fun enough so I'd definitely read from from Mehrotra again in the future!
Also, here is the map! https://ratiwrites.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/flower-and-thorn-lr1-map-by-sarah-m.png
cw: gore, violence, war
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Minor: War
annamariahz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5
This book has such a great setting, and the magic system is excellent! Set in 16th century India, it ponders what could have happened if there were magical flowers that could have saved India from colonization. I loved the magic system around the flowers, mystical items that were dangerous to harvest and find, with a nursery rhyme-type poem that warns of their abilities and dangers! The setting and magic system were so immersive that I really loved the story, even though the characters fell flat at times. I wish she would have fleshed out the characters more. There were a few instances with the characters that were instrumental to the plot but felt very rushed. But overall, it was an immersive read that I really enjoyed! I love Rati Mehrotra's standalone fantasy novels and can't wait to see what she writes next!
Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
sydneyreadssometimes_'s review
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
3.5
sol_journal's review
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
*Thank you NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honesty review!*
Posted to: NetGalley, Goodreads, and The StoryGraph
Posted on: 15 September 2023
3.4 (rounded down to 3) out of 5 stars.
This wasn’t a favorite read of mine. I don’t know if it just caught me in a slump or what, but I found myself not really enjoying this as much as I thought I would- and I kinda hate that! ‘Flower and Thorn’ has such an interesting idea. I love the magical flowers theme where each flower has a different property to them (healing, manipulating, etc) but I kind of wish the more vague ones were explained more? Or maybe I just missed it, but like the silver spider lily has the ability to win wars but how? We know jasmine heals and we see our main character make a tincture with it. Hibiscus controls yet the petal of the bluestar counters it- so how does the spider lily work? Or is it just something that *is* and we as readers have to just go with it?
I’m definitely asking for more here than what I normally would, but when it plays a huge part of the story, I’d like a bit more understanding behind it. Like the lotus too- beyond it being rare and ‘must never be found’, we don’t really understand much about it either (though for this one, that’s kind of the point I guess?)
The characters were… they were okay. I found Irinya to contradict herself a lot. She’d say or believe one thing, but easily do the opposite. The kickoff to everything was also just- unbelievable? I won’t ruin too much, but it does happen within the first few chapters. I just found Irinya’s decisions to be very annoying sometimes. She does grow to be a bit better, kind of learning after betrayals and all, but there’s still moments enough that made me put the book down. The other characters also fell a little flat to me. I guess I wanted to see more interactions that helped sway and make each other? Some of the characters felt like they were there just for the sake of pushing the story along, which happens! It doesn’t make them *bad* characters, just left me wanting more from them somehow.
It’s never really explained why Irinya can talk to flowers/hear them. I would’ve loved that aspect to play more into the story actually as *that* was also interesting. The dialogue tags got a bit repetitive. I specifically wrote ‘this girl wants to shout a lot- let👏🏼her👏🏼shout👏🏼’ in my review notes if that says anything. There was more tell not show when it came to the speaking side of the story. That’s where characters lacked I think, or where it just became a little repetitive to me.
All in all, it sounds like I’m thrashing this story but it’s pretty okay! I really just think it caught me in a bad slump between reads and that’s where my over-criticalness of it stemmed. I don’t really see myself re-reading this, but I’m grateful nonetheless for the opportunity to read and review it. I think it’s a fine read, and I just wish I could’ve loved it more.
Posted to: NetGalley, Goodreads, and The StoryGraph
Posted on: 15 September 2023
3.4 (rounded down to 3) out of 5 stars.
This wasn’t a favorite read of mine. I don’t know if it just caught me in a slump or what, but I found myself not really enjoying this as much as I thought I would- and I kinda hate that! ‘Flower and Thorn’ has such an interesting idea. I love the magical flowers theme where each flower has a different property to them (healing, manipulating, etc) but I kind of wish the more vague ones were explained more? Or maybe I just missed it, but like the silver spider lily has the ability to win wars but how? We know jasmine heals and we see our main character make a tincture with it. Hibiscus controls yet the petal of the bluestar counters it- so how does the spider lily work? Or is it just something that *is* and we as readers have to just go with it?
I’m definitely asking for more here than what I normally would, but when it plays a huge part of the story, I’d like a bit more understanding behind it. Like the lotus too- beyond it being rare and ‘must never be found’, we don’t really understand much about it either (though for this one, that’s kind of the point I guess?)
The characters were… they were okay. I found Irinya to contradict herself a lot. She’d say or believe one thing, but easily do the opposite. The kickoff to everything was also just- unbelievable? I won’t ruin too much, but it does happen within the first few chapters. I just found Irinya’s decisions to be very annoying sometimes. She does grow to be a bit better, kind of learning after betrayals and all, but there’s still moments enough that made me put the book down. The other characters also fell a little flat to me. I guess I wanted to see more interactions that helped sway and make each other? Some of the characters felt like they were there just for the sake of pushing the story along, which happens! It doesn’t make them *bad* characters, just left me wanting more from them somehow.
It’s never really explained why Irinya can talk to flowers/hear them. I would’ve loved that aspect to play more into the story actually as *that* was also interesting. The dialogue tags got a bit repetitive. I specifically wrote ‘this girl wants to shout a lot- let👏🏼her👏🏼shout👏🏼’ in my review notes if that says anything. There was more tell not show when it came to the speaking side of the story. That’s where characters lacked I think, or where it just became a little repetitive to me.
All in all, it sounds like I’m thrashing this story but it’s pretty okay! I really just think it caught me in a bad slump between reads and that’s where my over-criticalness of it stemmed. I don’t really see myself re-reading this, but I’m grateful nonetheless for the opportunity to read and review it. I think it’s a fine read, and I just wish I could’ve loved it more.
booksofapage's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore and Violence
bookish_selkie's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
Flower and Thorn is the beautiful and riveting tale of the flower hunter Irinya. Irinya has always wanted to be a flower hunter and is faced with an impossible choice when her best friend finds a rare and valuable flower. A government impersonator promises to use the power of the flower to save lives, but he tricks Irinya into parting with it. Devastated, the only way she can make it right is to track this man down and recover the flower. Will Irinya find the flower in time and be able to save her people?
Flower and Thorn is filled with gorgeous prose and sensory details that will make the reader feel they are right there with Irinya. The storytelling feels timeless and classic. Irinya is a wonderful heroine who is fierce, loyal, and possesses intricate knowledge of flower magic. The flower magic system was very creative and detailed. Flowers provide power and all have different uses, which forces Irinya to choose what and who is most important to her. Irinya must disguise herself and her purpose to find her way back to the flower that could change the fate of a kingdom. Readers who seek excellent magic systems, friends to lovers, and beautiful prose will love this book. I’m looking forward to what Rati Mehrotra writes next!
Thank you so much to Rati Mehrotra, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Flower and Thorn is filled with gorgeous prose and sensory details that will make the reader feel they are right there with Irinya. The storytelling feels timeless and classic. Irinya is a wonderful heroine who is fierce, loyal, and possesses intricate knowledge of flower magic. The flower magic system was very creative and detailed. Flowers provide power and all have different uses, which forces Irinya to choose what and who is most important to her. Irinya must disguise herself and her purpose to find her way back to the flower that could change the fate of a kingdom. Readers who seek excellent magic systems, friends to lovers, and beautiful prose will love this book. I’m looking forward to what Rati Mehrotra writes next!
Thank you so much to Rati Mehrotra, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
abigail_lo's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
thanks to the publisher & netgalley for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
so, me and irinya (the main character) got off to a rough start. i thought she made some ... questionable decisions that play right into the "girl who's never seen a man in her life" trope -- very miranda and ferdinand of her, for any other fans of the tempest out there. i literally have so many notes just talking about every infuriating thing she does in the first 25% of the book. but from there, it turns into a pretty decent fantasy book! i was truly on the verge of rating it 3.5 stars (or potentially 4 stars for the wazir -- but with deep shame in my heart). sure, she didn't pick up on some of the reveals that she should have, and i was a bit frustrated with the pacing. but it is a ya fantasy book, and i'm willing to forgive a lot of technical errors if i still get swept away in the magic of young love, and it was truly happening. and then: the ending happened. mild spoilers ahead:i just don't think it was set up well? it feels like we spent the whole book concentrating on the wrong characters, and then we're supposed to care about these people i know nothing about. like, why should i care? there wasn't enough development of the relationship between those characters, and it was bothering me. all things considered, it's still a fun book, and i love the desi representation! but i think i'll be sticking to re-reading laini taylor before another ya fantasy can disappoint me.
so, me and irinya (the main character) got off to a rough start. i thought she made some ... questionable decisions that play right into the "girl who's never seen a man in her life" trope -- very miranda and ferdinand of her, for any other fans of the tempest out there. i literally have so many notes just talking about every infuriating thing she does in the first 25% of the book. but from there, it turns into a pretty decent fantasy book! i was truly on the verge of rating it 3.5 stars (or potentially 4 stars for the wazir -- but with deep shame in my heart). sure, she didn't pick up on some of the reveals that she should have, and i was a bit frustrated with the pacing. but it is a ya fantasy book, and i'm willing to forgive a lot of technical errors if i still get swept away in the magic of young love, and it was truly happening. and then: the ending happened. mild spoilers ahead:
yanasbooks21's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-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
5.0
Thank you Wednesday book for my early copy on netgalley!
I absolutely enjoyed this from start to finish it was a fast paced high stakes YA read.
It gave me Mulan meets 16th century India with many many plot twist
Irinya and Fardan went flower hunting in the Rann every morning till dawn to retrieve magical flowers to pay there debt off. Till one day a man came in tho there Kul and promised the world to them.
The magic of of flowers had cures and powers that every man wanted to get there hands on. Unfortunately the wrong man got his hands on the Silver Spider lily!!!
Irinya was admirable with the strength she had to save her kul from all the evil that resided in India.
Irinya had to hunghim down but finding him let to many devious and dangers plans ahead. She ran away and wouldn’t come back till she figured everything out.
She needed to get the spider lily back to save her kul and all of India from the Portuguese that were breathing down there necks on the shores
Will she figure out how to save her country of will she fall like the petals of a dead flower
I don’t want to give to much away just that you should read this immediately and i guarantee you won’t see anything coming your way!!
I absolutely enjoyed this from start to finish it was a fast paced high stakes YA read.
It gave me Mulan meets 16th century India with many many plot twist
Irinya and Fardan went flower hunting in the Rann every morning till dawn to retrieve magical flowers to pay there debt off. Till one day a man came in tho there Kul and promised the world to them.
The magic of of flowers had cures and powers that every man wanted to get there hands on. Unfortunately the wrong man got his hands on the Silver Spider lily!!!
Irinya was admirable with the strength she had to save her kul from all the evil that resided in India.
Irinya had to hunghim down but finding him let to many devious and dangers plans ahead. She ran away and wouldn’t come back till she figured everything out.
She needed to get the spider lily back to save her kul and all of India from the Portuguese that were breathing down there necks on the shores
Will she figure out how to save her country of will she fall like the petals of a dead flower
I don’t want to give to much away just that you should read this immediately and i guarantee you won’t see anything coming your way!!
megdorfner's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
In Flower and Thorn, we follow Irinya, a flower hunter in a world where flowers grown in a specific region of India have buds with magical properties and poisonous thorns. I really liked this unique magic system and the associated world building. The idea of magical flowers that are now super rare because humans destroyed the ecosystem limiting their growth was a nice tie in for the impact humans have on the climate. I thought it was a nice piece of reality in the fantasy world.
With the great world-building and magic system, I was disappointed with the rest of the book. I found the plot to be a little all over the place and disjointed. It felt like it wasn’t fully outlined and the author just kept adding pieces on and throwing “twists” the change it up. This left me feeling like the book was dragging on because it was difficult to get fully invested. Plus I had questions that I felt were never fully answered. Like why could Irinya hear the flowers and the camel? And why could the flowers predict the future?
In terms of the characters, I found Irinya difficult to root for. She made a lot of, in my opinion, dumb decisions and seemed to contradict each other. She makes a promise one day, then breaks the promise the next because someone shares a sad story about his parents dying. She then goes to retrieve the flower and seems to trust everyone, despite recognizing she should not trust anyone. She didn’t seem to make better decisions as the book went on, either. So there was not a lot of character development. I will say, I liked her realization that she had feelings for her best friend all along and how she had difficulty pinpointing when those feelings started. There was something that seemed really genuine about their relationship.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed with this read and felt like it could have been so much more. 2 stars.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
With the great world-building and magic system, I was disappointed with the rest of the book. I found the plot to be a little all over the place and disjointed. It felt like it wasn’t fully outlined and the author just kept adding pieces on and throwing “twists” the change it up. This left me feeling like the book was dragging on because it was difficult to get fully invested. Plus I had questions that I felt were never fully answered. Like why could Irinya hear the flowers and the camel? And why could the flowers predict the future?
In terms of the characters, I found Irinya difficult to root for. She made a lot of, in my opinion, dumb decisions and seemed to contradict each other. She makes a promise one day, then breaks the promise the next because someone shares a sad story about his parents dying. She then goes to retrieve the flower and seems to trust everyone, despite recognizing she should not trust anyone. She didn’t seem to make better decisions as the book went on, either. So there was not a lot of character development. I will say, I liked her realization that she had feelings for her best friend all along and how she had difficulty pinpointing when those feelings started. There was something that seemed really genuine about their relationship.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed with this read and felt like it could have been so much more. 2 stars.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.