Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock

6 reviews

minervacerridwen's review

dark funny mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

3.75* for enjoyable vibes, but not the tightest storytelling.

Overall I enjoyed spending time in this greenhouse and with the characters. Simon and Gregor are a queer couple living together in Victorian times, with relatable autistic and ADHD traits respectively. Gregor attempts to keep a stiff upper lip through some serious family trauma and tends to forget that the people around him have feelings too. Jennifer, the other main character, possesses a far more practical mind but not half the men's pride, and when she's put to work as the couple's housekeeper, she feels at home in their "strange" living arrangement. I liked the atmosphere of the story and the queer found family vibes. Finding comfort in the strange! I loved how two neurodivergent people living together would have managed to create a welcoming family for younger queer people from the village, if only it hadn't been for the botanist's pride. In that sense it can also be seen as a strong commentary on current society, where ambition and gatekeeping sometimes keep people from establishing fully accepting environments.

However, when I look back upon the book, it feels a little as if the author hadn't always taken clear decisions in what sort of story this should become, which made it hard to make sense of certain things

e.g. the fact that Jennifer didn't recognise Constance until finally she did, and the inconsistence of the strength of Gregor and Simon's relationship - though I suppose there might be a certain realism in the latter point

. There are some philosophical themes that remind of Frankenstein, some satire of the rich "scientists" from Victorian times, and the often amusing writing style contains gems like: 

Simon knelt before him so he could look him in the eyes. He'd heard people like it when you make eye contact. It sounded improbable to him, and rather frightful, but he deferred to the popular opinion.

Some of the jokes were used one too many times or didn't work as well after the atmosphere of the story had shifted. The pacing suffered from a similar problem between the middle of the book and the end. Sometimes it felt as if Jennifer was on the brink of finding out something she shouldn't, only for that tension to fall flat without being picked up again.

At certain points I found myself wondering whether the fact that it was impossible to love a character as much as I did earlier in the story actually made them into complex characters, or whether that meant their decisions were just difficult to believe.

What was the point of two such reluctant murders? Three, counting John Finch's too? In my mind, it would have made so much more sense if Gregor had allowed Chloe to change his mind after the first. Now it was difficult to maintain sympathy for Simon and Gregor and the ending became more tangled and distant than really would have been satisfying to me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Confinement, Death, Alcohol, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Emotional abuse

chris_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Animal death, Grief, and Gore

Minor: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Classism

ilaxaria's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Grief, Confinement, and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide and Blood

Minor: Homophobia and Vomit

txikimandy's review

dark lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A Botanical Daughter is an incredible debut. The prose is lofty like a classic but not difficult; it lends itself to stunning descriptions and wordplay. The twists and turns didn’t fail to surprise me.

The characters are multi-faceted and sympathetic, even as they do highly questionable (at best) things. It’s as if Seymour Krelborn became Dr. Frankenstein.

I adored this book and I highly recommend it. It’s a stunning blend of fantasy and horror, but not dark enough that I couldn’t read it at night.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, Murder, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Lesbophobia, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Suicide, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury

amaranth_wytch's review

emotional mysterious medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Hate crime, Homophobia, Blood, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Lesbophobia, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.25

Thank you to Netgalley and Titan Books for a copy of this book.

To the Victorian London society, taxidermist Simon and horticulturist Gregor are two odd bachelors living together, but secretly they're much more than friends. When Gregor acquires a fungus that shows signs of intelligence he combines it with a recently corpse. 

Gregor, Simon and their botanical daughter, Chloe along with housekeeper Jennifer form an unconventional family. However can a being such as Chloe be contained and kept secret?

This is a queer, gothic horror, but it managed to funny and cozy at times. Medlock poses many complex ethical and philosophical questions. I really enjoyed this world, and am looking forward to exploring more Medlock's works in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Death of parent, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, and Death

Minor: Homophobia