Reviews

A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock

karsonnet's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.75

I weirdly loved every single character?? Even Rosalinda who was barely there just had a certain something. Absolutely insane but lovely. Well written with very amusing and smart quips. 

jerichamacie's review

dark emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

4.0

Imagine Frankenstein, but he is two gay regency era dads. One a botanist with a crazed need to prove himself and the other a reserved taxidermist creating art out of death. With nothing but a fresh corpse and an imported mycelium they seek to create the child they could never have on their own. 

A queer unnerving tale of the lengths gone to make a family. 

I did not love ending, it seemed like the main characters were left with a lot of unmet consequences for their actions. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Death of parent, and Medical content

Minor: Lesbophobia and Panic attacks/disorders

mybooktasticlife's review

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? Yes

4.25

josephinecambridge's review

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

aelinofwildfire's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

kc_onmybookshelf's review

Lots of potential. A very atmospheric book. I was unfortunately just bored.

bethiguess's review

dark sad medium-paced

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

2.75

While I enjoyed the idea for the book the actual execution felt really bizarre. The sort of wild swings of emotionality felt undeserved and unprompted and my lack of interest or care for the characters made the overall plot underwhelming and boring.

jammy_sam's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

4.5

One-sentence synopsis:
Queer plant dads (a botanist and a taxidermist) living in a greenhouse decide to play God like the good Doctor Victor Frankenstein and create a plant daughter out of a corpse, some pretty plants, and a fungal specimen with a big personality - some unsettling chaos and cuteness ensues.

My Thoughts:
This is such an unusual book...and I loved it. It's kind of my exact cup of tea, actually. Eccentric, charming characters (and writing!) alongside some unnerving imagery and surprisingly cute found family vibes. 

The push and pull of the relationship between Simon and Gregor, while frustrating to read at times, actually felt pretty realistic to me. They are, after all, just people. And people are flawed, relationships take work, and I found it refreshing to read.

Also, Jennifer is absolutely delightful but it was funny to me that

she didn't recognize Chloe as Constance until the end. It's like Lois Lane not recognizing Clark Kent is Superman just because he has glasses on and he's a cute dork. I mean, sure, it's not exactly the same and maybe Constance's corpse was less recognizable covered in moss and plants than I imagined. But still.

I will say, it is probably best not to go into this book believing it is a truly terrifying horror story. It really, really isn't. It's a strange blend of horror and fantasy tied up with a delightfully wholesome and even sometimes humorous bow. It is a very slow burn and has moments that some may find a little graphic. Mostly, I just found our plant daughter, Chloe, to sometimes be a little unsettling - but her actions are never really more horrifying than those of one of her dads, so...

Basically, it's a cozy horror? Like it's really quite...cute...

Even though these characters make some pretty unhinged choices that are so unbelievably unnecessary...

But it charmed me, I don't know!

lilacwriter's review

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

hannaws's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

3.0