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A review by mesal
When Jasmine Blooms by Tif Marcelo
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The premise of this novel is certainly unique. Being a Little Women reimagining, When Jasmine Blooms centers Marmee through the character of Celine Lakad-Frasier, a mother on a journey through suffering and denial after the death of her third daughter Libby. How, the author wonders, would Marmee have coped after the loss of her child? While this novel isn't a traditional retelling—the setting veers far from Little Women's own, and even the characters are their own people, despite the few aspects of their personalities Marcelo chose to retain from the original—it explores motherhood and grief in a way that constantly reminds the reader to look at the world, both within and outside the book, from different perspectives.
Though it may work well as the abovementioned exploration of certain themes, the novel falls flat in several other areas. None of the characters are very compelling, with me rooting for Celine to move past her grief only to see the stagnancy of the narrative end at last. The rut that the plot seemed to have fallen into may have accurately reflected the rut Celine had been in for years because of Libby's loss, but it made for a difficult read to get through. There was rather more telling than showing, with repetitive writing attempting to hammer in details that readers could have understood naturally, without the reinforcement. I like the idea behind this novel a lot, but its execution did not move me as much as I had hoped.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with an eARC of this novel. All opinions expressed above are my own.
Though it may work well as the abovementioned exploration of certain themes, the novel falls flat in several other areas. None of the characters are very compelling, with me rooting for Celine to move past her grief only to see the stagnancy of the narrative end at last. The rut that the plot seemed to have fallen into may have accurately reflected the rut Celine had been in for years because of Libby's loss, but it made for a difficult read to get through. There was rather more telling than showing, with repetitive writing attempting to hammer in details that readers could have understood naturally, without the reinforcement. I like the idea behind this novel a lot, but its execution did not move me as much as I had hoped.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with an eARC of this novel. All opinions expressed above are my own.