A review by berrypatch
A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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

5.0

Agency, individualism, devotion, this book is a delightfully queer retelling of the classic mad scientist. In a Frankensteinian tale of ethics and the human sprit (or inhuman...), a pair of devoted and reclusive 1800s gays, as they're wont to be, learn what it means to have their worlds turned over by love. A devotional love for an experiment turned more, a familial love spurned on by an outsider turned daughter, and most importantly, a new understanding of love, gained by letting go. They tackle their feelings of intimacy for a new form of sapient life, while a young girl tackles significantly more sapphic levels of the same and for the same. This book was beautifully written and playfully academic, and the carrier of one of the most beautiful and horrific love stories I've ever read. It took love from beyond the veil of death to whole new levels. I cried, I laughed, I retched, I will be coming back.