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A review by _solaris
The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst
1.0
This book and The Spellshop are on opposite ends of the spectrum, and to be brutally honest, I almost don't want to believe they were written by the same author.
First, this was absolutely /not/ low stakes like The Spellshop was, and it didn't hold the same charm as I couldn't relate with Terlu as much - she created Caz out of loneliness, while Kiela /enjoyed being alone/ - introvert things, I guess. I would've been okay with just this, but... unfortunately, it doesn't get better.
Second, there was no witty, fun banter between the characters, which I'd loved between Kiela and Caz. The side characters just appeared a bit too randomly for my liking (and started spouting sudden backstories nobody cared about) that it felt more like filler material, hence I couldn't get attached to them.
Third, there was no chemistry between the FL and ML so the romance felt terribly forced and rushed. Was it just me who thought Yarrow was being pathetic, getting Terlu to talk to his family for him? I mean, /come on/, them starting to act like they knew best how to act for the other was a clear recipe for disaster, but plot armor, I guess.
Lastly, Terlu feels closer to a typical annoyingly insecure cozy fantasy FL and tbh if she'd said "she can feel herself blush" or allude to blushing one more time, I'd have shot myself. Halfway into the book and I was DONE with all the blushing. We get it, she blushes a lot, her entire personality is blushing, insecurity, and Yarrow. Jesus.
I quite had to slog through this. Did anyone notice, when she says the heat of the false sun was sucking the moisture out of her, that she was baked as a honey cake? But she also described it earlier as really moist? I'm so annoyed with this book that I'm actually nitpicking, haha.
Overall, this book tried to be too many things at once - and haphazardly. It was overly long and convoluted in a way you can't enjoy, which was a great disappointment to me.
First, this was absolutely /not/ low stakes like The Spellshop was, and it didn't hold the same charm as I couldn't relate with Terlu as much - she created Caz out of loneliness, while Kiela /enjoyed being alone/ - introvert things, I guess. I would've been okay with just this, but... unfortunately, it doesn't get better.
Second, there was no witty, fun banter between the characters, which I'd loved between Kiela and Caz. The side characters just appeared a bit too randomly for my liking (and started spouting sudden backstories nobody cared about) that it felt more like filler material, hence I couldn't get attached to them.
Third, there was no chemistry between the FL and ML so the romance felt terribly forced and rushed. Was it just me who thought Yarrow was being pathetic, getting Terlu to talk to his family for him? I mean, /come on/, them starting to act like they knew best how to act for the other was a clear recipe for disaster, but plot armor, I guess.
Lastly, Terlu feels closer to a typical annoyingly insecure cozy fantasy FL and tbh if she'd said "she can feel herself blush" or allude to blushing one more time, I'd have shot myself. Halfway into the book and I was DONE with all the blushing. We get it, she blushes a lot, her entire personality is blushing, insecurity, and Yarrow. Jesus.
I quite had to slog through this. Did anyone notice, when she says the heat of the false sun was sucking the moisture out of her, that she was baked as a honey cake? But she also described it earlier as really moist? I'm so annoyed with this book that I'm actually nitpicking, haha.
Overall, this book tried to be too many things at once - and haphazardly. It was overly long and convoluted in a way you can't enjoy, which was a great disappointment to me.