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A review by michellefromsomewhere
Evergreen by Devin Greenlee
2.0
This book had potential, especially as a debut, but ultimately I wish the author had asked himself "why?" more often while writing. I also really liked reading a cute, gay romance where being gay was not part of the conflict of the book! The concept of a dryad family running a flower shop was so cute and I wish we had gotten to see even more of them interacting with customers and running the shop.
The writing was young, but as it is a teen book that is not factored into my rating, just a heads up for other readers. My main issue with the story is that the first ~80% of the story is centered around Quill and Liam flirting and sneaking out on dates, and the major conflict of the book is entirely rushed in the last 20%. The emotional moments felt like rushed devices for dialogue and not for real character or story development.
Spoilers below:
There was more potential for a reconciliation with a parent/child relationship that could have resonated with a teenage audience, but the main conflict was never really between Quill and his mother. I liked the struggle with him not having his powers, and him not noticing the signs of his powers the whole book. But at the end, his powers come in suddenly in a BIG WAY, and he has complete control of them, and they just so happen to save the day! Also, if Azazel knew about Quill's powers, and was scared of them, wouldn't Quill be the first mind to take over? And if his mind was protected because of the phantom root (even though that's sort of disproved in the text), why wouldn't Azazel just kill him? If Azazel was already in Laurel's mind, why would she have given Quill the phantom root to begin with? And Azazel being in Laurel's mind at that point would be the only satisfying reason for why Laurel was adamant about not telling their mom, which had Quill done from the beginning, could have prevented the whole conflict. Overall, it was a very rushed and unsatisfying climax and resolution.
Lastly, the flower blooming in the presence of the true love between two seventeen year olds who have known each other for two weeks was so cringe.
TLDR; a lot of potential, needed better pacing and a better grasp of the stakes of the primary conflict.
Thank you Entangled Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book!
The writing was young, but as it is a teen book that is not factored into my rating, just a heads up for other readers. My main issue with the story is that the first ~80% of the story is centered around Quill and Liam flirting and sneaking out on dates, and the major conflict of the book is entirely rushed in the last 20%. The emotional moments felt like rushed devices for dialogue and not for real character or story development.
Spoilers below:
There was more potential for a reconciliation with a parent/child relationship that could have resonated with a teenage audience, but the main conflict was never really between Quill and his mother. I liked the struggle with him not having his powers, and him not noticing the signs of his powers the whole book. But at the end, his powers come in suddenly in a BIG WAY, and he has complete control of them, and they just so happen to save the day! Also, if Azazel knew about Quill's powers, and was scared of them, wouldn't Quill be the first mind to take over? And if his mind was protected because of the phantom root (even though that's sort of disproved in the text), why wouldn't Azazel just kill him? If Azazel was already in Laurel's mind, why would she have given Quill the phantom root to begin with? And Azazel being in Laurel's mind at that point would be the only satisfying reason for why Laurel was adamant about not telling their mom, which had Quill done from the beginning, could have prevented the whole conflict. Overall, it was a very rushed and unsatisfying climax and resolution.
Lastly, the flower blooming in the presence of the true love between two seventeen year olds who have known each other for two weeks was so cringe.
TLDR; a lot of potential, needed better pacing and a better grasp of the stakes of the primary conflict.
Thank you Entangled Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book!