A review by capucapulet
Hothouse Flower by Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie

lighthearted fast-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

The problem isn't the age gap, it's how old she was when he started to have sexual thoughts about her (she was literally 15 and he was 22 ??). I mean sure the book is easily read, it's sort of casual and fun at times (it's supposed to be a book in which you don't really analyse things) but they bring up the age thing so often to try and "justify it" that it becomes really impossible to ignore. 
I could make a list of all the things Ryke said that prove he is a groomer (it's not even a wild interpretation but a simple fact). To be honest I get how appealing the plot can be for young readers but this is so SO dangerous and irresponsible from the writers .. Daisy being the one to engage things with Ryke does NOT mean that she wasn't groomed, Ryke waiting for her to be 18 does not mean that he's responsible and mature (it just means he doesn't want to go to jail). 
There were other things that bothered me but this one was just so awful because you can't write about the mental health of a girl who has been sexualised her whole teenage years, just so she ends up with her groomer. 
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