Rating: 4.5/5
Recommendation: A must read!
Summary: Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch.
When Briseis's aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined--it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary, and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world that can only be entered by those who share Bri's unique family lineage.
There is more to Bri's sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it . . . until a nefarious group comes after her in search of a rare and dangerous immortality elixir. Up against a centuries-old curse and the deadliest plant on earth, Bri must harness her gift to protect herself and her family.
Review: I have so many favorite things about this book that I struggle with where to begin. I love the concept of the book. It lands somewhere between Urban Fiction meets Get Out meets The Secret Garden. And we can't leave out the greek mythology and very well done adoption and LGBT relationships. This book handles this blend of very different topics in a seamless fashion. I also love the characters in this book. Briseis' moms are so loving and create the perfect open and trusting atmosphere for her. The characters begin as business owners in Brooklyn that are struggling to make ends meet. However, they do their best to shield Briseis from these responsibilities, so much so that Briseis could be just a bit too open and trusting. Briseis is a little starved for friendship and that along with her positive loving atmosphere make her a little foolhardy sometimes. I enjoyed the mystery aspect of the novel also. We are introduced to this mysterious mansion and get to explore it for the first time with the characters. The author does a great job of creating some suspense and creep vibes while keeping the reactions realistic, for the most part.
Cons: My major con of this story is the pace. The book captures your attention fairly early on but lags in the middle. We are left with so many questions, and as the questions keep piling up, Briseis' reactions begin to feel redundant and unrealistic. I mean honestly, people are throwing around words like magic, immortality, and murder, and you aren't going to demand an explanation, or better yet, get your parents involved. We were about 68% of the way into the novel before questions really started to be answered, and then break-neck speed through a pretty long climax. It leaves you on the edge of your seat, but that's only if you toughed it though the slow parts. The budding romance was also a little random and forced. It gives insta-love and it's also not sustainable (avoiding spoiler here). Lastly, there were times that I felt like Briseis was being a little dumb, but I can't decide if she was being dumb-dumb or just teenager-"nothing can happen to me"-dumb. Bringing non-immune people into a poison garden, taking a random uber while strangers are looking to harm you, and performing alchemy for a stranger with no idea what you're making or what it does just doesn't feel like the activities of a person raised in Brooklyn. Lastly a couple characters are introduced and then they just drop off, but I will allow it as this book just feels a lot like a prequel for the next novel.
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