Nonfiction Reading for Women's History Month

Katrina Passick Lumsden's Reviews > The Language of Flowers

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
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liked it

I don't really know what to write about this book. It was well-written, but I'm not sure I liked it. I didn't hate it, though. For me, it's one of those books that left me going, "Umm...OK...". I like the flower communication and all, but the whole story just sort of took some weird turns and ended up feeling like it wasn't going anywhere. And then it didn't. It just kind of ended.

Meh.
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Reading Progress

November 25, 2012 – Shelved (Hardcover Edition)
Started Reading
January 7, 2013 – Finished Reading
January 9, 2013 – Shelved

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Comments Showing 1-7 of 7 (7 new)

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message 2: by Jason (new)
Jan 11, 2013 12:09AM

Jason my mom and sister are both reading it. we differ so much in our likes and dislikes that i decided to avoid this one. i love the short and sweet review.


message 3: by Katrina (new) - rated it 3 stars
Jan 11, 2013 06:59AM

Katrina Passick Lumsden Thanks, everyone!

I can definitely see why some people really liked it, the emotional aspect of it is well-written and kind of poignant, but given that the main character has some serious intimacy issues, it's really hard for even the reader to connect with her. And since I couldn't connect with her, I definitely couldn't sympathize. To me, she came across as kind of dumb and unbelievably selfish, which I know isn't fair since she would need a team of therapists working on her for 10+ years to overcome all her issues....but that just makes the ending all the more unbelievable, as well!

I guess that's my biggest gripe; it's inconsistent, therefor frustrating.


message 4: by Tasha (new) - rated it 2 stars
Sep 27, 2013 02:12AM

Tasha Meh sums it up PERFECTLY!!


message 5: by Laurel (new) - rated it 3 stars
Oct 28, 2013 05:18AM

Laurel Norton I share your thoughts. I liked reading this book, but kept waiting for it to "bloom" in some way. I thought it was well written. I found myself wanting to skip over the main character, Victoria, because of her fears. It was my unease with her running away from things...agh! I found the ending almost too simplistic and akin to a Hallmark card. But I was inspired by the language of flowers, the Victorian method of floral communication, and I did like how that was woven throughout the story.


message 6: by Katrina (new) - rated it 3 stars
Oct 28, 2013 08:54PM

Katrina Passick Lumsden Yes! Exactly. It never "bloomed". And the ending was indeed abrupt, simplistic, and reminiscent of sappy Hallmark sentimentality. The only thing I truly enjoyed was the aspect of flower language.


message 7: by Nickey-Ann (new) - rated it 3 stars
Nov 17, 2013 01:42AM

Nickey-Ann Leon I felt the EXACT same way!!


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