Picture drawn by Maggie Stiefvater, 2009. Header made by S.F. Robertson, 2010.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Fresh New Voice of YA- Forget-Her-Nots by Amy Brecount White


Forget-Her-Nots by Amy Brecount White
"Something—some power—is blooming inside Laurel. She can use flowers to do things. Like bringing back lost memories. Or helping her friends ace tests. Or making people fall in love.

Laurel suspects her newfound ability has something to do with an ancient family secret, one that her mother meant to share with Laurel when the time was right. But then time ran out.

Clues and signs and secret messages seem to be all around Laurel at Avondale School, where her mother had also boarded as a student. Can Laurel piece everything together quickly enough to control her power, which is growing more potent every day? Or will she set the stage for the most lovestruck, infamous prom in the history of the school?"- summary from Amazon

Let me start off by saying I loved this book. It had such an original twist to it with the whole Flowerspeaking aspect in what could have been just a usual run-of-the-mill boarding school book. Learning more about that and how Laurel used it made me keep turning the pages and I was done with it so quickly. It was fun to read about flowers and all their different meanings, and how they were applied to Laurel's classmates when they needed or wanted something.

Laurel is an amazing character and I loved how White included soccer as another hobby of Laurel's- it definitely provided a good contrast to the Flowerspeaking. The occasional snarkiness in the dialogue throughout the story was another fun aspect. The romance was built up well and ended up being very realistic in how it was written and portrayed.

The emotional aspect was handled really well too. Laurel's deep connection to her mother was interesting to read about and it was hard at times to get through scenes where she was upset because I felt so bad for her.

I do actually have a small negative about the book though. I thought at times the dialogue felt a bit off and occasionally it bothered me a lot, like when words were elongated (such as "Yesss" and "Whaaat?") where it wasn't needed. It's such a minor thing though and it didn't affect my reading too much, as I got over it quickly.

Overall, a great book with an original story and one that everyone should read. Go to the bookstore now!!

2 comments:

  1. I've been seeing this on everyone's to-read piles but have, for a reason I can't fully explain, felt dubious about it. You've brought me closer to thinking it's worth buying.

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  2. I have to admit the flower reading aspect put me off this book but you made me want to give it a chance. Thanks for the review!

    Have I mentioned that I LOVE your new header. So cool!

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