#flowerheart

[unacunatura]

rain, scents and joy | eyes of Lina

[freckles-and-books]

Finished this two days ago, and I really enjoyed it! It was very sweet, and had some definite Studio Ghibli vibes.

[inlovewithhearts]

journaling my heart out this spring holiday + must thank my bestie Vasi for showing me Laufey ! 💙 such hopeless romantic vibes. Sorry for spamming with two posts in a day ! Spring totally inspires me💌🎧⭐️💐

[coffeenuts]

[magicalyaku]

Ok ok, let's get back on track. Work was draining these past weeks, but I'm on vacation now, so time to catch up! June was the month of the library books. I put a bunch on hold in April and May and they all came in at the same time. And after up to 10 weeks of waiting I was not about to push a single one back further, so I had to work a bit there. 8D Also, according to my list I've read 51 books in the first 6 months of the year. I seem to remember wanting to read less this year? Yeah. Not going well.

Gwen & Art are Not in Love (Lex Croucher): I read it in the very first days of June, which was basically an eternity ago, so my memory is a bit wonky. I do remember I had lots of fun! It was funny and sweet with a solid story and serious times when needed, nice characters, good adventure. The female lead did not get on my nerves! There was a cat! And a girl with a (legendary) sword! I think, though, it's a bit unfair that both boys ended up with permanent bodily harm while the girls got away scratchfree … Go read it!!

Thief in the Night (KJ Charles): I didn't know anything about this other than the summary when I put it on my waitlist in the library. After 10 weeks it finally came in and my first thought was "Is it broken?!" because it's only about 100 pages! It is a full story, mind you, I was just so suprised by it (and because I waited for so long!). It's a companion story to The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting, featuring the brother of the protagonists of that one. It's pretty cute. Super short, but just the right length for a simple story. We can have a simple story once in a while. I had a good time reading this.

The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting (KJ Charles): I borrowed this right after Thief in the Night. This is a full-length novel, so it has a lot more time to dive into characters and intricacies. It's nice. Like not groundbreaking, but very enjoyable. There's this thing about (pseudo-historic) British aristocracy that just calls for mocking them. I liked a lot how the climax and ending played out!

Flowerheart (Catherine Bakewell): Now this was another difficult book for me. I thought with time I'd get a little more chill with YA fantasy heroines. Seems I'm not there yet. The heroine here has these whiny self-pitying phases that really annoyed me. She's like "Oh maybe he never liked me in the first place" just because the guy didn't want her help at one thing. But: 1) He was her very close childhood friend, that was not a lie. 2) She has like one day of training in and can't control her magic, so her help would be … probably no help at all. And 3) when he told her before that he needs her on the weekends she said no, she can't … So why is she getting upset?! I hate characters like this. /D But thankfully, this is only half of the time, the other half she's pretty ok (the guy as well) and I actually found myself liking the book. The romance is acceptable and it does have some nice imagery going on with all the flower magic and stuff.

Sounds Fake But Okay (Sarah Costello & Kayla Kaszyca): My one non-fiction book of the year. :D It's about seeing the world from the perspectives of a_spec people. Like taking apart all that amatonormativity and all these ideas about romance and family and stuff that most of our world sees as right and normal. So it's not just a "let me tell you what aromanticism and asexuality are"-book but dives a bit deeper. I found it insightful. I think, both a_spec and allo people can take something away from reading this. Challenging our social constructs in thought at least can't hurt after all. Regarding the ebook library edition I read I didn't quite like the layout as the incorporated community quotes where not well marked and I stumbled over them a few times before realising it's another quote. That's probably no issue in the paper version though. I also struggled to tell the authors Sarah and Kayla apart. They introduce themselves and their stories in the beginning but I immediately jumbled them up ...

Captive Prince Trilogy (C.S. Pacat): I borrowed the English edition from the library … and didn't want to return it! Which is stupid because I own the German version in paper. But that kinda sums up how I feel about these books. Captive Prince was not the very first gay fantasy book I read almost two years ago but the first one I liked. (The actual first was Rowan & Ash by Christian Händel which had a terribly selfish love interest and shied away from all the important conflict. (And yeah, long before that I did read The Raven Cycle but I picked that one up for the Ley lines and the no-kiss-promise. The gay was just a pleasant surprise, so I don't count it.)) Which is funny, because especially the beginning is so filthy! I remember being quite put off by this the first time around, but apparently it was intriguing enough to continue reading. I like the incredible slow-burn of Damen's and Laurent's relationship. The slow building of trust in a surrounding where trust is so rare. How shit happens between them and they have to sort it out on page before progressing. How you only catch glimpes of Laurent's true self for a long time. I like it when authors feel smart through their writing and writing Laurent's and the Regent's intrigues and all the different settings with war strategies etc. sure does feel smart to me. I like the slow-burn in stories as well when things start at some point and only get important much later and all weaves together beautifully. It's so rewarding. Look, where we started - look, how far we've come! Hah. u3u

Riley Weaver Needs a Date for the Gaybutante Society (Jason June): For the end of the month I went for something light and funny. Of all the authors I read last year F.T. Lukens and Jason June stuck with me the most. Lukens for the cozy charming fantasy and June for the slightly silly noisy onea. Riley Weaver is no exception to that. It does have a serious undertone and message, though, but due to the framework of the story it manages to never feel dull or preachy.

I also tried to read Dragonfall by L.R. Lam, but gave up after just 50 pages. I can't even say if it's good or bad, because I don't know. I couldn't stand the viewpoints. Like, there's three people. The first one is a 1st person narrator, who refers to the second person as You, but in the narration, not dialogue! That put me off so much. It was so … icky! The second person narrates 1st person as well. If there's another "you" I don't know because I didn't make it to the point where they meet for real. And then the third person comes along and … it's 3rd person?! And I screamed! God, I hate that. I mean, it can work and I have read books that I like with inconsistent viewpoints but there was nothing here for which I was willing to endure. To be fair, I don't like dragons in the first place, so maybe we never were a good match from the start. :'D

That's it for June!

[carmennogales]

These are Clara and Xavier from "Flowerheart" by Catherine Bakewell.

Recently, I finished this heartwarming book and it was the perfect cozy fantasy I needed to read. Love the message it delivers. I truly adore these two babies who have a couple of unsolved issues to deal with. They are still cute for me though 😉 💐.

Haven't got much time lately to draw for myself, so it was nice to indulge myself a bit with them and sketching a little. However, the downside to it is the fact that now I want to draw more fan arts from books than before 😭

[ninelivesart]

Part 29 of Drawing My Reads was Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell

[queerbookmasterlist]

LGBTQ+ books with cottagecore vibes 📖

If there's one thing about me, its that I love all things cottagecore so of course I had to include books that give me cottagecore vibes.

What books have you read that gave you cottagecore vibes?

Flowerheart: 2.75/5⭐

The Tea Dragon Society: 5/5⭐

Delilah Green Doesn't Care: 5/5⭐

Grandad's Cup of Tea: ?/5⭐(TBR)

Crumbs: 5/5⭐

Two Rogues Make a Right: ?/5⭐(TBR)

DISCLAIMER:

I have not read all of these books so I cannot attest to their quality or the issues that may arise in them. I have tried to note which I have or have not read. It is also highly recommended that readers check trigger warnings to decide if a book is right for them.

[izzyjofo]

Cringetober day 26- Y/N / Mary Sue

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Flowerheart | Author: Catherine Bakewell | Publisher: HarperTeen (2023)

[unacunatura]

sweet escape | eyes of Lina

[freckles-and-books]

I don’t read multiple books at once often, but when I do, it’s usually with a book of short stories (or nonfiction book) and a novel.

I want to read some more short stories, so I’m starting Pretty Monsters today. I’m also starting Flowerheart.

[radedneko]

I wanted to take my magic and give it all to them; to let its warmth pass over them and heal them. But my magic rarely seemed to listen to the wishes of my heart.

~Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell

[just0nemorepage]

Flowerheart || Catherine Bakewell || 352 pages Top 3 Genres: Fantasy / Young Adult / Romance

Synopsis: Clara’s magic has always been wild. But it’s never been dangerous. Then a simple touch causes poisonous flowers to bloom in her father’s chest.

The only way to heal him is to cast an extremely difficult spell that requires perfect control. And the only person willing to help is her former best friend, Xavier, who’s grown from a sweet, shy child into a mysterious and distant young man.

Xavier names a terrible price in return, knowing Clara will give anything to save her father. As she struggles to reconcile the new Xavier with the boy she once loved, she discovers their bargain is only one of the heavy secrets he’s hiding. And as she hunts for the truth, she instead finds the root of a terrible darkness that’s taken hold in the queendom—a darkness only Clara’s magic is powerful enough to stop.

Publication Date: March 2023. / Average Rating: 3.96. / Number of Ratings: ~340.

[juventinomateo]

Angelheart

[carmennogales]

Someone did his best to make a flower crown to pair his crush... 💠🪷🦋

Say hello again to Clara and Xavier from "Flowerheart" by Catherine Bakewell ("Corazón de Flores" en español)

These two flawed idiots in love are charming 💕. I love most of the characters in the book, thought I must confess I have a soft spot for sweet Xavier.

If you want to know about them, what about the flowers, and their story, go get this lovely book!

Drew this one at the same time I made the other fan art I posted of this book. Glad I did because now I have even less time to do fan art 🥲