Book Review: Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell

March 13, 2024

This book was sweet and refreshing. I truly loved the characters and the magic and the story.

Flowerheart is about a young woman named Clara who has an abundance of magic, and has always had a hard time controlling it. Her magic has a mind of its own and does very little to obey its mistresses wishes. She has taken internship after internship trying to find a teacher to help her tame the beast that is her magic, but nothing has seemed to do the trick. It takes a tragic curse, a devoted friend and a tight timeline for Clara to be able to find confidence in herself, and her magic.

This is a sweet story of magic, love, loss and acceptance. There is friendship and mentorship and a really really great dad.

The only things I would say I didn’t love about this book are the fact that the names feel a bit like names a writer would choose for a young adult novel (which is what it is, so can I really be mad?) and therefore feel a little…kitschy. And there is a scene that could have been set up less awkward. There is a moment that someone says “and they are transgender like me” and it feels a little like Catherine Bakewell could have written it in a way that didn’t feel like the fourth wall was broken and the character was speaking directly to the audience about how they felt included.

This book has a great amount of inclusion and diversity, which is a lot of fun to read!

I would suggest this book to anyone who needs a cozy, higher stakes, fantasy in their lives, and they’re not afraid of a side of cheese.