Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Review by Shellie: Hothouse Flower ~ by Margot Berwin

 

hothouse-flower

A “trip” into the realistic yet magical where an urbanite discovers herself in the rain forest of Mexico. It’s city girl goes jungle Jane with consciousness altering plants.

About:  Lila is from NYC. She is in her thirties and cynical as well as wounded from her recent divorce. She has sworn off men and most attachments - “no pets, no  plants, no people, no problems”.  However she breaks her rule when she decides to buy herself a bird of paradise plant from the hunky greenery vendor around the corner from her studio. This starts her adventures and discovery about the mythical 9 plants of desire.

This humorous story, with its self- depreciating main character, takes the reader to the rain forests of Mexico. Where Lila is propelled by her quirky yet mystically oriented friend Armand to search for the illusive plants in order to repay a debt. As they enter into foreign territory into a place where fantastical elements are the norm, Lila herself makes a mildly hallucinogenic ride into self discovery and more.

Thoughts:  Funny, fluffy and a very easy read, it was a needed break from the heavier stuff I have been recently reading. It was a foray into the magical. A chick lit escapist read with some mild romance which includes a gorgeous Huichol Indian from the mountains of Mexico.

As Lila gets to know these plants with their anthropomorphic attributes, we get an interesting mix of fact and fun fiction about each, where all of the short chapters are headed with a plant (and a few critters) and their description. I think my favorite section was on the chocolate plant, native to Southern America, where the author includes a recipe on how to make chocolate from the actual pods. Fun stuff!

I think this book will be perfect for any woman recovering from a recent break up or for anyone needing a light yet magical read. My mom is going to love this book being a plant person extraordinaire – me, the black thumb of the family killing cactus in the desert, enjoyed it just as much. I even found a few new books to add to my tbr list within the text of the novel - The Sheltering Sky by Philip Bowles and one by Carlos Castaneda. I love that. I give this fun book 3.5 stars. It was a blast.

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For more information on the book please see the preview and giveaway post for Hothouse Flower. This giveaway is available in the US or Canada until October 3rd.

There are more reviews on Hothouse Flower, giveaways, interviews and guest posts so take a look at the tour host list from TLC Book Tours. A big thanks to Trish for including Layers of Thought in this tour!

6 comments:

Heather J. @ TLC Books said...

I'm glad you enjoyed this one - it certainly is a fun read! Thanks for being a part of the tour. :)

Unknown said...

Heather -
Yes I did enjoy it. Exactly what I needed. The copy will be given to my mom who is going to love it.

Tomorrow I will be checking out the other blogs who have posted before me. :)

Cheers!

justpeachy36 said...

I think this one looks good, thanks for the heads up!

Great review!

Unknown said...

Justpeachy -
Did you enter the giveaway?

Thanks :)
It was a fun book.

Margot said...

Hi there,
Just got home from a short vacation and read your review of my novel. I'm so glad you enjoyed it and called it a "blast." That's often how I describe what it was like to write....a total blast!

Thank you for helping me get the word out!

Margot Berwin

Unknown said...

Cheers Margot -
Looking forward to your next book!

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