I've given this a passing grade for everything I think it could have been. There is a good story underneath the layers and layers of melodrama. This was absolutely written with the switch set to "Overbearingly Dramatic" the whole way through. It's exhausting. And yes, I know this is written for teens, but give teens some credit! this is too much!

As I said, there is a good story if you manage to get past all that. Does everything make perfect sense? no. (and I'm not talking about the magic, I'm talking about motivations and actions) but you know, it's all within the realm of healthy suspension of disbelief. It was a quick read, which earns points, but overall I will forget this in T-minus 2 days.

A fun story that depicts mental health through the use of ones magic. I thought the discussions of mental health were very telling, you can tell the author knew what they were talking about.

Like so many other people, I’ve long dreamed of buying a small English cottage where I’m surrounded by lilac bushes and highland cows and freshly brewed mugs of tea with herbs from my garden. But I realize that isn’t practical. (Yet?) Enter this book, which fulfills all my cottagecore dreams.

It’s sweet and vibrant and gentle with plenty of whimsy and nice low stakes. There’s an enchanting world and interesting, lovely characters. Catherine Bakewell’s writing feels comfortable and fresh, even as she tackles big, complicated subjects such as depression and anxiety. The romance blooms wonderfully and the story grows nicely. There’s plenty of chaos, sure, what with witches and curses and kerflooey magical abilities. And not everything makes complete sense. But it doesn’t really need to. This is a warm book with a wonderful message, and I was spellbound.

Special thanks to NetGalley and HarperTeen for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I received an eARC of this book from the publishers in exchange of an honest review.

This book is absolutely adorable. It's such a comfort read. If you need low stakes, quick and cozy read, then this should be your next read. Also, extra points for LGBTQIA+ rep.

I was genuinely surprised by this cozy cottagecore style fantasy novel. Immediately the plot grabbed me and I was swept away by the writing of Catherine Bakewell. The stakes felt all too real - I was truly concerned for our main character's father for most of the book. As a whole this book reminded me of a mix between a beauty and the beast retelling (extremely loose but the vibes are there) and the Paper Magician series by Charlie N. Holmberg (published in 2014). The need to control one's magic, move in with a rather reclusive and morally grey master as their apprentice, and the dangers posed by being out of control all play into the read-a-like for the Paper Magician series.
Yet I loved the way Clara's magic existed in the world - the natural emphasis on healing and flowers along with their meanings was really great for setting a tone for the magic system within this book. Overall I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was a quick read but delivered a ton of heart.

Fans of Legends and Lattes would love this book! This was cozy fantasy at its finest. The cottagecore themes make the whole book atmosphere so magical. The gay representation is AMAZING. This book brought me out of a reading slump, and it was very calming for me to read. It is very slow paced; however, that's exactly what I needed to read at the time. I loved this!

A whimsical and well-written YA fantasy book with Howl's Moving Castle and cottagecore vibes. I will keep an eye out for more books by this author. Loved it a lot.

This is definitely a cosy cottagecore fantasy and I'm not sure that that is for me. The book was okay and nothing was exactly wrong with it per se, but it just didnt click for me. I might have to reread it with a different mindset going in.

I found this book to be quite charming. There were many elements I enjoyed, and others that made this book good but not my perfect fit.

It had a very sweet cast of characters and I felt that their portrayals were what I enjoyed most about this story. I found Clara's struggles with her magic and mental health to be relatable and realistic. I also found the friends to lovers romance very sweet.

However, I found the part about her meeting her mother to be forced and rushed through. I also found some of the characters' motivations lacking and underdeveloped, particularly the council.

All in all, I found this to be a cute but slightly boring story.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I really was expecting this to be something different from what it was, truthfully. I don't fault the book for misleading marketing, but I didn't end up enjoying this the way I thought I would.

Clara Lucas's magic is uncontrollable.

That's why the magical council threatened to bind her magic. When her magic causes poisonous flowers to grow in her father's chest, she seeks help from her childhood best friend, Xavier. Xavier is from a long line of successful healers but hasn't spoken to Clara in five years. Knowing Clara is desperate, he asks for the unthinkable from Clara if he takes her as an apprentice.

As the two rekindle their friendship. Clara realizes Xavier has a few dark secrets.

As Clara hones her magic, she learns more about an illegal potion circling her town called Euphoria. It's intended to cure depression, but it has serious negative consequences.

So to throw in a few buzzwords: slow burn. cottagecore. fantasy. romance. Yes, please!

It took me a while to get invested in Flowerheart, but I was hooked once I passed the 30% mark. I was also happy to see all of the positive queer representation in the book! The author did an excellent job of including real-world issues, like depression, and putting them in a magical setting. I didn't expect to feel this emotional over this book, but here I am.

I recommend Flowerheart to people who want a cozy fantasy that still packs an emotional punch.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books/HarperTeen for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has been described as a cozy cottagecore fantasy, and it was definitely that. Clara overcame insecurity and shame to find confidence and self-love with the help of her childhood friend, someone who only wanted to help people but made mistakes and was punished instead. I’d love to be able to read on about Clara and Xavier’s endeavors, if they could change the council, how they succeed in helping people with melancholy. A lovely, heartbreaking, and heartwarming book.

I was really disappointed by this one. I wanted to love this a lot - especially after reading Bakewell's previous middle grade novel. I thought it was such an enchanting story and perfect for young readers.

I was stoked about Flowerheart - Bakewell's cottagecore YA debut couldn't let me down, right? Well, I was unfortunately wrong. First of all, this read way too middle grade for me, and I think this is a prime example of why YA can be so frustrating, and why we need to recognize New Adult as a classification. The point is, the prose and the characters felt really juvenile. This would likely be more successful categorized as a middle grade book.

With that said, I think I would have enjoyed reading it more if I were expecting a middle grade book. This definitely reminded me of some of my favorites, like Dreams Lie Beneath, A Far Wilder Magic, and Six Crimson Cranes, but it felt one-dimensional and flat compared to these nuanced works. The concept of the magic as a metaphor for anxiety/mental health/self-care was interesting as well, but it was super transparent. Again, a middle grade reader would've gotten more out of this book, especially the lessons.

Thanks to netgalley and harper collins for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I need this to be a studio ghibli movie immediately… this was the most whimsical beautiful heartwarming fantasy romance 💗💗

I absolutely ADORED this book. It gives you feelings of such elation, like you immediately know that no matter what happens in the end it will be okay. This is very cosy fantasy with low stakes, most of the stakes in it come from own self worth battles, fighting that voice inside your head that says you aren't good enough. Just some mild injuries involved, but when your magic system has to essentially do with being a healer, a few cuts and bruises are expected.

There is so many topics touch upon in this book, stemming from transgender characters, same sex love, depression, anxiety. The magic system is so delightful. This book has SOLID series potential but can also work well as just a stand a lone. Clara has what everyone has decided to tell her untameable magic and she is given a choice at the beginning of the book to either essentially lose some of it and be painful to cast or lose it all entirely. Clara unintentionally curses her father when she lays a hand on him while she was upset from the choices the council gave her. They in turn allow her more time with her magic so she can learn how to cast a blessing to cure her father.

Flowerheart is a cottage-core fantasy romance (light on the romance, but love is still involved.) The character development is immaculate. You see so much growth in character development and not just from our main character.

An adorable cosy fantasy, but with slightly higher (personal) stakes than some. The world isn’t going to end in Flowerheart, but Clara’s might.

Clara has never been able to control her magic. She’s had so many teachers, tried so many things, and it still evades her. When she should be preparing to be declared a magical practitioner, instead she’s approached by the council with two choices: have her magic limited, or have it removed entirely. Stricken by the choice, Clara accidentally curses her father. The only one able to remove it, the council agree to wait and give her the opportunity to bless him before they act, and the man she hasn’t spoken to for years, who was her childhood best friend, steps in to volunteer to help her. But not all is as it appears.

I adored Flowerheart. Despite the personal stakes for Clara it felt very cosy and was a super easy read. I found myself absolutely whizzing through the book and thoroughly enjoying every minute of it.

The world and Clara’s story are so intriguing I feel like this could easily have been expanded into a series, but it’s a solid standalone, and while I wouldn’t be disappointed to see more about Clara’s mother and Euphoria in particular, it doesn’t feel like it’s missing anything.

The plot was pacy and interesting, the characters were loveable and felt very real in their emotions and reactions. I felt so sorry for Clara fighting her magic, and could completely understand why she would feel her life would be easier without it. The magic system was fascinating, and I would love to know how it works for others - do they also hear their magic speaking to them (this is mentioned by Xavier), is everyone’s magic a negative personification? I need to know!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Flowerheart, and will definitely look out for more books by the author in the future.

I LOVED this book. It was so beautifully written that it is hard to explain. The story was attention grabbing from the beginning and I thought the pacing was well done. I really felt the wonderful relationship between Clara and her father. I also enjoyed the rediscovered friendship between Xavier and Clara that was so sweet and delicate. It brought me joy to see different queer representation in this book and it weren't explained- they just were!. I also felt that I learned the lesson of disliking a system, but accepting its purpose and still being a part of it to work towards making the changes you want to see. This book truly delivered everything it was advertising and more. This book was everything.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollin Children's Books for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

Flowerheart was really lovely - in addition to the prose being so beautiful, the imagery being so alive, the story itself was really beautiful. Clara's story is one of magic and triumph, of learning to love yourself for everything you are so that you can love the people around you. We see her grow, we see her make peace with her past, we see her start to treat her magic as something more than just a burden. There are clear parallels to mental health that felt so right for the targeted age group this story is for and I appreciated that it featured a diverse cast of characters and just the right amount of romance to tie a bow on the whole thing. I can't wait to share this with my students!

*SPOILERS*

Unfortunately, this book was just... kinda boring for me. I guess I expected more out of it. I'm not sure whether it was the lack of any real conflict here or just the way that the story was presented that bored me so much. I'm leaning toward the latter because I have enjoyed some low-stakes, relaxing reads in my time. They just had better writing.

As a protagonist, Clara is very promising. I enjoyed her magic immensely, and I loved the parallels between it and her anxiety. Her love interest, Xavier, however, didn't have much to recommend him to me. He didn't strike me as a strong person at all, and I get the feeling that, if he and Clara stay together, she'll inevitably end up in the role of comforter and cheerleader for the entirety of their relationship. I don't know about the majority of readers, but to me this just sounds exhausting. The writing style felt incredibly surface-level, almost dismissive. Bakewell presented all these really cool ideas like magic shops and beautiful towns with apothecaries and fields of flowers, but none of it felt deep or real. I didn't get a solid sense of place from this book, which is unfortunate because again, the world had so many promising ideas introduced that were never explored. The graduation scene was quite good, and overall I like the idea of the book. The execution was just lacking on this one for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, HarperCollins Children's Books/HarperTeen for this eARC for review!
5000/5 stars!

This book was such a warm hug and toasty mug of tea on a rainy sad day, knowing that everything may be bad but that it would be okay. I don't think I've ever read a book like it!
Firstly, what an absolutely BEAUTIFUL magic system! I absolutely loved getting the snippets of what each flower was and what their meaning was, and seeing how it correlated with Clara's feelings as she warred against her magic and her own anxieties. I just wanted to hug her so badly!! Seeing how her magic's inner voice was so evil and intrusive, trying to convince her of being a failure and a bad person was such a vivid comparison to one's own inner voice when battling anxiety and depression in real life. The way Catherine portrayed and wove mental health issues into the story and the story's society itself was beautiful and so very needed. Seeing Clara grow throughout the book with sweet sugar muffin Xavier's help, coming not only into her power but also into herself as a person and truly believing in herself was perfect. Speaking of cinnamon roll baby Xavier, I loved having a friends-to-distant-to-friends/allies-to lovers develop was so heartwarming and very refreshing in a world of YA where "enemies-to-lovers" is very popular (and rightfully so, don't get me wrong!). Their relationship development was so tender, heartfelt, and so sweet seeing them help each other. X was such a complex "antagonist" without actually being an evil antagonist, he was just a person who was trying to do the best for those he loved and his community as a whole, but suffered in the process and faced grave consequences. Although I'm sad that he lost his magic, it was beautifully fitting that he was still able to do what he loved best alongside his love.
I felt like even though this book was a warm hug and so comforting, there was also SO MUCH happening constantly and it was so well done! I didn't want to put the book down. Everything that was introduced into the plot line truly felt well thought out and timed just right in the story to really convey the gravity and emotion of the situations occurring. Although I wish we got more of Clara and Xavier in more books, everything wrapped up so nicely without being too quick or too clean, and there was nothing inserted to the story that was unnecessary. For me, I'm actually glad that Clara's "evil" mother was more of a plot guide/device instead of the entire story/plot being centered around her being evil and with evil plans. It was nice to have both sides with the council and the outcast coven portraying what they think is right. Most importantly, PAPA IS PERFECT AND MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS!!! I couldn't help but picture Belle's sweet papa from Beauty & the Beast. Their relationship was so pure and loving, and I loved getting even small snippets of their time together while Clara was growing up.
Another thing Catherine handled beautifully, was the inclusion of gender identity and sexuality in both her characters and their respective world/magic system. It's so poignant and equally important that this is continually included in YA stories, so that kids see that it's truly okay to be yourself and that the way you feel about yourself and others is acceptable and WILL be normalized by those who truly care about them and respect them!
In essence: this was absolutely immaculate and I will not accept any opinions that state otherwise, haha!