I loved Alecia Whitaker's debut Queen of Kentucky so I jumped on the chance to read her next novel (especially since it came out o my birthday)! It tells the story of Bird who gets to follow her dreams and becomes a county music star overnight! How many of us wished that could happen to us! I loved this book because it was pure dream fulfillment in book form! I wish more books were as sweet and simple as this!

Wildflower has been sitting on my tbr pile since 2014 (whoops). There’s something so satisfying about knocking out these titles of shame. I’m actually a bit happy that I put this one off for so long, because I feel like I read it at the perfect time: when the country, my personal life, and my recent reads have been pretty dark. Wildflower is fluffy and happy to the max.


Reviewers have commented on the lack of depth to this book, and that’s certainly true. There’s not much tension, and Bird’s basically endlessly nice and thoughtful in this book. She occasionally says something rude, but then she immediately thinks better and apologizes for it. It’s kind of nice to read a fame book where the MC doesn’t immediately lose her head. Bird’s career definitely evolves impossibly smoothly but that’s also sort of what I signed up for, so I didn’t mind.

What I liked best about this book were the family dynamics. Bird and her family played in a band together, touring the country and living out of their RV…until Bird was discovered and signed as a solo artist. There’s a bit of tension here, but mostly the whole family is supportive and they all love each other so much. It’s rare to get really tight-knit families in YA, so I loved this a lot. This is where I got the most feels, as the romance between Bird and Adam didn’t do much for me.

If you’re looking for something that’s full of good feelings and family as an antidote to the darkness all around, Wildflower might hit the spot.