I loved how The Alchemy of Flowers instantly took me to a vibrant French garden. Eloise's story, filled with quirky characters and hidden dangers, was both cozy and thrilling. I was completely immersed in the beautiful descriptions and the emotional depth of her journey, especially her struggles with infertility. It's a gorgeous escape to France, and I can't wait to revisit it.

🌺Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.🌹
3.5 🌟
The vibes in this book were immaculate 🤌. A magic, eerie, garden in a remote french château? Count me in.
The mystery was interesting and compelling to read and the characters, with their little found family, were very comforting.
I'm sure Eloise's struggles with infertility resonated with a lot of readers, and I think it is important to talk about them, but I feel like she never really accepted that not being a mother did not make her less of a woman, and I would've liked the author to explore that more.
All in all, it was a nice, cozy reading 🌹🌺🪻🪷.

The Alchemy of Flowers was a difficult book for me to finish reading. I did not like the scattered ideas strewn about the story. The treehouses and garden of paradise in the story were not compatible with the Provence location and aesthetic. I did not like the literal aspect of alchemy with compost being turned into flowers...I think there could have been a "nicer "way to incorporate alchemy. The cover and synopsis made this book sound flowery and mysterious, but the overall plot did not come together for me. The magical realism aspects felt a bit random and did not have enough whimsy that complimented the floral location of the South of France.

Overall I am pretty disappointed with The Alchemy of Flowers, it sounded better than it was.

Thank you, Laura Resau, Harper Muse, and NetGalley for the early preview of this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Title: The Alchemy of Flowers
Author: Laura Resau
Format: e-book

Review:

Eloise is an American woman who finds herself moving to France to escape the hell that she has found herself in at this point of her life. She is recently divorced and there’s a backstory that we eventually piece together to see exactly why she moved to this estate for the “no children” rule. Some important trigger warnings should be included, not limited to:
-infertility
-miscarriage/loss
-rape
-murder
-child marriage

These trigger warnings are present throughout the story, but are thoughtfully explained.

This story has so many beautiful messages throughout and I really believe it can be enjoyed and appreciated by all, even if you didn’t connect via the personal problems that the main character experienced. Love can be found in many ways and many different relationships, even when you may have lost hope.

Laura Resau’s writing beautifully flows to illustrate vivid scenes throughout this book. I was completely captivated and felt as if I could not put this down! I loved the touch of French phrases throughout, although we know they were speaking in French throughout the story. My few years of taking French in school appreciated and enjoyed it. I found myself saying phrases and looking forward to having some literal interpretations explained.

I was blown away that I could connect and be interested in learning about each of the characters. Many times I was surprised by what happened and loved how each character fit so beautifully in the plot. I appreciate the realism of these characters holding on to past trauma and being hesitant to share their stories with Eloise.

I found myself questioning why this book was titled The Alchemy of Flowers, and slowly the reasoning trickled in. It really made its point in the last 50 pages. Maybe there could have been more to show how Eloise used the magic of the flowers in the gardens to heal. However, I don’t feel that is NECESSARY.

I loved the ending and felt that I got everything that I wanted out of this story.

I was really drawn to the beautiful cover of this book and the premise sounded promising, filled with magic realism, intrigue and mystery. I think I was hoping for something a bit darker as the blurb felt like this story could take a sinister turn.

Perhaps I am at the wrong stage of my life, but this novel fell short of the mark and the characters didn’t resonate with me. I just couldn’t bring myself to care about them.
The interjection of the French language was somewhat cumbersome and made me feel as though the author was displaying her proficiency in French, rather than enriching the story.
The author does have a rich, vivid writing style, able to convey settings beautifully.

What an absolute gem! If I could describe this book in just three words, they would be the following:

MAGICAL, POWERFUL, & BEAUTIFUL.

The description of this book promises magic, mystery, and wonder, and not only does it deliver in a spectacular mesmerizing fashion, but it also unexpectedly gives you SO much more. Besides what is advertised, The Alchemy of Flowers enwraps you in a wondrous story of grief, loss, and the power of love and healing.

We follow Eloise as she flees from her broken life in Colorado to the hidden gardens of Le Château du Paradis, a castle in a small village in Southern France. Within the walls of the magical Gardens of Paradise, Eloise manages not only to heal the shattered pieces of her soul, but find everything she didn’t know her heart was seeking. Love, forgiveness, friendship, a new found family, and even adventure.

The world the author creates is as enchanting as it sounds. The descriptions of the gardens, the smells, the lighting, and even the food enjoyed in the book draw the reader in and make you feel like you are there experiencing it all. The mystery will have you wondering what parts are magical and what parts are paranormal.The loss and pain Eloise expresses are so raw they’re almost tangible and not for the faint of heart. The Alchemy of Flowers is the kind of book that will rip your heart out and neatly put it back together again. Also, if diversity and inclusivity is important to you as a reader, you will not be disappointed. Laura Resau always has a good mixture of cultures and backgrounds in her stories, and this book is no exception.

As I do strive to be completely honest with my reviews I would like to mention a couple of things. First, the pacing is extremely slow at the beginning of the book. There is a lot of mystery in the story as a whole, as well as essential information about the side characters the reader needs to learn about. We are fed the information and clues in the form of teeny tiny breadcrumbs and it does take quite a bit of time to learn everything we as the reader needs to know in order to put the pieces together and solve the mystery. I did become frustrated not knowing more sooner, and even misjudged some of the characters because I didn’t understand their motives until much later in the book. However, once you learn the important details, the story takes off and will have you reeling and reading nonstop until the very end.

Secondly, I strongly believe this book should have a trigger warning. The story being told in this book is an extremely important one, however as powerful as it may be, it is my opinion that the reader should be made aware of what they are getting themselves into as the topic highlighted in this book by the main character may very possibly be triggering to some readers.

SPOILER ALERT AHEAD: If you would like to go into this book completely blind, please discontinue the review here.

The main topic highlighted in this book is infertility. The main character suffers from endometriosis and experiences numerous miscarriages which lead to depression and suicidal thoughts. A lot of this is described in heartbreaking detail. It gives great depth to the mental state and emotional pain experienced and really forces the reader to empathize with everything the main character goes through. Because of this, I feel that it is important to highlight this in the description of the book, or list trigger warnings at the beginning of the story. If you are someone that is not triggered by infertility, miscarriages, or mentions of suicidal thoughts, this is a beautiful and profound story of acceptance, and the ability to heal.
I never skip the author notes and acknowledgments at the end of the books I read, and this one had me in tears. Thank you Laura for sharing such a vulnerable part of your life, and for the beautiful story you told.

I gave this book a 4.5/5 (rounded up to 5 stars because we can’t give half stars on Goodreads.)

Thank you to @NetGalley, @Harpermuse, but especially to @LauraResau for the opportunity to read this book in advance of its release on July 29th, 2025.
All thoughts expressed here are my own.

Needing an escape from her life, Eloise takes a job at a mysterious garden in France because of one strange rule. No children allowed.
The gardens can heal, but they can also harm. Can Eloise ignore les bizarreries and just exist in this little heaven on earth with her new friends?!
This book is part magical realism, part mystery.. It's cozy, emotional, and terrifying. The characters are lovely, each trying to escape their own trauma. The food sounds delicious. The gardens are a dream. I loved every second of this book.

1.7 ★

first, i'd just like to say i could not relate at all to the issues presented in this book. whatever the opposite of relate is, that's what i felt about eloise. the pregnancy/infertility thing is such a major plot point, and if it was actually included in the blurb, i would never have chosen to read this. the descriptions of pregnant women, young women, eloise's desire for children, the one "fresh and fertile" comment??? she kind of thinks like a man at some points. all in all, everything made me uncomfortable to the point of dysphoria, and i'm not transmasc. i'm not even a tomboy, actually. and yet.

moving on to the story elements. plot was underwhelming. everything kind of happened all at once in the last fifth of the book, and i didn't really care for the direction it took. the speaking to flowers element was extremely underutilized for how much it was highlighted in the summary, and then the ending being not supernatural made it more annoying for me. when i picked this up, i was expecting a lot more magical realism.

the characters and their relationships are not particularly well-written either, to say the least. only eloise had any personality, and everyone else is one-dimensional with the occasional info dump trauma backstory thrown in. mina, definitely, was done the worst. i think her types of stories are very important to tell, but i don't think the alchemy of flowers has enough depth to tell it. and it does feel a bit racially charged compared to everyone else's background (escaped child bride from africa vs... fighting cancer and infertility? and i think mina's a muslim too). i know the whole point of the garden is that it's a sanctuary, and everyone has a difficult past, but again, i don't think this was executed well. a lot of it comes out to the fact that her—and everyone else's, to be honest—backgrounds are revealed through info vomiting. it's not natural; it doesn't mesh well with the overall characterizations or story.

none of the characters have any chemistry together, friendship or romance wise. eloise and raphael are just another one of those book couples who get together because of forced proximity and have no development ever. she was a girl, he was a boy, and they're in the same room, so of course they're in love, i guess?

There was something quite cozy about The Alchemy of Flowers despite the sensitive subjects it broached by a hurting and angry main female character who struggles with infertility, the guilt associated with failure to do that which she feels she was made for as a woman, and agonizing through the trauma of losing a marriage as well as the children she miscarried.
The message repeated over and over again through the book is 'making flowers from shit' - which is so very fitting given that Eloise is running from a life unfulfilled and hired on as a gardener at a beautiful estate shrouded in mystery. I really enjoyed watching her make something out of herself as she worked through some of her dark traumas while being tempted time and time again by the eerie magical nature of what happens at dusk when all staff are required to remain indoors. There was a spunky charm to her continuing to question what others were too afraid to, to not let herself be silenced when things didn't make sense, and to push forward even if she stumbled back a few steps.

This was the first book I've read of its kind and I can't compare it to anything I've read before which makes it stand out as being quite enjoyable even if it's not exactly my cup of tisane. I think the magic and mysteries of the book is really understated, focusing mainly upon character growth and development over time.
Eloise's connection with flowers and her creative outlets are precious. The world within The Alchemy of Flowers is whimsical and never truly gets too dark without offering a bit of levity between the hurts. I think that this book has within it an incredible display of feminine strength and while I have never experienced the agonies associated with the loss of marriage, children, and infertility, I think that those who have might find the words within this book to be quite empowering.

Another story of an American woman moving to France to find happiness. This one at least speaks French. She gets a job as a gardener in an off grid castle with many rules. Of course, she finds friends that become family and a hot Frenchman. A bit of mystery, a bit of romance, a bit of gardening, a bit of magic realism, but mostly life drama, and not so believable character development.

I support the fact that the book tries to show how (in)fertility journey can be hard and my heart goes to all those who struggle with tracking ovulation, medications, IVF and all the mental and social problems and pains that goes with it, but I can't make myself to love this book. ☹️

The second part was a bit more interesting, but all in all c’est pas ma came.

I had the honor of being an early sensitivity reader on this book and fell in love then. Now I had the chance to read the final edition and just fell in love all over again. This book was for me THE SECRET GARDEN meets A GREEN AND ANCIENT, set in the South of France. It weaves the hard work of healing within the landscape of a mysterious job in the gardens of a locked castle, scrumptious dinners under the stars, flowers that whisper to to those who can hear, and secrets held and revealed. Preorder now!

A terrific combination of magic and compassion. A woman goes to a mysterious, magical garden after a difficult loss. The story is a lush, mysterious vibe, but explores an often talked about grief of infertility.
This book is truly not for everyone, but for the right audience they will be rewarded with strong messages of found family and working through our issues.

Thanks to Harper Focus / Harper Muse and NetGalley,

A very big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this eARC!

The Alchemy of Flowers intrigued me from the blurb alone, and the novel as a whole completely delivered. As I read, I truly felt transported into seeing things through Eloise's perspective. It's hard to get that right in writing, but Resau manages it with ease.

I also thoroughly relished the refreshing narrative of womanhood and motherhood, the discussion that one needn't birth their own child to feel that strong maternal urge, or be a true mother. It was utterly beautiful, and I can only hope many women read this and feel comfort that their stories are being told.

This book isn’t for everyone—myself included. It feels like it was meant for a specific audience, one that shares the main character’s trauma and grief, and would connect with the story on a much deeper level than I did.

That being said, the writing is stunning—florid and poetic. The setting is captivating, with its vivid descriptions, the unique talents of each character, and the magic woven into the whole place. These elements bring the world to life in a way that feels almost tangible.

But for all its beauty, the book has its drawbacks. Descriptive passages often cross into info-dump territory, dragging on to the point of frustration. The protagonist’s past is intentionally kept in the shadows, leading to a repetitive cycle of rediscovering the same fragments of their story over and over again. And then, there’s the excessive use of French phrases—mon ami, mon chéri, merde—which, rather than adding charm, felt forced and overdone.

Albeit the book wasn’t for me, I believe every book finds its reader. This one touches on important, often-overlooked themes, and for the right audience, it may be exactly the story they need.

What a charming read. I loved the focus on nature and plants as a way to carry the analogy throughout the story. It wasn’t the easiest read at points, but it was so sensitively handled that I was glad I was reading it. Beautiful.

First things first, a huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own. Second of all, when I picked this up, I picked this up for the cover and the description. The cover is jaw-dropping and the blurb sounded amazing. The Secret Garden meets Sarah Addison Allen, an author who writes magical realism and stories about women, an author whose work I have enjoyed. It seemed like something I would very much enjoy!

To continue, The Alchemy of Flowers is about a woman who moves to France to take care of a magic garden with a bunch of other people who need a little bit of healing in their lives. This sounded really nice and I was excited to read it. Except I was bored to tears, I couldn’t connect to any of the characters, and the writing was a touch too purple for me. However, I liked the magic and the found family aspect. There were some really good lines in the novel. But, ultimately, I struggled to finish this. It probably would have been a DNF if this wasn’t an ARC. I was really bummed because I so badly wanted to love this.

Overall, I’m unsure of whether or not I would recommend this. This didn’t work for me, but it might work for someone else.

4,5/5 stars

This was a lovely surprise. A delicate story about finding a family, about feminine power, and the trauma experienced when struggling with fertility. The symbolism of flowers and goddesses felt like a sensitive way to talk about such deep traumas, for Eloise and all the women in the book. The men are also interesting and have deep, and I soon found myself caring deeply about all the people of Paradise and their stories.
If anything, the aura of mystery in the first arc of the story - surely intended to hook us with the oddity of the gardens - stretched the build up for the reveals a tad long, to a point I questioned whether any questions would ever be answered. Fortunately, it payed off.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Truthfully, I did not think that I would get into this book until about third chapter. It was the way she was willingly able to leave everything just to go to this foreign place to find herself again because she seemed to be lost in the world. The chemistry between the other characters and the main character was a buildable moment because at first they seemed closed off and secretive and in reality they had no clue until the main character was more curious about where she was then them. it was a big healing experience for them all and the ending was a little dark and twisted. It made no sense for paradise to have rules .

The Alchemy of Flowers is a visually charming and fantastical read.

**We follow Eloise who, having reached rock bottom, seeks escape as she starts a new chapter in her life as the new gardener at Le Château du Paradis. There are few rules to follow in her new role, enforced by the illusion La Patronne, her employer, but the consequences of breaking them could be devastating.

Among the flowers (some more welcoming than others) she finds solace, companionship with her new colleagues, and more than a couple of dangerous secrets. **

The main character suffers from infertility and I believe that the author does a very good job of describing the soul crushing sadness faced by the millions of women affected by similar issues.

The side characters were well fleshed out with heart wrenching, truthful stories and I thought they added a huge amount to the story. Every single one of them felt real to me, and I loved that as the reader we peeled back more layers to their stories as our MC opened up and learned to love herself again.

I found the pacing a little staggered at the start and had a hard time connecting with this book until about 30% in where I was fully invested with the story. My only mild criticism was the inclusion of some French words, creating a mismatch of English and French, sometimes flitting back and forth in the sentence. I understood the inclusion when Eloise was struggling to place a word, or translate it into a similar English meaning, as this put us in her head, but the use of chocolat or other similarly recognisable French words was a little jarring to me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and thank NetGalley, the publishing house, and the author for granting me access to this ARC.

The Alchemy of Flowers is an enchanting tale that seamlessly weaves together magic, mystery, and personal healing. Set in a secluded French garden with an air of quiet enchantment, the novel invites readers into a world where flowers hold secrets, and transformation blooms alongside grief.

At the heart of the story is Eloise, a protagonist whose journey from loss to renewal is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. The novel beautifully explores themes of found family, resilience, and self-discovery, all against the backdrop of the mesmerizing ‘Garden of Paradise.’ The author’s lush, atmospheric descriptions make the setting feel almost tangible, transporting readers into a world brimming with magic and quiet wonder.

Beyond its whimsical elements, The Alchemy of Flowers also touches on deeper, more emotional themes, including loss and reproductive health. While these aspects add depth and richness to the story, they may be challenging for some readers.

With a blend of magical realism, mystery, and even a touch of horror, the novel carries a unique charm that may appeal to both adult and young adult audiences. Whether you’re drawn to witchy aesthetics, immersive settings, or deeply personal character journeys, this book offers a captivating and beautifully written escape.