**Blossoms and Blooms, the local florist, is getting a new sign, hand-painted by a local artist. The paint drips from the brush down the artist’s hand, staining it blue, mixing with the pink already dried down her arm with specks dotting her sleeve. I duck under the shop overhang and walk around the florist and buy a pretty bouquet to put in my vase at home. It gets wrapped in brown paper and tied together with twine in an intricate knot. I bundle it in my arms and take it back to my little cottage.**

I haven’t done a book review in quite a while, so I figured why not do one for today’s post? The last book I finished was Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz and I have some thoughts. I ended up reading this one in only about two or three days and had some strong opinions on this one that I wanted to discuss.

This book is about a woman named Violet Thistlewaite who is the Thornwitch to powerful villain Guy Shadowfade. When Guy dies, Violet is out of a job and decides to turn over a new leaf in Dragon’s Rest where she opens up a flower shop next door to apothecary Nathaniel Marsh. Nathaniel Marsh is not impressed and a downer compared to Violet’s sunny disposition. When a rot overtakes the town, the two must work together to figure out where it is coming from and how to stop it all while Violet is working towards being good and leaving her villainous past behind.

I’m just going to come right out and say it: I did not like this book. From the beginning, I just could not get invested in the story. I can’t really put my finger on what it was exactly, but I didn’t like the writing style of this one. I wasn’t interested in the story and was bored. There seemed to be nothing interesting going on for most of the story.

I didn’t like the characters either. Violet was okay, but I wasn’t always convinced of her villainous origins. I do like the internal battle she faces of her feelings for Guy Shadowfade since he was like a father to her, but it doesn’t feel like being a villain was her default. Nathaniel was a character that I just could not root for. He was mean to Violet for no reason, and while he has had some things in his past that could lead to his more “grumpy” attitude, he was just mean. He had no redeeming qualities and I just didn’t like him as a character. The only characters I really liked were Bartleby, who is a mildly homicidal sentient plant, and Peri, a little rock goblin. I thought Bartleby brought some humor and Peri seemed adorable, though I was looking for more closure with something we learn about Bartleby.

As for the romance, I did not like it. The romance in this one seems to come from nowhere. Nathaniel spends so much time being rude towards Violet then out of nowhere is thinking about her and interested, while also seeming not interested at the same time. This also seemed to be purely physical attraction on his part as he only ever thinks of Violet’s appearance. As for Violet, we don’t seem to see any attraction whatsoever from her end. It basically goes from nothing to a full romance without actually seeing their feelings develop, which is something I don’t like. I want the two characters to develop their feelings over time and I want to be convinced of it and their relationship.

This one was just not for me. I wasn’t interested and I just didn’t like the writing or the romance. It kind of put me in a reading slump that I’m trying to get out of now. Towards the end it definitely got slightly better, but I just didn’t like it. I think this book had a beautiful cover and a great concept, but it wasn’t for me.

xoxo,

Just another reader