Discover Well-Read Black Girl Books and the projects reshaping publishing →

Read advance reader review of The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, page 4 of 4

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

The Language of Flowers

A Novel

by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (6):
  • Readers' Rating (105):
  • First Published:
  • Aug 23, 2011, 336 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Apr 2012, 352 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Reviews


Page 4 of 4
There are currently 25 member reviews
for The Language of Flowers
Order Reviews by:
  • Judith M. (San Diego, CA)
    The Language of Flowers
    The Language of Flowers is a perfect summer read! The foster home part of the story is told with a heartbreakingly authentic voice. Some of the later events in Victoria's life are a bit of a stretch to believe. However, I couldn't put it down, and I just had to know what happened in the past, and what the future will hold for this complex character.
  • Anne G. (Austin, TX)
    The Language of Flowers
    Victoria is a difficult child evidenced by her aversion to touch and her unwillingness to communicate but there is ample explanation for her characteristics as we read into the book and understand her history in the foster system. It's no wonder she puts up barriers and refuses to love when she has been rejected and returned to the system so many times. I was almost instantly drawn to this character and her story.

    Generally I don't like books that mix up the chronology of the story line but in this book it added an element of suspense as I wondered what happened to make Victoria the girl she is in present day; I liked it in this case. I also love the language of flowers and I was so happy to find it detailed so carefully in a book that is not a Victorian romance.

    I would summarize by saying this a wonderful story that speaks to the heart and feeds the brain. It is white carnation.
  • Tucker's Mom (Pasadena, CA)
    What flower signifies dysfunction?
    The storyteller is the product of a failed foster-care system who uses her gifts with flowers to communicate and succeed in life. I think the most interesting facet of this novel was the floral education, trips to the flower mart, wedding planning interviews with bridezillas. But I really didn't like Victoria. She strikes out at life and people and can't ever seem to allow herself to open to others to receive help or love. Her pattern of chronic self-destruction grows tiresome and the isolation situation which lead to her medical crisis was just painful. It was a bit difficult to get into the book, but read fast after that. I wouldn't want to see the movie.
  • Suzanne G. (Tucson, AZ)
    A rather interesting story
    You need to know...I love gardening and flowers. But when a relationship depends on what a given flower portrays, and after a while reading that over and over, I eventually became annoyed. Are there really people who live their lives around such? I liked the character Victoria. She was self-sufficient and lived accordingly--making a garden in a public park? That I question. And then having so many clients when beginning her business--OKaaay--another question. The birth and care of her baby--well, I won't even go there! I liked the way the author informed us of foster care. I learned something. All-in-all, this was a fairly interesting book, and I can understand that sometimes a fiction book actually may not be life-like.

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    When No One Else Will
    by Amanda Skenandore
    1940s Chicago nurse risks everything at an illegal women’s clinic during a high-profile trial of courage and sisterhood.
  • Book Jacket
    A Pair of Aces
    by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
    Two women on opposite sides of the law team up to bring down gangster Lucky Luciano in this gripping novel.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket
    Feast
    by Catherine Kurtz
    In 19th-century France, a girl with a magical taste becomes a duc’s poison taster amid nobility and danger.
  • Book Jacket
    Summer's Never Over
    by Darby Bozeman
    A woman revisits a Southern summer camp where a counselor's death may not have been an accident.
  • Book Jacket
    The Reimagining of Thornwood House
    by Jaleigh Johnson
    A witch and her ward discover a magical walking house and find the true meaning of home.
  • Book Jacket
    The Jellyfish Problem
    by Tessa Yang
    A marine biologist rescues a Maine island menaced by a giant glowing jellyfish in this inventive debut.
Who Said...

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Book
Trivia
  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

Q S, S

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.