divine, daring, delightful
from heavy historical fiction to soft romance reads, get a little bit of everything in the latest book reviews!
Dear Petals,
Our next installment of the Wildflower Files are here! The Wildflower Files are your neighborhood friendly book reviews — written by teen girls from all across the world! Together, all these global voices join forces right here, right now, in The Petal Press. Read below to discover your new binge-read!
The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop
★★★★☆
This book is written following the highs and lows of Bishop’s personal journey, experiencing fame. Starting from childhood, it discusses her passion for being a ballet dancer, her natural ability discovered from her mom enrolling her, giving her a love for performing, and the drive to keep progressing. It then transitions to her taking this love for being on stage, working in plays and musicals, getting a deeper feel for performing, making connections, and working hard to pursue a career in acting. Through these connections, she was able to make it to Gilmore Girls, her most famous piece of work, and the interest in my reading of this book in the first place. As a Gilmore Girls watcher myself, it was very interesting to hear her perspective and experience throughout the show, and with the cast. I felt that by reading this novel, I now have a deeper understanding of the show and have established a deep connection to Emily Gilmore and to Kelly Bishop’s life outside the role. Though parts of the novel were naturally slower, as it is written about her life, I took out information about Kelly Bishop I never would have known without reading about her whole life’s journey. Bishop’s writing style throughout the book, discussing her individual thoughts on those influential throughout different aspects of her life, from childhood to the present day, helps to establish a connection to those more positive with the reader. She discusses behind the scenes of her works, including Gilmore Girls, talking about those who went into creating, writing, and improving the show’s quality, who are often neglected in the process compared to the main actors and actresses, therefore giving them a chance to shine in her personal novel. Bishop, in contrast to Emily Gilmore, is a very compassionate person, shown clearly in the book, giving the readers a chance to feel a personal connection to her as a person rather than just someone you hear about or see on screen. I highly recommend experiencing this emotional rollercoaster of a novel depicting Bishop’s life if you are in the mood for a cozy, feel-good book or want to know more about the outside world of Gilmore Girls.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
★★★★☆
This play creates a connection as to how history repeats itself by comparing the Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials. The Red Scare, occurring in the 1950s, was a time when influential people in society started blacklisting others influential either through fame or through an important role in future generations, as many people were extremely wary of there being a communist outburst affecting all of America. Joseph McCarthy, a senator in the United States at the time, is very notable for the term McCarthyism as he easily threw out the communist accusation for those he inferred to be communist or sympathetic to communist ideas. This displacement of blame can also be seen in the Salem Witch Trials in Puritan Society, which Miller writes about with his own personal experiences in the Red Scare. The play describes the height of this time in history, when everyone was scared of being accused and hanged for “unusual behavior” that would make others believe them of witchery. Using characters such as the young girls in society, important for accusations and being influential in convincing others, including Abigail, the leader of the accusations, and Mary Warren, scared, shy, and often roped into doing things she does not want to do, whether under John Proctor (her master) or Abigail. In addition, there is Elizabeth Proctor, facing the wrath of Abigail. As well as Betty, involved with the girls and paralyzed from witchcraft at the start, and Parris, Betty’s dad and a renowned religious figure, and more characters experiencing the hardships of this time. It follows the stories of real people, depicting the true and heartbreaking story of how many innocent people were accused of witchery and died, unable to defend themselves against assumptions to those more influential. It is very interesting to learn about, as well as easy to get invested in and passionate about, with the individual characters and their storylines. It is a short, four-act play that is clearly deeply related to Miller’s life, but is based on the true stories of the Salem witch trials. It is much harder to pick up, but once you do, you will be guaranteed to become invested in the characters and be unable to put it down until you finish the story. I highly recommend it if you want to learn more about both times in history or if you are looking for a piece of writing that deeply interests and excites you.
When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka
★★★☆☆
This heartbreaking novel depicts the time in history during WWII, after Pearl Harbor, with fear ensued in American citizens, turning on Japanese Americans. Assuming all Japanese people were conspiring against America, they shut Japanese Americans out of society, ignoring their previous friends and neighbors. In 1942, Evacuation Order 9066, issued by President Franklin
D. Roosevelt forced all Japanese Americans to uproot their life, board a bus for multiple days with terrible and dehumanizing conditions, and eventually end up in an internment camp for over 3 years, with strict rules and barely any freedoms, surrounded by a barbed wire fence and guards with guns. This often split up families, with some being separated, detained, put into prison, or forced to go to war. They locked up all Japanese Americans, children and elderly included, counting even those with 1/16th Japanese ancestry. Otsuka’s novel is universally written, focusing on a family with characters named “the boy”, “the girl”, “the woman”, and “the father”, to be applicable to many times in history and to also show how individuality was not important to the government with Japanese Americans as they grouped them all and stuck them in internment camps. Before chapter one, the father has been detained, separated from the rest of his family, left ashamed and dehumanized, taken in his robe and slippers. Each chapter is told from a different perspective. First, depicting their home life, what they reminisce about later on, leading up to the evacuation order put up, making them pack up their lives and board a train, not knowing where they were going. On the train, there is a very hostile environment; limes and oranges spread on the ground. Then, in the camps, all of the characters start to be impacted by being locked inside for multiple years. The woman loses motivation to do anything, the girl becomes very independent, leaving and staying out late, so the boy, though still young, has to step up and take care of his mom. Returning home three years and 5 months later, their lives remain changed; people they used to call friends started ignoring them, and the family had to fade into the rest of society, forgetting any Japanese heritage they used to know. When their father was finally able to come home, the children were left disappointed, not even recognizing him. The final chapter is a short “confession” made by the father, depicting the process of interrogation when he was detained, confessing to everything they accused him of so that the process would be over. The novel, depicting a real-life event that was extremely damaging and still has an impact on Japanese American lives, has a realistic and heartbreaking ending. I recommend Otsuka’s novel because it shows how many times in history, especially including times of extreme racism, endings were not always happy.
Everything I Thought I Knew by Shannon Takakoa
★★★★★
If there’s a book that’ll take you through all the motions of life it’s Everything I Thought I Knew by Shannon Takakoa. It explores the life of a driven determined teenage girl named Chloe, she has it all working for her suddenly her heart fails…
In the book we see her journey of getting a transplant and dealing with the motions a heart transplant and with it she experiences new memories, interests and cravings that aren’t entirely hers. With this experience,she learns more about herself, and ventures into experiences the old her wouldn’t have even fathomed. During everything Chloe was going through the world kept spinning, Chloe has to experience remaining behind while everyone’s moving forward, her friends are on their way to colleges they planned to go to together and she’s remaining behind to finish summer school. Slowly but surely Chloe’s life starts to form a new one full of experiences,friendships and memories made to last a lifetime. Her donors experience’s, feelings and memories surface. They influence her choices, experiences, new hobbies and thoughts heavily if not one hundred percent. She becomes determined to find the person who made her life what it is at that moment…little does she know that the person who’s influenced who’s she become is closer than she thought, within arms reach in fact.
This book pushes you to think outside the box and reflect, it shows me just how much of who we are comes from our minds,bodies, souls and our memories furthermore it made me realize how trauma can change someone without completely . It was the perfect mix of suspense mystery romance and self-discovery. It’s definitely a must read!
Picking Daisies on Sundays by Liana Cincotti
★★★★★
Picking Daisies on Sundays by Liana Cincotti is a heartfelt, warm YA romance novel that will make anyone believe in second chances. This book did not fail to steal my heart. It follows Daniella Daisy Maria; a hopeless romantic, that I see so much of myself in. And Levi Campbell, the male protagonist, and Daniella’s (Dani’s) childhood crush. Total book boyfriend energy! It is the kind of love where feelings were caught platonically somewhere along the way. But it all ended when she believed Levi did not feel the same way, and she promised to never see him again. However, four years later, Dani and Levi met at a bar. He asked her to be his fake girlfriend, and to be honest.... can you blame her for saying yes. How could you say no to your childhood crush. And naturally from there, sparks fly, and the story takes off.
The book is full of girlhood, Taylor Swift references, for all my fellow Swifties and has the perfect balance of humor and romance. Dani is portrayed like a typical teenage girl but grows throughout the book. She has issues with friends, boy-problems, and struggles with confidence, making the book relatable for many teenage girls; like me. After dating Levi, her soulmate, her Iris (anyone get the reference) she gains confidence, and we see that character growth, we all needed. To be honest, Dani and Levi’s relationship is the dream – teasing, banter, and Levi Campbell’s actions. Spoiler alert: Levi indeed, wrote a book in French about Daisy and found a job in Paris, after he found out she was moving there temporarily. When will it be my turn?
Overall, this book is full of pure love and magic. As I was reading, I could not help but swoon over Levi, nor can I stop thinking about the couple. This was definitely the main reason why I could not put this book down and completed it in one sitting. Maybe it took over five hours of consistent reading, but in the end it was worth it. If you live for slow-burn, second-chance love, this one’s an absolute must read; that WILL be in your top five.
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