5 stars Review :
This is such an awesome light romance, murder mystery solving with a great unpredictable plot twist at the end but also predictable and expected elements to give us a great happy ending.
The two main characters start with animosity after Eloise, the Triffid (a fictional plant) devours Honorius's cufflinks when he just enters Prosperina's flower shop to buy his fiance a bouquet. Prosperina seems to have more to do that day than to deal with this rude client who immediately offends her plant. Prosperina is distracted, for she just discovered a dead body among her plants. It's no coincidence that this happens. Prosperina is a little different from the other small-town folks. She can't let this go and ends up going all the way to the capital to solve this conundrum.
Setting:
What makes this book easy to binge is the unique setting. It's so creative and perfect for bookworms and authors who cherish language and words and wordplay. The characters exist in a parallel world created by literature, and their purpose is to do the maintenance of drafts, manuscripts, and books. The fact that an author quit her manuscript halfway, not giving her characters Pauline and Hector an ending, jeopardized the safety of the town in charge of the maintenance of such a manuscript. What happens to a town that is forgotten and erased can be very sad and tragic.
All families and characters have names and purposes related to writing, language, grammar, and words, making the humor very meta. Prosperina's bicycle, Honorius Hyphen's extravagant car, love for English literature, cozy vibes, saving town, grumpy sunshine, and small town vs. industrial capital setting gives us a historical setting and vibes.
Prosperina Dash is adorable, inquisitive, and independent. She knows what she wants and is not afraid to deviate from others (for example, she has a flower shop instead of the expected society bookstore). Her flowers are sentient and can even speak. Eloise makes a fantastic sidekick character. Heroic, too.
Ernest (who swallowed a dictionary when he was a child, has a fun and eloquent way of speaking and an amazing skill regarding books) and Poppy (who becomes Prosperina's first friend in the Capital and is a sort of an awesome rebel). They are great secondary characters with strong character arcs. I finished the book wanting to read a spin-off of Poppy next.
The families in the Capital are wealthy and obnoxious. It's in the capital that we learn about the greed and the business of the INK that is at the core of the murders.
It's a standalone, but many characters in this world could become books and fun stories in the same universe.
It makes a great gift for cozy readers who love words, grammar, and the power of writing and languages.
Chapter illustrations are in color.
Get book here. French to English YA with Rivka Publoshings
This publisher has a new story in the making. Ebook is already available here.
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