Briseis's moms are two of my favourite parents in YA, they're loving, hilarious and work with Bri when she's gifted the estate and starts to learn more about her biological family. As they work in a flower shop, I really got strong Bly Manor vibes from them and it was nice to see what could have been. The next morning Briseis’ ankle is sore but workable and after breakfast it’s time to do some cleaning. In the apothecary as she’s dusting her rag gets caught on something on the wall and when she pulls it a door opens to another secret room. Calling for her moms, they go inside to discover an alter to Hecate that also has a picture of Briseis as a baby on it. As her mom calls her Aunt Leti who knows some about this kind of thing, Mo and Briseis discover a full family tree, starting with Medea, leading all the way down to Selene, Circe, and Briseis. First you tell me you don’t have any, then Briseis goes and finds the best-looking flowers I’ve ever seen,” he said happily. Common Sense is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of all kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century.

My biggest issue regarding the plot was the poor pacing. The main character didn't even arrive at the primary setting until about 25% of the way through. The exposition dragged on for a huge chunk of the beginning, and it made it hard to get through. Because of how slow thing were at the start, it seemed like suddenly everything was happening in the last chunk of the book, especially in the last few chapters. This book suffered major finale syndrome. Anyway, Briseis finds out that her birth mother left her a house that comes with its own apothecary and garden and that's where things get weird. Because other people are interested in the garden and some of them are benign but some of them not so. And the deeper Briseis delves into the history of her family and her garden, the more she learns what's really at stake. Cinderella Is Dead author Kalynn Bayron brings a message of proud inclusivity to this empowering fantasy about a young woman finding the strength to challenge everything she has been told is true. About This Edition ISBN:

About Kalynn Bayron

This ARC was sent to me by Bloomsbury YA, please read our disclaimer policy for more information. The Review: A promising portrayal of an adolescent mind which has been brainwashed by controlling adults into believing that its owner is evil.

D umb-dumb-dumb. Most of the characters were stupid. And like, horror-movie stupid. Briseis and the potential to be a strong protagonist, but it was ruined. Her decisions were really stupid. She almost got her friend killed. She showed off her powers in public, put her moms' life in danger. And never EVER admitted she made a mistake!! He looked at me quizzically. Iglanced at my mom for a second longer than I needed to. Her face grew tight with concern.

I'm now going to throw up my hands and say "Eff it, let's get on with it,", and quote a line of Redmond's which perfectly encapsulates everything wrong with this "twist" - both to her character and the story - and how mindbogglingly incompetent it is. Here it is, bring on the cringe: You fixin’ somethin’ for somebody you love, for healin’. Gotta do it with your bare hands and your whole heart. Understand?” So Briseis works in a flower shop with her moms that is actually named after her. They know about her power, they help with her power and they don't use her power to help their shop (which honestly made me weep at the consideration of their daughter). They are having some money issues (and still not exploiting her powers) when all of a sudden.. Briseis inherits this big house and loads of land from her biological aunt that she has never met in her whole life. Her mom passed away and she never expected anything from her biological family.. but she just realized something new about her power and she is eager to see if it is just her, a family trait, a weird coincidence or something else entirely. The story is the retelling of a classical Greek myth. There's some natural science about plant classification.