Debut Review: Those Fatal Flowers by Shannon Ives
A messy read for those with some justified female rage. The sapphic yearning is a nice bonus.
Metadata
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Author | Shannon Ives |
| Fic/Non Fic | Fiction |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Format | eARC |
| Rating | 3.5 |
Disclosure: This book was provided as an eARC from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Spoiler Free Review
I can’t help but think that this book will be my “hear me out” pick from now on. When I read the premise, a mashup of Greco-Roman myth and the Roanoke colony, I was skeptical, but Those Fatal Flowers exceeded my expectations and really did pull it off in an interesting way. The main character, the siren Thelia, has clear motivations that are unraveled well in the dual timeline, giving enough insight into the character to keep things interesting without overwhelming the reader with backstory. Understandably, the core of this book revolves around female relationships, both romantic and platonic, as Thelia navigates the politics of the Roanoke colony, exploring how the women of the colony are restricted by their society, often choosing the lesser of two evils for the future of their lives. Thelia’s storyline mirrors these women, often putting her in situations without a clear right answer. This is where the book is at its best, and fits well within the thematic elements highlighting female rage, all while a slow burn sapphic romance simmers in the background, where you almost don’t dare to hope that these women can find happiness in such a patriarchal, structured society.
Speaking of the romance, this book is messy in the best ways. What starts as a bit of a love triangle becomes a love square, then a pentagon, then maybe a pentagram? Either way you have people finding themselves in relationships for relatable and realistic reasons, while still pining after other characters. Given the themes and setting of the novel, I was constantly wondering how this mess could be unraveled, and delighted that I could see a hundred different ways for it to end.
While the book far outstripped my expectations for the premise, there were still places that the book stumbled. I found the prose interesting, occasionally reaching the heights of the comped Madeline Miller, and just as often proving frustrating that it wasn’t reaching those same heights. Along with that, the plot and character development felt well earned for the majority of the book, except one specific point that left me feeling whiplash, flipping back to see if I had skipped a chapter. Honestly I was able to overlook these issues and enjoy it nonetheless, but there has been one aspect that didn’t quite fit for me thematically. Without spoilers, there are a few character elements around finding love and comfort where you can, even when in love with another, that were explored deeply in one context, but not extended through to one of the central relationships in the book. I really wish that had been addressed/interrogated in some way, as it completely colors my view of the ending.
Overall, this book was such an interesting read, and I only wish that I had convinced a few friends to read it with me. While I am rating this book 3.5/5, I think this would be an exceptional book club read, where you could soak in the messiness and rage with your friends. And who knows, maybe it will inspire some patriarchy toppling in modern day America.
Spoiler Thoughts
I don’t always do this, but this book just left me with so many thoughts that I just needed to get them out. Here is your spoiler warning that everything below will discuss the entirety of the book, as well as a content warning that it will touch on the sexual violence that is present within the book.
Love in this book is so damn messy and I loved it. The way that Cora, the female love interest, is betrothed to the primary antagonist of the book, Thomas, who wants to dump Cora for the main character, Thelia, who is betrothed to Cora’s brother, Will, who is in love with Thomas. Oh, and did I mention that Thelia is initially infatuated with Cora because she looks like Proserpina, the goddess who Thelia betrayed, and was cursed for losing to Dis. Sensational drama. I was absolutely obsessed with the way these relationships are portrayed, particularly when Thelia sleeps with Will, largely because she sees Cora’s features reflected there. It was such a strong character moment of two people finding comfort where they could, even though they could not be with their hearts’ desires. The only thing that let me down in this beautiful mess was Thelia’s feeling for Cora. In the same way that Thelia sees Cora’s features in Will, she sees Proserpina’s features in Cora, but ultimately Cora is presented as a true love for her, with no concern that Thelia is only carrying the guilt and trauma of her youth.
That same issue arose for me with the monstrosity of Thelia as a siren. We are shown throughout the book that she has murdered countless men, which was understandable given her circumstances, but that monstrosity never really comes home to roost. There is so much time and space spent with Thelia musing about how/when men turn from sweet little boys into murderous and domineering creatures, but the book never seems interested in dissecting the same thing in Thelia’s case, beyond the surface level. To its credit, it did set up those parallels, and perhaps intentionally left it as an exercise to the reader. I wonder if I would have felt differently if Thelia had died in the final conflict, her own rage against Thomas resulting in her death ala a Greek Tragedy. It sort of felt set up to go that way, but ultimately Proserpina waves her hand and saves our MC. I’m still not sure how I feel about it, but I do love that it made me think about it.
This may be a controversial opinion, I’m not sure, as I haven’t read other reviews yet, but I found Thomas’ sexual violence against Thelia really did not work well for me as written. On paper, everything was there for it to work, but Thelia’s character reaction felt so sudden and out of the blue. The primary issue for me was that Thelia realized she was pregnant within that chapter, only 1 page before Thomas forces himself on her, and she resolved immediately to give into him for fear of losing the child. All of those motivations fit, but it happened so quickly and was slammed into that same chapter that it gave me whiplash. Before then, Thelia had been staunch in her resistance, and her violence was always simmering beneath the surface. When she just gave into him so meekly it just felt wrong for the character. I think if the pregnancy had been woven into previous chapters, I would have bought into it more, but it just felt so sudden. That said, the way she handled the actual scene was interesting, with the way Thelia reframed it in her mind seeming similar to the way women sometimes orgasm during sexual violence. She did make the scene as complicated and stomach turning as the act in real life, which deserves to be lauded in the fantasy genre, which has a long history of treating sexual violence against women as an unnecessary plot point.
While sometimes I wanted this book to dive a little deeper, I don’t think I was ever bored by it. If you have any thoughts, I would love to hear them. Feel free to reach out to me at any of the links on the left side of the page.