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Review: Divining the Leaves by Shveta Thakrar

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,
Divining the Leaves by Shveta Thakrar

Divining the Leaves
Shveta Thakrar
HarperTeen
Published March 4, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Divining the Leaves

From critically acclaimed author Shveta Thakrar comes a beautifully imagined contemporary fantasy about two teens, one a believer of magic who yearns to belong, the other a skeptic searching for an escape, who find themselves embroiled in a twisty world of court intrigue when they venture into a forest ruled by yakshas, mysterious woodland spirits drawn from Hindu and Buddhist folklore.

Plant-loving Ridhi Kapadia and popular Nilesh Batra were friends once.

Now, seventeen and alone, Ridhi blends natural perfumes, wears flower crowns, and wanders her local woods, listening for the leafy whispers of her beloved trees. Pleading for the yakshas to admit her into their enchanted forest kingdom, where she knows she truly belongs.

After learning his parents’ perfect marriage is a sham and getting suspended from school, a heartsick Nilesh lands at Ridhi’s doorstep—the last thing either of them wants. So when a pretty yakshini offers him the distraction of magic, the same magic he mocked Ridhi for believing in, he jumps at it.

Furious, Ridhi strikes a bargain with a noblewoman named Sulochana. In return for helping restore her reputation, Sulochana will turn Ridhi into the yakshini she yearns to be—and teach her to divine the trees’ murmurs.

But when Nilesh ends up trapped in the yakshas’ realm, Ridhi realizes the leaves might be telling a disturbing story about the forest her heart is rooted in—one that, even if the two of them band together, threatens to shred the future like so many thorns.

My Review

My favorite thing about this book are all the descriptions of flowers, trees, and plants. I also love the way that the author incorporates dance into this story so centered on nature and plants. In one scene, Ridhi dances so that her body tells the story of the forest she’s standing in. Because of the lush descriptions of the woods and magic, I that description really came to life. I’ve never seen anything like that so well-captured in a scene before. It’s something I think I’ll remember for a long time.

I also enjoyed the unfolding of the relationship between Ridhi and Nilesh. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I had certain expectations when I started the book, and for a minute, I was not sure I was going to like the way things unfolded. It took longer for him to grow on me as a character, but eventually, I felt like I understood him more and appreciated him. Ultimately, I love where the author took the story and the hints at new relationships in the ending. (Also hooray for the reference to tabletop games there at the end!)

So, yeah. I’ve got Star Daughter on my shelf, but haven’t gotten to it yet. Divining the Leaves is the first book by this author that I’ve read, and I am sure I will read more.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 13 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
The story contains magic and mythical beings from Hindu and Buddhist folklore.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. One scene very briefly shows a character being tortured.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Flower and Thorn by Rati Mehrotra

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Flower and Thorn
Rati Mehrotra
Wednesday Books
Published October 17, 2023

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About Flower and Thorn

One girl. One boy.
A promise broken.
A magic stolen.

Irinya has wanted to be a flower hunter ever since her mother disappeared into the mysterious mist of the Rann salt flats one night. Now seventeen, Irinya uses her knowledge of magical flowers to help her caravan survive in the harsh desert. When her handsome hunting partner and childhood friend finds a priceless silver spider lily–said to be able to tear down kingdoms and defeat an entire army–Irinya knows this is their chance for a better life.

Until Irinya is tricked by an attractive imposter.

Irinya’s fight to recover the priceless flower and to fix what she’s done takes her on a dangerous journey, one she’s not sure she’ll survive. She has no choice but to endure it if she hopes to return home and mend the broken heart of the boy she’s left behind.

My Review

One of the things I’ve learned about myself as a reader lately is that I struggle with long chapters. Chapter length isn’t something I usually know about a book before I start reading. Some books genuinely need longer chapters because of how they’re structured. This one is one of those. But, because I am a reader who struggles with long chapters, it took me a long time to feel like I hit my stride with this book.

Once I did, though, I was completely hooked. Like, I enjoyed the story from the early scenes, but it felt like it was taking a long time to read, and I kept having to stop mid-chapter, which really threw me off when I started reading again the next time.

I loved the story’s setting. It’s set in India at a time when the country is besieged by the Portuguese. The characters hope to use magic flowers as a weapon in the war, and hope to keep their existence secret from the invaders, though it isn’t clear if they can.

The story has some commentary on markets and unfair systems, particularly those that marginalize nomad communities. I thought the commentary on that was thoughtful and well-integrated into the story. Irinya hopes to help her people find a way to sell the magic flowers for a fair price, as opposed to the current system, in which a few powerful, wealthy individuals control the system.

I really liked Irinya’s character. She’s stubborn, willful, and deeply loyal to her people. She’s fierce and brave. Definitely my kind of heroine.

Conclusion

Definitely by the 20 or 25% mark, I was deeply invested in the story and needed to know what really happened with the mysterious stranger who’d promised the world to Irinya and the deep betrayal between her and her best friend, Fardan. I’m super glad I read this book, and I’m eager for more by this author. I really enjoyed her debut, NIGHT OF THE RAVEN, DAWN OF THE DOVE, as well.

Content Notes for Flower and Thorn

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Characters are Indian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Two women are in a romantic relationship. Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Some flowers have magic abilities to heal or travel through time or space. Irinya can hear the flowers speaking to her.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Irinya sees a person killed by deadly wasp stings. Several characters engage in battle with swords and other weapons. Some are fatally injured. Irinya uses a blowpipe with poison thorns as a weapon. Thugs kill a man with a knife. A woman hits someone with a cooking pot in a battle.

Drug Content
References to alcoholic drinks.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of FLOWER AND THORN in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Make This Book Wild by Jo Shofield and Fiona Danks

Book Review and Content, Middle Grade 8-12, Nonfiction, , , , , , , ,

Make This Book Wild
Jo Schofield and Fiona Danks
Wide-Eyed Editions
Published April 12, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Make This Book Wild

From the authors behind The Stick Book and many other outdoor adventure favorites, this interactive one-of-a-kind creative scrapbook offers children an outlet for creativity inspired by the wild world. 
 
This truly unique book contains prompts for all kinds of creative activity based around the natural world around us, from drawing to writing to mixed-media collage.
 
Readers will be encouraged to draw on their creativity, to express themselves without fear of being judged, and to make their book really WILD!
 
They will need scissors, pens, paints, tape, glue and a magnifying glass, plus lots of wild materials and their wildest creativity, as this book becomes filled with keepsakes from their own outdoor adventures.
 
From finding the faces hidden in pictures of trees, to collecting ingredients for a spell to keep nature safe, to sticking the feathers back onto a mythical bird, these prompts and activities will provide hours and hours of entertainment as they take children on flights of fantasy through the natural world.
 
Readers can color outside the lines, do the activities in any order and go at their own pace.
 
The mixture of art, creative writing, collecting, games, wildlife-watching and imaginative prompts will appeal to kids with all kinds of interests, and there are no rules!

My Review

This is such a cute, imaginative book! I love that it pairs imagination and nature together, celebrating curiosity and creativity along with opportunities to learn about the world around us.

I requested this book hoping that my daughter would be able to use this for some outside activities. There are definitely some things in here that she can do, but some of the activities are probably better for older kids, like maybe eight or ten years old. I think she would love making berry ink and creating little fairy outfits out of leaves and flower petals. There’s another activity in which you mash up some banana and mix with water to create a food for butterflies. Then you watch to see if any come to eat. I’m sure she would love that, and the similar one for birds. Although, where we live, it’s likely the squirrels will show up first and try to eat all the bird snacks. Ha.

All in all, I’m really impressed with the cleverness and creative approach this book takes to nature. The book contains more than 60 activities to do outside (or do with items collected from outside). So, it provides a LOT of opportunities to visit nature and spend time noticing the natural world around us. I’m a huge fan. I’m also eager to see how many of these activities my daughter and I can try out together.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
None.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The book contains pictures of fairies and dragons and things like that.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of MAKE THIS BOOK WILD in exchange for my honest review.