The cover and the description for this book? Totally irresistible. However, I did find some aspects of the book that were just not as good as I wanted them to be. For the most part, this was a sweet, whimsical fantasy that had GREAT characters but lacked a lot in terms of pacing and plot. 

So, we obviously know that this cover is gorgeous and such an attention-grabber. The idea that we have a villain who turns good and into a florist? Such a fun plot idea. And I’ll be honest, the first chapter of this book was literally amazing. You get a tiny glance into Violet’s life as the Thornwitch before she goes on to be a good person instead of a villain. Her character is great and all of the characters in Dragon’s Rest feel so real and tangible. This book is definitely character-driven, but my issues aren’t with the characters, they’re with the slow pacing and very very thin plot. 

With the pacing, this book, while having fun and enjoyable characters, was so slow. It honestly took me forever to get through and it definitely shouldn’t have taken that long. I love the idea of a villain starting over to become good, but the fact of the matter is that with Violet opening her flower shop and nothing actually exciting happening until literally HALFWAY through the book, I found it very hard to keep my attention to finishing. So that brings me to the plot. It’s Violet becoming a florist, falling in love with Nathaniel, and a person from her past who doesn’t really cause a lot of trouble until the fifty percent mark. It just wasn’t enough in my opinion. I thought the ending was AWESOME, but it was very hard for me to even factor that in when the rest of the book just felt meh. 

Spoilers ahead.

With the blight, which is the main driving factor for the plot, it doesn’t seem like anyone is really truly concerned or freaking out. I get this is a light-hearted novel, but even with those, people still have emotions. And then Sedgwick is causing problems, but… not really? All along it was Violet causing the blight and Sedgwick was not a problem in the least because they defeated him after he took Peri. I liked the ending, it just… I don’t even know how to say this. Like the book had so much potential and you barely got to see any of it reach its full height. 

For those who want spice, this is very very low spicy compared to some novels I’ve read. There’s one scene after a very long build up, but that’s it. 

Overall, I really loved the characters. I loved the community that Violet found. I loved Nathaniel and his sister. Peri and Daisy. The pacing and the plot though? It really brought down the whole book for me. Definitely a three star read, but if you’re looking for cozy with a slow burn romance, this would probably be the book for you!

Source: Book of the Month Pick

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