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I don’t know how easily I’ll recover from this book. That itself is a testament to the quality of this story, the beauty of its writing, and the deep, heartfelt soul.
True, it has its flaws, and things that make me a touch uncomfy because of how outdated they are, but those are all things I’m willing to ignore.
Truly, this book touched my heart.
I read this over the course of 9 months, not because it was difficult to get through, but because life happens and I was ending my first semester of college and beginning the second. But I will say, reading snippets of story between classes was one of the most comforting things I could have done.
I read the first book, Eight Cousins (again, I highly recommend), during the summer and beginning of the fall semester. That book changed my life.
The characters in Rose In Bloom were so honest and authentic that they felt more like friends than some people I’ve known in real life.
Alcott masterfully wove together joy and sorrow, fear and hope. Nothing that happened felt that it was imaginary, or couldn’t really take place. The feelings the characters experienced were real, and all things I’ve felt before, or could feel as I get older. Not one character was obnoxious or crude or unpleasant (a rarity in storytelling, especially in the ‘romance’ genre).
That leads me to another question: is this book a ‘romance’?
To be honest, I’m not sure myself. True, it has a romance plot line, but the majority of the book is just documenting normal life. I loved the slice-of-life aspect of this series.
(Fair warning: the romance plot line of this book is, unfortunately, between two cousins. It’s gross and weird but alas, there is nothing to be done about it. I found it best to try to ignore that part, and gaslight myself into believing that perhaps Rose is not biologically related to any of her cousins and is perhaps adopted. It’s a big RIP)
I will say, to set the record straight, this book is flawed, but oh so dear to my heart. The characters were so well written and had me crying several times. I got very attached to the characters, probably because I associate them with this season of my life. Lots of things have been changing, but things changed for the characters too. And Rose, sweet Rose, saw her own life change before her eyes. I found great comfort in seeing that I am not the only one who “realized, all at once, that their former playmates were men and women now.”
Alcott said in the beginning of the book that there is no moral to this story. I beg to differ. Rose In Bloom was about hope.
9.5/10 “and, looking at her as she stood there in the spring sunshine, glowing with the tender happiness, high hopes, and earnest purposes that make life beautiful and sacred, he felt that now … his Rose had bloomed”
True, it has its flaws, and things that make me a touch uncomfy because of how outdated they are, but those are all things I’m willing to ignore.
Truly, this book touched my heart.
I read this over the course of 9 months, not because it was difficult to get through, but because life happens and I was ending my first semester of college and beginning the second. But I will say, reading snippets of story between classes was one of the most comforting things I could have done.
I read the first book, Eight Cousins (again, I highly recommend), during the summer and beginning of the fall semester. That book changed my life.
The characters in Rose In Bloom were so honest and authentic that they felt more like friends than some people I’ve known in real life.
Alcott masterfully wove together joy and sorrow, fear and hope. Nothing that happened felt that it was imaginary, or couldn’t really take place. The feelings the characters experienced were real, and all things I’ve felt before, or could feel as I get older. Not one character was obnoxious or crude or unpleasant (a rarity in storytelling, especially in the ‘romance’ genre).
That leads me to another question: is this book a ‘romance’?
To be honest, I’m not sure myself. True, it has a romance plot line, but the majority of the book is just documenting normal life. I loved the slice-of-life aspect of this series.
(Fair warning: the romance plot line of this book is, unfortunately, between two cousins. It’s gross and weird but alas, there is nothing to be done about it. I found it best to try to ignore that part, and gaslight myself into believing that perhaps Rose is not biologically related to any of her cousins and is perhaps adopted. It’s a big RIP)
I will say, to set the record straight, this book is flawed, but oh so dear to my heart. The characters were so well written and had me crying several times. I got very attached to the characters, probably because I associate them with this season of my life. Lots of things have been changing, but things changed for the characters too. And Rose, sweet Rose, saw her own life change before her eyes. I found great comfort in seeing that I am not the only one who “realized, all at once, that their former playmates were men and women now.”
Alcott said in the beginning of the book that there is no moral to this story. I beg to differ. Rose In Bloom was about hope.
9.5/10 “and, looking at her as she stood there in the spring sunshine, glowing with the tender happiness, high hopes, and earnest purposes that make life beautiful and sacred, he felt that now … his Rose had bloomed”
