4.4 ⭐️ Spoiler review
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I really hate it when authors kill characters unnecessarily.
I struggled with the book for a bit, then began to sink into it and love it, only for Dawn’s death at the ending to almost ruin everything. What reason did Dawn have to die? So that Hildie and Caroline could have a do-over relationship with Dawn’s child? There should be a strong reason behind major character’s deaths and there wasn’t for Dawn. She could’ve and should’ve lived! It just seemed very unnecessary and annoying.
For the story, it was a rollercoaster. The book heavily surrounds the miscommunication trope; although I find it hard to call it a ‘trope’ since it all flowed naturally and felt realistic. The characters are flawed, but still people you root for. Marta, Hildie, Caroline, Dawn… it was really nice following this four generation of women and learning how we can repeat our parents mistakes even unknowingly. It’s a lot of food for thought.
I didn’t like who Hildie became in this book so I’ll stick to my memory of her in the last book; sweet and gentle and hardworking. I was mad at Marta for treating Hildie as she had in book 1, but I came to love Marta again in this book. She was a true Matriarch!
Caroline’s character didn’t feel as strong to me. At first, I struggled to get a grip on her as a young girl/teen. Although I absolutely loved that scene of her taking a flower to make her mommy feel better. Then she just seemed to float around without being truly grounded. When Mitch came into the story and married her, he absolutely stole the show! He was an amazing partner and fantastic stepdad. I think he was even better than Niclas, and that’s not easy to say because I adore Niclas!!! Okay no, I’ll just say he was almost as great as Niclas. I also struggled to place a finger on Mitch for a while when he was first introduced, but then he kinda became a pillar for the entire family.
After their marriage I got vexed with Caroline. She didn’t show her affections for her daughter, yet would act hurt when Hildie and Dawn bonded. It was worse when Dawn began to make the effort to know her, began to openly express herself, and Caroline acted distant. Then, she’d seem hurt when Hildie wanted to spend time with Dawn. It just didn’t make sense. She openly loved Christopher. She knew what it meant not to have your mother’s love, yet she somehow kept Dawn at arms length and blamed her mother for their gap.
Till the end, I didn’t feel like Caroline’s character was very strong. And it’s funny the author said Caroline is inspired by her—maybe in a bid to write Caroline as blameless she ended up not giving her much substance.
(I also would’ve preferred not to read the author note and know Caroline was inspired by the author and Mitch by her husband! It almost seemed like she subconsciously wrote the two to be perfect-ish, unlike the other flawed characters, because they’re meant to be her and her husband.)
May Flower Dawn was a very refreshing addition to the family tree!!! I really admire the author’s character work with the women! At some point when Hildie became more assertive like Marta, I began to fear the women would all read like the same person with so many storylines being introduced. But they were very distinct. Dawn was the most outspoken and expressive of all of them, and I just adored her. I also reallllyyyy loved she and Jason’s romance. Like I kept thinking about and rereading a certain scene because of all the angst and pain and love in it. I loved Jason’s introduction, so unique, and his charisma. But I didn’t like him that much after they got back together years later, he started to seem more like Trip and I just think his godliness and tenderness slipped from the page a bit.
While the women were beautifully characterized, however, I thought Bernhardt, Charlie, and Jason could be the exact same person. Even Christopher could feel like a carbon copy of them. All blonde and popular and without social problems etc. The author seems to recurringly have a mindset that male sons have it better in life while girls struggle more. This might be from her experience, but it’s definitely a notable bias. She also seems to think blonde hair and blue eyes are the mark of beauty. Over and again, her beautiful characters are described this way. And others are called brown-haired, then plain-faced.
I didn’t like Trip in this book—in book 1 I wasn’t so sure about him even though I wanted to like him—and the author absolutely butchered him here with how aggressive and mean he got. I didn’t like him hitting and threatening little Caroline. I frankly didn’t care when he died. I wish Hildie had a better partner, but at least in the book she was written to love him.
There was fantastic humor in both books. I loved the writing of letters. It just had this feel I can’t explain and now I’m inspired to write a letter-y book. I loved the walk through history up to present day. I loved how the women all existed in different eras and yet the author wrote it all so well!
It was a rollercoaster of a read. This is also likely the longest book I read this year. Very gripping, drawing different kinds of emotions! (More thoughts on my updates!)