Reviews

The Garden of Three Hundred Flowers by E.K. Johnston

dilchh's review

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2.0

I honestly didn’t like it all. One good thing about it was that this was an incredibly short story, therefore I didn’t actually feel like I have invested too much time in a story that I didn’t like. From the very beginning, I already felt like I wasn’t going to like this story. It feels like it tries to hard to be different and heavy. I felt that the voice of the story sounded really pretentious, like it really tries too damn hard to be something else. There was no clear cut as to what the story was going to be about.

And honestly after reading both books from the series, I don’t think it was necessary to have this short story read, as the second book happened centuries after the first book and there were no mysteries or aspects to the story that needed to be addressed through this short story. That being said, yes, I was definitely not entertained whatsoever.

pipn_t's review

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I feel like this short story didn’t add anything to the novel it came after, it felt a bit redundant, though it was well told.

hii_ara's review

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2.0

I read this thinking that since it's a bridge novella it'd help me be less lost reading Kingdom of Sleep because I barely remember the first book. I mean... it was super short and the writing is lyrical so it wasn't a lot of time lost, but definitely didn't help my purpose.

trisha_thomas's review

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3.0

"The gardeners will tend to it when I am gone," he would say. "You must learn your mother's work."

This was a short interesting story. I'm not sure it adds to either the first or second book (I haven't read book 2) but I guess it's a continuation of the first.....I liked the fable feel of it but I didn't like the italicized parts as much.

Also, the story was a bit sad. Every time she said her husband didn't come to her bed felt worse with every repeated line.

haley_j_casey's review

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4.0

Lovely writing, which moves this from 3 to 4 stars. There's nothing wrong with this story, but it is very very short, so it's not a story to read for plot purposes. Rather it's a bridge between [b:A Thousand Nights|21524446|A Thousand Nights (A Thousand Nights, #1)|E.K. Johnston|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436162131s/21524446.jpg|40849819] and [b:Spindle|28375641|Spindle (A Thousand Nights, #2)|E.K. Johnston|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462893524s/28375641.jpg|48457937].

As a bridge, it's perfect. Set some years after the events of A Thousand Nights, this short explains how The Queen adjusts to her life in the qasr, ruling the kingdom, and how her husband readjusts to his mind being his own. This was a lovely explanation of the way he made amends for the horrors he'd committed in the past (so perfect) and found a companion in his wife. It was very much a tale about healing.

It also explains how kingdoms on the other side of the mountain were formed, the settings of Spindle.

emiann2023's review

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5.0

Wow this was bittersweet and poetically beautiful. I wish this had been added as an epilogue to the first book.

raeallic's review

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4.0

This was a great little snipet/prequel to Spindle, really looking forward to continuing this series.

lolajoan's review

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3.0

It's just one chapter, really, but a satisfying coda to A Thousand Nights. Very nice.

lpcoolgirl's review

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5.0

Great short story, loved seeing the end of the Storyteller Queen, and the start of the kingdoms in Spindle. Must read Spindle now!

helenid's review

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2.0

The actual story is about 47% of the content. I left it to sleep at about 35% thinking I was a third through!

The writing is poetic, lovely to read.