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Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland by Lisa Schneidau (Book Review)

I have been on a short story kick and am endlessly fascinated with folk tales. This is a great combination considering that I just spent a few weeks in Britain and had the perfect book on my Kindle for the occasion. Even better, my Kindle noted that it was available on Audible so I was able to do a little reading and a little listening, “the traditional way”.

Bookish Quick Facts:

Title: Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland
Series: Folk Tales Series
Author: Lisa Schneidau
Publisher & Release: The History Press, 2018
Length: 194 pages
Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for fans of history and folk tales

Here’s the synopsis:

The islands of Britain and Ireland hold a rich heritage of plant folklore and wisdom, from the magical yew tree to the bad-tempered dandelion. Here are traditional tales about the trees and plants that shape our landscapes and our lives through the seasons. They explore the complex relationship between people and plants, in lowlands and uplands, fields, bogs, moors, woodlands and towns. Suitable for all ages, this is an essential collection of stories for anyone interested in botany, the environment and our living heritage.

My thoughts:

I love that the book is organized by season. We start and end in winter, see the spring, summer, fall, and harvest before things get eerie again. These are shorter stories, some only a few paragraphs long, and seem like they were probably tamed down a bit from their originals to be suitable for all age groups.

I liked the more lighthearted tellings though because they still get the message across. I will definitely be checking out more from the author. She has at least two other books similar to this one!

Even with the brief tellings, this is a good way to get a feel for the types of tales being passed down and the themes involved. The changing landscape, dealing with poverty, fair folk, superstitions around plants and trees, and their medicinal uses are just some of the story trends.

It is also nice that each story got a brief introduction with the region it originated from and some history surrounding the subject matter. One very plain takeaway is that this region loves their planting and gardening traditions.

For the audiobook, I loved the narrator too. Joan Walker does voices quite well and keeps things interesting. I am taking it at face value that she’s pronouncing names correctly, I mean from what I heard while I was over there it seems legit and it was nice to have someone else figure out how to pronounce names 😅

Overall I’d definitely recommend this for everything from murderous trees to learning a few plant based facts! I actually learned quite a few interesting things and was able to read this rather quickly so it was a big overall win.

Thanks for checking out my book review of Botanical Folk Tales from Britain and Ireland by Lisa Schneidau! I originally purchased a copy for Kindle and supplemented it with the audiobook which was included in Audible. As always, all opinions are my own ♥️

Three Kisses, One Midnight by Roshani Chokshi, Sandhya Menon, Evelyn Skye (ARC Review)

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the early digital copy of Three Kisses, One Midnight by *all those authors* lol! I haven’t read anything by Skye or Menon but I love Chokshi as a YA author and was happy to grab a copy of this.

This is a young feeling YA with witchy & folklore elements, that hit me like a Halloween version of Cinderella. Three friends are attending the town’s annual masquerade gala and are intent on finding true love prior to midnight. It was a little silly but magical and cute overall, and I think that younger YA readers will enjoy the book

Bookish Quick Facts:

Title: Three Kisses, One Midnight: A Novel
Series: N/A
Author: Roshani Chokshi, Sandhya Menon, Evelyn Skye
Publisher & Release: Wednesday Books, 08/30/22
Length: 288 pages
Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐✨ for younger teen readers

Here’s the synopsis from GoodReads:

New York Times bestselling authors Roshani Chokshi, Evelyn Skye, and Sandhya Menon craft a spellbinding novel about discovering the magic of true love on one fateful, magical night in Three Kisses, One Midnight.

The town of Moon Ridge was founded 400 years ago and everyone born and raised there knows the legend of the young woman who perished at the stroke of twelve that very same night, losing the life she was set to embark on with her dearest love. Every century since, one day a year, the Lady of Moon Ridge descends from the stars to walk among the townsfolk, conjuring an aura upon those willing to follow their hearts’ desires.

“To summon joy and love in another’s soul
For a connection that makes two people whole
For laughter and a smile that one can never miss
Sealed before midnight with a truehearted kiss.”

This year at Moon Ridge High, a group of friends known as The Coven will weave art, science, and magic during a masquerade ball unlike any other. Onny, True, and Ash believe everything is in alignment to bring them the affection, acceptance, and healing that can only come from romance—with a little help from Onny’s grandmother’s love potion.

But nothing is as simple as it first seems. And as midnight approaches, The Coven learn that it will take more than a spell to recognize those who offer their love and to embrace all the magic that follows

The synopsis sounded a little not-my-style but I’ll read anything that Roshani Chokshi writes. The first friend, Onny, has an insanely rich family and her parents host the Moon Ridge founding day gala every year. Since it’s the 400th anniversary they are sparing no expense and creating the most magical, amazing celebration ever.

There was a good overall mood and setting, I would totally go to that masquerade.

I think the best part was also the most jarring part – Chokshi’s prose. The other authors wrote the dialogue and stories, and then her lyrical and magic descriptions were tagged into paragraphs. Text, Text, text, “and it was like *insert block of Chokshi prose*”.

I think they should have melded it together a little better somehow but it really did flow well overall.

Split into three sections, a section for each friend, we get to see how each teen embraces both the literal and figurative magic of the night. I was surprised to enjoy the third story the most – True had an amazing personality and I feel like the authors gave us a rough idea of her at first, so I got to overcome my first impression of her as she also had her own struggles. I liked her story the most too.

Each teen had a little adventure and I think True had the best one. Each character was good though, I didn’t particularly dislike any character or segment. Ash’s was slowest but interesting, Onny was insufferable and had to learn to look under the surface of people, and I already talked about True!

There are good youth friendly themes of being yourself, honoring family, accepting yourself and others, and others.

Overall, I’m pretty excited that these authors got together. I do think some of the content isn’t quite as cute as they intended it to be, which is why I went with my neutral rating. I do appreciate that they kept the main characters to kissing only. The characters tend to talk and text like 12 year olds and they are intended to be 17+! Like I said, I would recommend for the younger YA spectrum and also have no trouble giving this to a strong middle grader.

Thanks again to Wednesday Books for my advanced copy, all opinions are my own.