Flower and Thorn

I just finished Flower and Thorn by Rati Mehrotra and here is my review.

Irinya is a flower hunter even when women don't do the work but after her mother disappeared it's all she wanted to do. At 17 she has an exceptional affinity for finding magical flowers. When her friend finds the rarest of all flowers, a silver spider lily, she can't believe her eyes.

When a young man comes and offers her people a chance at being free, she jumps at the chance to help him. When she finds he has tricked her, she sets about to retrieve the flower he took. Being a lone female out in the world is not safe but Irinya will do anything to put things right.

This is not my normal kind of read. I am so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and gave this book a chance. I loved the descriptive prose of the lands where they hunt their rare flowers. Irinya was a brave young woman and I loved her whole journal and her special gift she has with flowers.

The author did an epic job of story building in a stand alone book and I really enjoyed all the elements that brought the book to a wonderful conclusion. I loved the strong female characters and the camel!! OMG he was so great! I would love a follow up book on where Irinya is in the future and maybe more about the Rann and the strange things that happen at night there.

I thought the romance parts were well done and not over the top. It was more like a cute crushing. I will definitely look for more books by this author.

5 stars! I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Thank you to @wednesdaybooks for my gifted copy

Flower and Thorn adds magic to the historical context of India during the time of its invasion by the Portugese in the 1500s. Irinya is part of a nomadic group that travels the grasslands on the edge of a large salt flat called the Rann. Irinya and other young people in her kul go into the Rann to hunt for magical flowers, each of which possess unique properties. When one of the flower hunters finds an especially rare flower that grants considerable power, it sets in motion of chain of events which sends Irinya far from her home to try to save her kul and all of India.

I enjoyed this book, not just because it is an engaging story, but also because I learned more about a time and place I was not very familiar with. There is a fun cast of characters and a well-paced plot. This was my second Rati Mehrotra book and I look forward to reading more!