Top 5 Books with Plants or Flowers on the Cover I Want to Read

This Top 5 series started back in October 2018 and I kind of lost motivation for making it every week. But it’s back! This is a series of books that I want to read that all have a common theme. Previously on the blog I have focused on witches, werewolves, thrillers, faeries, fairy tale re-tellings, high fantasy and many more. I am going to try and bring this series back for every Saturday.

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The Upcoming Schedule Is:

4/25/20 — Books Under 300 Pages

5/2/20 — Retellings

5/9/20 — Books with a Number in the Title

5/16/20 — Books by Debut Authors

5/23/20 — Books about Plants/Flowers (Can be on cover, in title or plot)

5/30/20 — Books from a Male POV

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Rules!

• Share your top 5 books of the current topic– these can be books that you want to read, have read and loved, have read and hated, you can do it any way you want.
• Tag the original post (This one!)
• Tag 5 people

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Books about Plants/Flowers (Can be on cover, in title or plot)

This week’s topic was recommended by Susan at Novel Lives and I believe it was inspired by The Book of Koli. The topic was originally books with plants as a part of the plot, but I expanded it to books about plants or flowers in the title, cover or the plot because I thought it would be easier for all the participants of Top 5 Saturday. Since this topic was brought up I was reminded of Wilder Girls, which is an absolutely incredible book where a virus turns the woods and the girls in the book wild. It was an incredible horror/dystopian read and I can’t talk about this topic without bringing it up.

Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston

Cerys is safe in the kingdom of Aloriya.

Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years, since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden. Cerys knows this all too well: when she was young, she barely escaped as the woods killed her friends and her mother. Now Cerys carries a small bit of the curse—the magic—in her blood, a reminder of the day she lost everything. The most danger she faces now, as a gardener’s daughter, is the annoying fox who stalks the royal gardens and won’t leave her alone.

As a new queen is crowned, however, things long hidden in the woods descend on the kingdom itself. Cerys is forced on the run, her only companions the small fox from the garden, a strange and powerful bear, and the magic in her veins. It’s up to her to find the legendary Lady of the Wilds and beg for a way to save her home. But the road is darker and more dangerous than she knows, and as secrets from the past are uncovered amid the teeth and roots of the forest, it’s going to take everything she has just to survive.

I just discovered this book and I am so excited for it. It also happens to be perfect for this topic. There is a dark cursed forest that killed the main characters mother and friends. There’s also a fox that is her companion. Foxes are my favorite animal and this book is also a Beauty and the Beast retelling! I am so freaking excited for this book!

Splinters of Scarlet by Emily Bain Murphy

Enchantée meets Downton Abbey in this atmospheric YA historical fantasy set in nineteenth-century Denmark, where secrets can kill and magic is a deadly gift.

For Marit Olsen, magic is all about strategy: it flows freely through her blood, but every use leaves behind a deadly, ice-like build-up within her veins called the Firn. Marit knows how dangerous it is to let too much Firn build up—after all, it killed her sister—and she has vowed never to use her thread magic. But when Eve, a fellow orphan whom Marit views like a little sister, is adopted by the wealthy Helene Vestergaard, Marit will do anything to stay by Eve’s side. She decides to risk the Firn and uses magic to secure a job as a seamstress in the Vestergaard household.

But Marit has a second, hidden agenda: her father died while working in the Vestergaards’ jewel mines—and it might not have been an accident. The closer Marit gets to the truth about the Vestergaard family, the more she realizes she and everyone she’s come to love are in danger. When she finds herself in the middle of a treacherous deception that goes all the way up to the king of Denmark, magic may be the only thing that can save her—if it doesn’t kill her first.

A few days ago I was looking through all of the upcoming fantasies on my TBR trying to find this book. I just remembered that a deadly ice like build-up forms in veins when magic is used. I found that so fascinating and I really want to read this book! There aren’t many reviews yet, but so far it seems that everyone who has read this book has loved it!

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Barshardoust

A captivating and utterly original fairy tale about a girl cursed to be poisonous to the touch, and who discovers what power might lie in such a curse…

There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.

As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.

Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming…human or demon. Princess or monster.

I would have probably read this book already, but the release got moved back because of COVID-19. The reviews seem incredible for this book as well and I really have high hopes for this one. I am really interested in this plot and I hope that the effects of not being able to touch anyone are explored well in this book.

The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey

Beyond the walls of the small village of Mythen Rood lies an unrecognizable world. A world where overgrown forests are filled with choker trees and deadly vines and seeds that will kill you where you stand. And if they don’t get you, one of the dangerous shunned men will.

Koli has lived in Mythen Rood his entire life. He knows the first rule of survival is that you don’t venture beyond the walls.

What he doesn’t know is – what happens when you aren’t given a choice?

The first in a gripping new trilogy, The Book of Koli charts the journey of one unforgettable young boy struggling to find his place in a chilling post-apocalyptic world. Perfect for readers of Station Eleven and Annihilation.

This is the book that helped inspire this post and I got an ARC because Susan from Novel Lives has raved about M.R. Carey for quite some time. This feels like a really fresh take on dystopian fiction and I’m pretty excited for it! I have heard that M.R. Carey’s writing is really great, so I am going to trust my blogging friends and check out this book!

Seven Endless Forests by April Genevieve Tucholke

In this gorgeous standalone companion to the critically acclaimed fantasy, The Boneless Mercies, April Tucholke spins a bold and blood-hungry retelling of the King Arthur legend that is perfect for fans of Naomi Novik, Garth Nix, and Laini Taylor.

On the heels of a devastating plague, Torvi’s sister, Morgunn, is stolen from the family farm by Uther, a flame-loving Fremish wolf-priest who leads a pack of ragged, starving girls. Torvi leaves the only home she’s ever known, and joins a shaven-skulled druid and a band of roaming Elsh artists known as the Butcher Bards. They set out on a quest to rescue Torvi’s sister, and find a mythical sword.

On their travels, Torvi and her companions will encounter magical night wilds and mystical Drakes who trade in young men. They will sing rowdy Elshland ballads in a tree-town tavern, and find a mysterious black tower in an Endless Forest. They will fight alongside famous Vorseland archers and barter with Fremish wizards. They will feast with rogue Jade Fell children in a Skal Mountain cave, and seek the help of a Pig Witch. They will face wild, dangerous magic that leads to love, joy, tragedy, and death.

Torvi set out to rescue a sister, but she may find it’s merely the first step toward a life that is grander and more glorious than anything she could have imagined.

I feel like I’ve mentioned this book several times recently and I still haven’t picked it up. I think that I’ve been discouraged by some of the reviews, but April Genevieve Tucholke is one of my favorite authors, so I don’t know why I’m trusting other people’s opinions above my own. I actually just looked up the reviews for Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and those reviews are even lower! That shocked me because that book is one of my all time favorite books ever,but I guess I can see how April’s writing isn’t for everyone. So I think I need to stop paying SO much attention to ratings!

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Tagged!

Stephanie @ Steph’s Story Space

Carrie @ Carrie’s Book Reviews

Beth @ Before We Go Blog

Kelly @ Another Book in the Wall

Kathryn @ Book. Books and more books. Let’s talk about books

Check out other Book Blogger’s Top 5!

Bella @ Bella — A Double Top 5

Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog — Books with floral/flowers on the cover

Kathryn @ Book Books and more Books. Let’s Talk about Books — Top 5 Books with plants or flowers on the cover I want to read

Jill @ Jill’s Book Blog — Top 5 Saturday — Books with Flowers on the Cover

Dini @ Dinipandareads — Top 5 Saturday: Books with Plant/flower Covers!

Susan @ Novel Lives — Stop And Smell the Roses… Then Again, Maybe Consult the Plant Based Top 5 Saturday First?

Blair @ Feed the Crime — -|Books with Plants on the Cover… Top 5 Saturday|-

Melinda @ Basement Bookcase — Top 5 Saturday: May 23rd, 2020

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Let’s Chat!

What are some of your favorite books about plants or flowers? What is your favorite cover with plants or flowers on it? Have you read any books on my list? What did you think? Have you ever let reviews sway you from reading a book that you were initially excited about? Make sure to comment below so we can chat about books about flowers or plants!