Told Piece by Piece • Everblossom

Everblossom by Larissa Hinton
Publisher: Self-published
Publication Date: August 11, 2011
Source/Format: Author (Thanks!) || e-book

[I received this book from Larissa Hinton. This in no way affects my review.]

Everblossom is a journey through poems and short stories that may seem ordinary on the surface but dig a little deeper and the world not only shifts . . . It changes.

The author who brought you Iwishacana/Acanawishi, now brings you a dash of everything from dark fantasy to the paranormal to romance. So prepare yourself to delve into the three stages of the flower from bud to blossom then back to seed; you'll go through them all with a whole new perspective on what it all truly means.

This is the first time I have ever reviewed an anthology on my blog, and I'm pleased to report that I really enjoyed reading Everblossom. Though it would normally not be something I'd actively seek out, I'm glad that Larissa contacted me. After reading that intriguing blurb you see up there, I was curious about the novel and agreed to review it.

Each short story and each poem in the anthology is a unique piece of work on its own. Yet, somehow, Larissa Hinton manages to tie them all together with her overall theme of the life stage of a flower - seed to bud to blossom. It was a nicely done piece of work.

In-Depth Review:

I am choosing to skip the character portion of my in-depth reviews, as there were a multitude of characters and points of view included in the anthology and it would be besides the point if I were to point out each and every single one.

The Stories & Poems

What I can appreciate the most about the entire anthology is how Larissa Hinton manages to tie together a smattering of poems and stories with varying themes. Some of the pieces are about incredibly disturbing real-life situations, including child abuse and death. Others have a fantastical aspect to them because they're about faeries and shape-shifters. Larissa does a wonderful job trying to put all the work together into one cohesive package - and, upon reflection, the stories and poems are placed exactly under the stage of life they should be in.

The Writing Style

I almost never get to discuss poetry on the blog. But there's a first time for everything, right? In this case, I actually really loved the poems that Larissa had written. They're very simple, but they're also very interesting to read. It's even better if you read them out loud because you get a sense of the rhythm and cadence of each one. 

The short stories were interesting, but for the most part, they didn't really satisfy me. I feel like a lot of them should have been expanded on (and I know some are in her other works), or had too abrupt a cut for an ending. I enjoyed reading them, but they weren't as gripping as the poetry was.

Personally, I say you should...

... read this anthology if you enjoy poetry and really short story excerpts. It's a fast read (I read it in less than an hour on the plane) and can be taken at surface value, though I'm aware there may be underlying contexts in each piece. Overall, it's an interesting piece of work.