by KB Meniado
With the raves I’ve come across online, I had high expectations of Jay E. Tria’s works. So when Blossom Among Flowers started out slow, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.
At first, I thought that maybe it was just me, that my brain was on holiday break. (I did read it during Christmas season.) After all, the story started on the right foot—opening inside a bookstore, slowly unveiling the characters without giving away too much. (Plus, it was set in Japan, only one of my—and a thousand others’!—favorite countries to visit.)
Still, I needed a few chapters to “break in” before I could say, “HAIII!! I am enjoying this book!”
Later on, I realized it was part of its charm. Jay E. Tria is a genius! The way she wrote this story felt like watching a… bud blossom into a flower.
The pacing, the details, the hesitations in between dialogues, the uncertainties of the situations—they were all crafted to complement one another in order to build up for a strong impact. By the time I was halfway through, I already had its J-dorama adaptation in my mind!
But why I recommend for readers to pick up Blossom Among Flowers is that among its other strengths, this book makes you part of the story. It takes you inside every character, brings you along to every street corner and allows you to feel how it feels to grow and basically, how to feel. ☁
