Title: The Confidence of Wildflowers
Author: Micalea Smeltzer
Page Count: 347
Rating: ❤ 1/2
Hi friends. I'm back with another hot take on the latest books I've read. I've literally JUST finished this one today and I wanted to get it off my chest before I moved on to the next book. First, I saw this book in a group on Facebook. They were diehard fans, talking about how this story wrecked them. So naturally, I was intrigued. Have you truly enjoyed a book if you haven't suffered some kind of emotional damage during it? Plus, LOOK AT THIS GORGEOUS COVER. Ya'll know by now how I feel about covers. Especially floral ones. I was super excited to add this to the TBR, until I got a glimpse at the description. Now, one thing I've learned since entering into the vast and sometimes dangerous world of avid readers, some people are into some questionable material. The description made me uncomfy. To be honest, even after reading the book, I'm STILL uncomfortable with it. I only read it because the girlies in the group continued to insist that it wasn't what it seemed. Then a friend of mine read it and curiosity finally got the best of me. I cracked open this book, already apprehensive about what I would find. But, I've read it. So let's talk about it.
My future is a big 'what if' at the moment and I'm fine with that. For the most part. When Thayer Holmes moves in next door, the grumpy landscaper both fascinates and amuses me. When he asks me to nanny his kid, it's a great way to make some extra money. It's impossible not to fall in love with Thayer and his adorable son. There's a big problem though. I'm eighteen. He's thirty-one. Falling for someone almost fifteen years older than me wasn't part of my plans, but sometimes things happen when you least expect them.
Yes. You read that right. Eighteen years old and thirty one years old. Yikes on bikes. I know technically eighteen is legal, but still. That age gap made me uncomfy. It's the main reason why I said "nope" and yeeted it right back into the pile never to be seen again. I saw people talk about this book for months before I finally decided to see what they were drooling about. Curiosity killed the book reader, I suppose. Let's take a closer look at what I liked and didn't like about The Confidence of Wildflowers. Hang on to your butts. This will not be pretty.
Honestly? Truly? The cover of the book is what I liked and it comes to a screeching halt there. The girlies in the Facebook group swore up, down, and all around that this book would emotionally wreck me. They talked of crying and snotting into their pillows while reading. Even went as far as to say they stared off into the distance in silence when they finished; having to take a moment to process what they read. To those girlies I have one question: Did we read the same book?
I was not emotionally wrecked. Even in the most dramatic parts of the book, I had become so numb to emotion from the tragic writing that I barely flinched. I kept a stank expression while I read because how tf is any of this supposed to be believable? Much disappoint. Very un-enjoy.
Before I start ripping into this book, I just want to remind you that this is just my opinion. I am by no means, the decider of what is good and bad. I read books and I tell you if I like them. If you disagree, then cool. We can still be friends.
Maybe.
Now that's out of the way, let's get into the cons of this book. There are a lot.
Creepy age gap aside, the writing in this book is hot garbage. The main male character was named Thayer and everything out of his mouth was in the form of a growl or a chest rumble. At this point sir are you a man or a car engine? Why are you rumbling? HOW are you rumbling? Chests shouldn't rumble. You might need to make an appointment at the doctor. Do you have bronchitis? Is there fluid in your lungs? I am genuinely concerned.
The characters are emotionally flat and ridiculous. I remember one moment specifically, (there were quite a few in the 347 pages of this dumpster fire) the main girl character is named Salem and she was being brought home by her boyfriend Caleb. Salem is a little tipsy, like teenagers get sometimes. It happens. Thayer sees this and instead of coming to a normal conclusion, he goes running over (growling as per usual) and yells (read: growls) "YOU DRUGGED HER I WILL BEAT YOUR F**KING A*S!!" Is this supposed to be valiant? Were my loins supposed to quiver at Thayer seemingly coming to Salem's rescue? Because all it did was make me roll my eyes.
Thayer was toxic. IDC IDC IDC. Judge me if you want, but he was. Moments that I could tell were supposed to be swoon inducing had me raising my eyebrows. For example, Thayer is mad at Salem for going running early in the morning. She tells him she also has a gym membership. He says she shouldn't be going to the gym early in the morning by herself. She shouldn't be doing either of these things because she is too young and it's dangerous. So he builds a gym in his basement.
Hi. Hello. What? This is acceptable because she's already attracted to him, but had she not been, this would be the makings of a criminal minds episode and you can't convince me otherwise. Also, the irony did not escape me here. She's too young to go to the gym alone but SHE'S NOT TOO YOUNG FOR YOU TO SLEEP WITH??? Hmmmm?? HMMMMMMMM??????? Oh ok.
Everyone saw her sneaking to his house. No one thought to mention it? Quick lesson for you guys, MOST of the time when you think you're being sneaky, you're not. People noticed her sneaking over to his house at all hours of the night and morning and no one thought to say anything about it. Literally NO ONE. You mean to tell me, that your eighteen year old daughter/sister/friend is sneaking over to a grown (30 year old) man's house and no one thought to question why this fully grown adult was showing so much interest in a teenager? No one? Really? NO ONE?! Yikes.
Use the word "cock" ONE more time!😒😒😒 Smut gives me the ick either way, but smut between a teenager and an adult is just too much ick to even describe. I know it was supposed to be sexy when he talked about his cock and she talked about how badly she wanted it in her p**sy but guys come on! Am I the only one creeped out by this? Forget for a second (if you can) that she is a teenager, the whole conversation was so much cringe! You mean to tell me you guys are out here reading multiple uses of the work "cock" and enjoying it? EGAD! Maybe I should just go back to the thrillers where everything makes sense. Because dis tew much.
I feel like the concept/understanding of finances is off
Granted, maybe Thayer's landscaping company is just that successful. It is quite possible. I am not knocking that possibility. I am just wondering. He was dropping some serious cash left and right in this book. When Salem left the concert tickets at the hotel, he just dropped thousands to get her more tickets in better seats. Thousands. And didn't even flinch. This is directly after he just bought and renovated a house. And then somehow had the money to just build an entire gym in his basement, knowing that gym equipment is not at all cheap. Maybe I am supposed to assume that he just has cash coming out the wazoo in this story, but it just didn't seem structurally sound to me. To drop all this cash and not even have to check your bank account afterwards must be nice. That's a level of rich I absolutely aspire to.
Do I recommend this book? In short, no. Maybe this is just not my cup of tea. Taboo romances seem to make me cringe and teenager + adult is definitely taboo. She was technically closer in age to his 7 year old son than she was to him. Let that sink in ya brain muscles for a second. In the second book they are both adults, she is 26 and he is 38 or 39 something like that. I don't know. I don't math. It removes that part of the cringe, but the writing is still trash. That's a different story for a different day. One that I don't think I will get in to because it's no better than this one.
This does not, by any means suggest that I am upset with the author. I believe there is an audience for everything. I may not be her intended audience, and that is okay. Some book readers go as far as to email hurtful things to authors whose books they didn't like. Or email them to tell them how they've fallen off and how they would have done it better. To me, that is absolutely awful. Whether you like the work or not, authors are still human. None of that is necessary. I don't even tag the authors in my reviews if they were less then 3 stars because what is the point?
That being said, I don't personally recommend this book at all. I didn't enjoy it. It's not one that I'm going to shove in anyone's face and demand that they read, BUT if this is your cup of tea I say go for it. You may like it more than I did.
I wanted so badly to like this book because the cover is gorgeous. But alas, I did not.
PS. In honor of Schitt's Creek coming to Hulu after Netflix got rid of it, I used mostly Schitt's Creek gifs in this article. If you hadn't noticed, which I'm sure you did because you're smart.
So there you have it folks. The Confidence of Wildflowers. Yay. 😒 If you decide to read it, make sure you find me on Instagram or Facebook and tell me what you thought. Did you like it? Did you not? I can't wait to hear from you.
Until then...
Happy reading babes!