2011 book 221

Vanessa Diffenbaugh's The Language of Flowers
I swear I read a review of this where the author talked about encountering a book on the language of flowers (I actually own a book like that and have always found it intriguing myself) and how that inspired her (though this article kind of denies that--as a side note, also check out this fairly negative review of the book, also from NPR). Anyway, it seemed an interesting enough read, even though I hate when things are overly heartwarming (and yet I like happy endings--sorry, authors). So it flashes back and forth in time between protagonist Victoria's liberation from the foster care system and how she tries to make her way as an adult, and her brief time with a particular foster home in her childhood and how that is still influencing her life . . . I didn't find it as saccharine as the NPR reviewer did, though some of the dialogue was overly cheesy and the love interest was perhaps too perfect. I don't know, B+?