This is the perfect read for a cold winter. Winter thaws as spring arrives fleetly bringing with her kesari sunsets and a plethora of blossoming flowers. Tahira in Bloom was such a lovely way to bring spring to the cold dreary days of December.

A coming-of-age novel, Heron has a refreshing take on trying to figure out where you’ll fit in, in the years that come after high school. While the main reason I picked up the novel was the promised romance, I kept at it because of the growth that our protagonist/ titular character has through the course of the story. As an aspiring fashion designer and a desi abroad, Tahira has that unique combination of supportive parents yet ones who still push for what they believe is right. It is interesting to see the growth within the familial relationships that Tahira has.

There’s also an in-depth exploration of how people outgrow friendships towards the end of high school. People grow out of love with each other as they grow older and often it is better to let toxic friendship run their course rather than try and hold onto them. It was a factor of the novel that I thought was beautifully done. Wrought with pain and sadness and yet relief that ‘this’ is no longer something one has to work so hard at.

Filled with romance, this is more a character-driven book than a plot-driven one. Heron puts a lot of emphasis on making her characters likable yet flawed and therefore relatable. There are misunderstandings and mistakes but all of those are solved reasonably, and mostly we get to see a girl going into womanhood with some very realistic traits. Hard-working and determined but still very much a teen trying to figure out what life has to offer and what romance and love truly mean. It’s a journey for her and a realistic one at that which is so important for a young adult book, given the target audience who will relate to the story.

But above all the book is bursting with florals. Every description is colorful and so informative about the art of floral arrangements. It is truly a work of art to read about it and was the best part of the entire novel.

Five sparkling stars

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