Book: When Flowers Wilt by G. E. Masters
Reviewed by Rallie X
Rating: 5/5
This is the first time I've encountered G.E. Masters' work and holy shiiit y'all I have not been this entertained by prose alone for a WHILE! Vivian is utterly hilarious and the Dark Lady is the brooding shadow queen that the best versions of Satan are. Like, who knew that we needed a bratty princess x dommy mommy adventure starring the Devil (from The Bible) and a pink-loving reluctant witch? Masters has a gift for writing dialogue - and first person internal monologue - that is darkly comedic and truly brings each character to life.
The plot? Fantastic. The spice? Oh it's spicy ;) The way Masters has taken the Fall and Satan's war against God and written it in a new and exciting way was genuinely unexpected - and I love that the reader enters the story from more-or-less the same perspective as Vivian; which is to say we learn the "real story" along with her. That kind of diegetic explanation without exposition can be difficult to get right but Masters absolutely nails it.
Book aside - this is easily one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to. Ellie Gossage's vocal choices for Vivian and the Dark Lady were spot on and brought so much to their characters, I know that when I return to this as an eyeball-read (which I will!!!!), I'm going to hear her version of Vivian ("I'd rather die in my favorite pink pumps than die in combat boots." slay 💅) and the Dark Lady's husky, powerful-aloof tone was perfect.
I didn't realize until about halfway through that this is a duology and oh my lord has Masters done an incredible job building the story up to a crescendo that I know is going to bring big explosions in book two! Obviously I cannot say anything specific, but I do love a good momentum-based cliffhanger (different from a rug-pull cliffhanger).
"Also, wear all black." "What? No thanks. Not my style." "It's for your own safety." "I'd rather die in my favorite pink pumps than die in combat boots."
— Page 1338