Flower Rose

Milestoneville

Fiction - Action
507 Pages
Reviewed on 06/02/2022
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

It's time for readers who love the Milestoneville series by Golden November to finally get the backstory on one of its characters, Flower Rose. In a book named for its lead protagonist, Flower Rose pitches us back to the nineties to meet the book store owner before she was in the [shockingly dangerous] trade of rare, vintage, and high-value volumes. Flower Rose isn't exactly having other college students lining up to be her friend, but what she does have access to as a volunteer are rare books, some worth nearly a quarter of a million dollars. Slowly, as Flower Rose is then in a position to take on the industry by herself, we see the filtering in of other familiar Milestoneville characters and a new story unfolds with an angle we have not yet been shown by November. These include, but are not limited to, Click Clack revealing he was old enough in 1959 to attend a party, that the human body can actually withstand electrocution at 400 hertz, and that “You must be in the moment” is a mind-blowing common theme throughout the series.

I love going back to the 90s. They were my high school years and I remember them with fondness, with the exception of seriously over-plucked eyebrows and lip liner that's at least four shades too dark. The 90s themselves are left to our own imaginations as the picture prompts that Golden November uses to set the scene's ambiance are primarily décor, venues, and outdoor shots. However, the book still manages to pull it all together even where descriptions of anything outside of the photo prompts do not exist except in dialogue, and it is rare for November to hamper the flow of punchy quips with a description of someone's single-slung overall strap. I laughed out loud when the “snorkeling” turned out to be shark cage diving, and Miles turns out to be the king of dad jokes. Reading out the lines in a group is the best way to get everything November's stories deserve from them, and it's always roaring fun when another book in the series comes along.

Pikasho Deka

Flower Rose focuses on one of the frequently recurring characters in Golden November's Milestoneville series. The book opens with Flower Rose, newly entering her senior year at Milestoneville University and navigating her way through her studies, rowdy roommates, and a complicated dating scene, all with mixed results. With the help of her brother Dr. Yes, a professor, she becomes the owner of an old used bookstore in Milestoneville. Meanwhile, she finds herself set up with a man named Wallace, who turns out to be someone completely different from what she previously assumed. As Flower Rose learns the business of rare books, she comes across two rare book hunters named G and JBT, who have their personal adventures to tell. Now in a relationship with an actor called Steve, can Flower Rose manage her burgeoning business?

An action-adventure tale that sheds light on the life of one of the mainstays of the Milestoneville series, Flower Rose is a stellar addition to the fictional world of author Golden November. Driven primarily by short dialogue excerpts between the characters, Golden November weaves half a dozen plot threads featuring multiple points of view to bring it all back together in a resounding climax. The narrative is plot-driven and the characters primarily play their defined roles to move it forward. In addition to the colorful characters, the photographs accompanying each scene make the story all the more immersive and engaging to read. Readers who are already well versed with the Milestoneville world will find plenty to enjoy.

Asher Syed

Flower Rose by Golden November tells the tale of its titular character, a book broker with an unknown origin story of how she became one in the series that takes place in Milestoneville. November writes books, not for independent reading but instead for groups of like-minded readers to act out. This can mean different things to different people but, for me and my family, it means picking out characters to “play” and cracking on with them. Unlike a traditional book, November's text is 100% speaking roles with stock photography to show actors where they are in that scene. Flower Rose features as a university student and her evolution into adulthood happens rapidly alongside other familiar characters. There is no shortage of November's trademark humor and scenarios that are so ludicrous they can only be snort-laughed at in Flower Rose as Milestoneville click-clacks away to its own beat. "It never gets easy." - Flower Rose

My teenage daughter played the role of Flower Rose's college frenemies and I have to say it was her best performance yet! The book on the whole is interesting because Golden November, or at least as far as I've read of their work, usually dives right into the action. We know the characters because of what they tell us and over time they feel like real people, but unlike real people, we cannot ask how the heck they came to be in the professions they are in. Sure, new cast members join the regulars in their own little spin-offs and we see vineyards and tour company-owning characters, but as a rare book dealer, Flower Rose has always been a little mysterious. The book isn't just about Flower Rose and it does switch to other scenarios. The comedy is deadpan and hilarious and the crisp, full-color pictures are on point. Very highly recommended.