I was recently contacted by the author Jeremy Ray for an honest review of The Houseplant, his short story drama, so here is the review!
Star Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
The story centers around a fern, George, that comes into his own after being bought by Brenda, a mother of two and book-club host. The House Plant, instead of fully immersing into one world, and one perspective of either humans or plants towards each other, it attempts to merge both perspectives to showcase the relationship between Brenda and George. The way that they view each other is disparate and contrasting, yet unified by one emotion: friendship. Its a representation of how verbal communication isn't the most integral part of a relationship and how actions speak louder than words. The fact that Brenda cares for George and waters him everyday, compliments him shows this reciprocated affection. When she suddenly dies, it is very clearly communicated that he misses her and feels almost devastated at this unimaginable loss.
The plot itself has a lot of potential to be sorrowful and heartfelt but I felt it was a bit rushed in the death and commotion afterwards. I loved the way it eased us into the story and i think that should have been maintained throughout the novel to ensure the plot is completely developed and the reader retains a sense of nostalgia when thinking of The Houseplant. Otherwise, it just doesn't allow the reader enough time to process emotions that are evokes by the book. I think something that should be tweaked here is definitely the pace of the novel.
As for the writing style, I think that it was very conversational and definitely managed to slip into the potential mind and thoughts that a plant would have around humans. I also enjoyed that plants were portrayed as very emotional and feeling because it tries to remind the reader of the importance of treating plants and all living things well. However, I think it lacked just a bit in description and vivid imagery, especially since this is a plant as the main character. I liked that George was personified and could feel everything around him but i think that the story relied a bit too heavily on that to the point where George felt more like a human trapped in a plants body. Although I understand the intention of portraying plants to be just as important as human beings, I think the allure of having a narration from an "unreliable" narrator that doesn't completely understand everything that's happening is having the reader understand through their vivid imagery and descriptions. This makes the novel or short story more interactive because it places the burden of the emotions evoked by the story onto the reader. Basically when everything of importance is implied to make it more dramatic. Here there is a reversal of that trope where there isn't as much description and the seemingly unreliable narrator is actually hyper aware of everything going on. I think it would have been more effective to use the trope and slowly develop their relationship before cutting to her death. I think it might have been even more dramatic and meaningful to do so.
The characters were generally well-developed and 3-dimensional such as Brenda and George. They seemed to have quite complex emotions about each other which made them more interesting as characters. However, there were some characters such as the father, which I think were slightly flat and didn't have realistic interactions with the other characters. For example, when the father first screamed at the children for having the plant and nodded, leaving the room after the son said the cliché phrase "It's what mom would have wanted", it seemed a bit unnatural and rushed.
Overall, I think this book is a great, and wholesome short read. Besides the few drawbacks I've outlined in this review, The Houseplant explores our need to be gentler and better with nature from an amusing and heartfelt point of view. I would definitely recommend it!
The Houseplant is available to purchase on Amazon and is free on Kindle Unlimited! Link available in Jeremy Ray's bio on Instagram.
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