I got this book through net galley in exchange for a review. 
 1.5 stars 
 Ah, man this was a tough one. I wanted so badly to love this book but I couldn't, even though almost everyone else does. 
 This magical realism book follows a family called the Nomeolvides women who are bound to the land of La Pradera. They have the power to grow flowers so they fill the land with gardens. They have a curse where if they fall in love with someone, that person disappears. A boy named Fel shows up in the garden, unaware of his past. And the women suspect that he is a past lover of a Nomeolvides woman who disappeared. 
 Oh my, the plot started off good but it's one of those plots that go off track. I loved the premise of this book which is why I wanted to pick it up. And the first few chapters followed that premise but the middle of the book went all over the place. Nothing in the middle of the book seemed to pertain to the plot. I was hoping the ending of the book would pick up but unfortunately, it didn't. We got to know more about Fel's past in the end but the problem was that I had already become so disinterested in the book that I didn't care anymore. 
 I couldn't tell you who each character was, including Estrella, the protagonist. There was no character development and not even any inside looks at the characters individually. All the characters seemed to become one person. There were grandmothers and mothers, but we never got to know them. We barely got to know the cousins, if any at all. Because of this, I felt nothing for these characters. They could get killed off and I wouldn't care one bit. The characters were the biggest downfall of this book. If a book has one-dimensional, uninteresting characters, I'm just not going to like the book. 
 Because I didn't care about the characters, I didn't care about their relationships. All of the cousin's are in love with this girl named Bay and I really could never understand why. Bay was so uninteresting and we barely got to know her and I just couldn't understand how she was so GREAT that five girls were in love with her. 
 The strongest thing about this book is the writing. I will admit, the writing is beautiful. But it doesn't matter how gorgeous writing is. If the plot and characters aren't strong, the book's a dud for me. 
 Now I do have to say if you love lyrical writing and vivid settings, I think you'll like this book. But if you're more into character development and cohesive plots, I'd say skip this one. I really wished I could've loved this book like everyone else seems to. But it wasn't for me. And this is the second magical realism book that I haven't liked and I've only read two. So I have a bad feeling about the genre. :(