Forget-Her-Nots by Amy Brecount White

Summary:
Something—some power—is blooming inside Laurel. She can use flowers to do things. Like bringing back lost memories. Or helping her friends ace tests. Or making people fall in love.

Laurel suspects her newfound ability has something to do with an ancient family secret, one that her mother meant to share with Laurel when the time was right. But then time ran out.

Clues and signs and secret messages seem to be all around Laurel at Avondale School, where her mother had also boarded as a student. Can Laurel piece everything together quickly enough to control her power, which is growing more potent every day? Or will she set the stage for the most lovestruck, infamous prom in the history of the school? (from GoodReads)

Review:
This has been on my shelf for about two years and I finally got around to reading it! That being said, I thought the novel was cute but definitely more suited towards younger readers.

Forget-Her-Nots had a great premise: the secret language of flowers. Not only do flowers have different meanings, but Laurel has a special ability that she can use those meanings to make actual things occur. For example, rosemary is for memory, but Laurel can make sure you remember all your Spanish vocab when she gives you the herb. So there was a bit of a fantasy aspect that I was not expecting. Even though I knew that flowers represented things, but I didn't realize how extensive it went! I loved learning the different meanings and definitely have more of an interest in flowers after reading this.

In Forget-Her-Nots, Laurel is fourteen and a freshmen in high school. Sometimes the character's age doesn't matter to me because the tone of a novel can make younger characters seem older. But since Forget-Her-Nots was very light and fun, I would have liked this book better when I was 12. I could tell this was MG/early YA, which is why this isn't my favorite book.

Overall, if you're interested in flowers and gardening this might be a good book for you. But you would probably enjoy it more if you're a little younger.

Rating: 7 out of 10.
FTC: received from Flamingnet.

2010/Greenwillow Books/384 pages.