Love & Other Carnivorous Plants

by Florence Gonsalves

Overview

This acclaimed, darkly funny debut for fans of Jesse Andrews and Robyn Schneider about a teen who's consumed by love, grief, and self-destructive behavior is now in paperback.

Freshman year at college was the most anticlimactic year of Danny's life. She's failing pre-med and drifting apart from her best friend. One by one, Danny is losing all the underpinnings of her identity. When she finds herself attracted to an older, edgy girl who she met in rehab for an eating disorder, she finally feels like she might be finding a new sense of self. But when tragedy strikes, her self-destructive tendencies come back to haunt her as she struggles to discover who that self really is. With a starkly memorable voice that's at turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Love and Other Carnivorous Plants brilliantly captures the painful turning point between an adolescence that's slipping away and the overwhelming uncertainty of the future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316436687
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/14/2020
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Florence Gonsalves graduated from Dartmouth College in 2015, and after numerous jobs and internships, she finally decided to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an author. Love & Other Carnivorous Plants was her debut novel, and she is also the author of Dear Universe. She invites you to visit her online at florencegonsalves.com.

Editorial Reviews

Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth 2018
A 2019 Rainbow Book List Selection


*"A pitch-perfect take on what happens when the future you imagined doesn't live up to expectations.... This genuinely funny novel about some harrowing topics manages to balance humor and pathos perfectly. Readers who connected with J.J. Johnson's Believarexic or Sam J. Miller's The Art of Starving will want this book, as well as the many John Green fans who crave intelligent stories that occupy both shadow and light."
—Booklist, starred review

"Fans of Sarah Dessen will appreciate Danny's relatable and realistic journey. A must-have sharp, powerful, and witty immersion into the complexities of sexual identity and mental health."—School Library Journal

"Gonsalves juggles multiple serious adolescent challenges with operatic verve--eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual awakening and orientation, mental health, grief.... A feel-good debut sure to interest teens looking to feel better about not feeling so great."
—Kirkus

"Gonsalves realistically conveys Danny's wide range of emotions.... Her most profound realization comes through accepting that she can live her life on her own terms and that she need not have it all figured out quite yet."—Publishers Weekly

"Self-deprecating, witty.... As funny as it is painful."
—VOYA

"A hilarious, thoughtful novel of trying to figure out loving other people when it hurts, and loving yourself when it's impossible."—Teenreads.com

"Will appeal to students who deal with anxiety and the pressures of life that many teens face."—School Library Connection

From the Publisher

03/26/2018
In her YA debut, Gonsalves’s wonderfully named protagonist, Dandelion (Danny), is at a moment of personal crisis. Following a disastrous first year at Harvard and time spent in treatment for an eating disorder, Danny is home for the summer. Her best friend is thrilled, but she is struggling with her own issues (substance abuse), and their relationship turns rocky quickly; the narrative veers toward the melodramatic as a way of amping up tension. Danny is also uncertain whether she’s gay or straight, though she’s definitely attracted to Bugg, a young woman she met at the treatment center. Just as Danny begins a romance with Bugg, tragedy upends her progress. Gonsalves realistically conveys Danny’s wide range of emotions, especially her anger. As Danny finds her footing, her most profound realization comes through accepting that she can live her life on her own terms and that she need not have it all figured out quite yet. Ages 14–up. Agent: Danielle Burby, Nelson Literary Agency. (May)

Publishers Weekly

02/01/2018
Gr 9 Up—Lots of friends have plans, but Danny and her BFF, Sara, had The Plan. It was cultivated for years, until Danny decides to enroll in Harvard and proceeds to have a less-than-perfect first semester. A drunken confession results in Danny spending her second semester in St. John's receiving unwanted treatment for an eating disorder. She is determined to keep her time in recovery a secret from Sara, but when her crush shows up at one of Sara's parties, Danny's cover may be blown. She struggles to balance her changing relationship with Sara with her budding romance. A sudden tragedy triggers Danny, sending her back into a tumultuous struggle for control. Heavy topics, such as binge drinking, drug use, and body dysmorphia, are given a very real voice through Danny. She uses humor not as a means of devaluing her struggles, but as a way to cope with the very things that threaten to tear her apart. Readers are spared a neat and unrealistic ending as Danny grapples with trying to manage her demons rather than exorcise them forever. Wondering how she is going to handle all of the obstacles in her way will keep teens engaged. A list of resources is provided for those who have experience or know someone with similar illnesses. Fans of Sarah Dessen will appreciate Danny's relatable and realistic journey. VERDICT A must-have sharp, powerful, and witty immersion into the complexities of sexual identity and mental health.—Carrie Finberg, South Park High School, PA

School Library Journal

2018-02-20
When the life plan she'd laid out implodes, a college freshman finds herself having to regroup.On the surface, snarky protagonist/narrator Dandelion "Danny" Berkowitz seems destined to succeed: The attractive, upper-middle-class high school valedictorian has returned home from Harvard for the summer, ready to reconnect with her popular, equally overachieving, tennis-obsessed best friend, Sara. Unbeknownst to Sara or anyone else in their circle of friends, however, Danny spent second semester at a clinic undergoing in-patient treatment for an eating disorder and anxiety. Along with the internalized fear of failure both teens wrestle with privately, Sara has been saving face by keeping secrets of her own, spelling tragic consequences for their friendship. A turning point comes when Danny enters a romantic relationship with a mutual female friend without telling Sara, who then makes insensitive remarks about another girl who is a lesbian. Gonsalves juggles multiple serious adolescent challenges with operatic verve—eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual awakening and orientation, mental health, grief—and the resulting bildungsroman proves engaging and enlightening, particularly in her realistic depiction of compulsive behaviors related to food. All characters are assumed white.A feel-good debut sure to interest teens looking to feel better about not feeling so great. (author's note, resource list) (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews