Seeds of Love Book

What starts as a look into how we rally when the things in our life don't work out like we hope takes a left turn into the disappointing and cliche.

Claudia hopes to be a film maker, but as her big film tanks, she looks at the dire situation of her life (the house she loves about to go into foreclosure), rallies, and takes a job as a teacher at a fancy private school. She does her best to think pragmatically about how to advance her situation, rather than succumb to it. Unfortunately for Claudia, it all goes from bad to worse.

Jeremy is a man-child. That's really all there is. He thinks he's someone other than who he is, and believes he's destined for more than he'll ever truly amount to. When his chaotic ex-girlfriend Aoki comes into town, he falls under her dramatic spell, and suddenly the grass is greener wherever Aoki convinces him it is.

Aoki as a character was kind of... well, she was a cliche, obviously -- the mentally ill, flighty artist with a flair for the dramatic and conniving. I would have liked to see more of her - more of her being humanized, of her being well-rounded, rather than the villain to Claudia, and the vision of a life he'll never have from Jeremy.

We know from the moment he responds to Aoki's e-mail how this is all going to go down. I wanted to put down the book, but hoped for Claudia's redemtption. Girl power and all that. It never comes, and in the end, she's stuck with Jeremy as he returns tail tucked between his legs like the pitiful dog he is.

Janelle Brown's writing is great, sprinkled with great lines and ideas. But after reading, I have the feeling she's capable of something stronger than this. This felt like a safe indie movie, and I'd like to see her take more risks in her next book!