Review Temporarily Removed.

I don't think this is quite like anything I've read for a while. It's got wonderfully bizarre worldbuilding and great prose: I'd rec this to anyone who enjoyed Mary Poppins or Peter Pan (the books! not the movies!).

Full review: http://oyceter.livejournal.com/627770...

Silly summary of this book at Bookmarks.

I've re-read this book (and the others in this series) so many times my paperbacks are starting to look pitiful.

Honestly, I don't understand how this book isn't topping all bestseller's lists, is it lack of promotion? I really don't know and it bothers me because the universe Ysabeau S. Wilce created is so amazing, so flawless, so addictive... Her characters are just perfect, her plots -- look I'm a picky bitch and I cannot find a fault!

For the love of w More...

fun and surprisingly harsh YA fantasy novel, that takes place in a world unlike any other YA fantasy novel I've ever read. plus, the main character fucks up a lot and everything does not all work out all happy for her, which is kind of refreshing for a change.

Since I'm reading Flora's Dare I thought I should probably write this review before the two books get muddled together.

There is plenty of good stuff in Flora Segunda to talk about, starting with the titular character. Flora is pretty darn awesome (though certainly not perfect). She's...scrappy. Determined. Brave, but not in the cheesy way that conjures up pictures of Mel Gibson in blue face paint. I mean brave in the way that she sucks it up and deals with the quiet tragedies in her life, the w More...

As the book opens, Flora Fyrdraaca is supposed to be writing a speech for her fourteenth birthday party, wherein she will celebrate her wonderful family, house, and future. The problem is, she doesn't think any of them are all that wonderful. Her house used to be a Great House, until her mother banished the magickal Butler; now it has eleven thousand rooms and only one bathroom. There are only four Fyrdraacas left: Flora herself, her crazy father, her military mother, who's never home, and her s More...

If you can get past some of the cutesy language (like "choco sandwies" and other things that end in -ie that eventually I got sick of encountering) you'll find a fun adventure with a little (well, rather plump actually) girl who's on her way to finding her place in the world.

Flora Segunda (a "replacement" daughter, as the first Flora in the family was lost in the War) is getting ready for her Catorcena--and not doing a great job of it, what with having to do all the chores and look after crazy More...

This is either YA or children's fantasy, but I can't really make up my mind which. Flora, called Segunda because there was another Flora, who was a good deal more perfect but died, lives in Crackpot Hall, one of the four magickal Great Houses in the city. She struggles to keep the decrepit house from falling apart, to keep her messed up father from destroying the kitchen, and to write the speech for her Catorcena - her all-important fourteenth birthday, when she becomes legally an adult. Mostly, More...

The one where Flora accidentally reawakens the elemental spirit who serves as a butler, tries to rescue him, tries to rescue a heroine's sidekick, and then has to rescue herself.

I've read and adored Wilce's stories of Hardhands and Tiny Doom, and that was what I really wanted to read. This story apparently takes place at least a generation later than those stories. I'm struggling a bit to be fair and not downgrade it for not being some other book than the book it is.

It's a fairly standard prete More...

This was amazing....there are not enough words to tell of the awesomeness of this title. Although others find it muddled and a bit schizophrenic..I did not find it to be the case. I do not know if everyone can appreciate the nature of the tale. But I found it to be unique in a world of YA literature that just all feels the same. Flora is strong and NOT ANGSTY...which is rare. Her sidekick is amusing and full of life. Characterizations...amazing. Plot is good and surprising. Characters are multi- More...

Blasted Heck...so begins Flora on our rampacious,laborious, delicious and enchanting read. "Ayah",it was fun! With sentences like, "Ave,sieur denizen, thank you, ave," This young adult book was a tad difficult to get into the rhythm. But once in, the fun began. The names alone were crazy: Udo, Mouse, Bonzo, Flynnie, Zoo Battery, Cow Hollow Harbor. The use of silly words that made perfect sense, were fantastic: grabby water, snapperdog, sunshiny day. The heroine, Flora, was brave, clever and lear More...

This was a very strange book for me. When I feel like giving up a book because of plain bad writing (as was the case for every Tom Clancy boo I've tried to read) I abandon it after about ten or twelve pages. When I feel like giving up a book because the style doesn't suit me (like the last Harry Potter novel) I usually abandon at around fifty pages. It's also the same fifty page mark for books which don't have enough imagination or science fiction or fantasy in them, as is the case with nearly a More...

Eleven-thousand rooms. In one house that is alive and whose life is tied to the magical butler. This magical djinn-like creature tempts Flora Segunda to give him some of her anima, or life force in order to help her with her abundant chores. One would think that having a butler would alleviate Flora from performing household chores; however, Flora’s mother, a high-ranking army officer, banished the butler, leaving the housekeeping to Flora. Flora’s complex world becomes more complicated as she a More...

Read this for a book club. This book was totally fine but I don't know that I would have picked it out for myself.

Here are the things I liked:
a) It was cool to see a main female character have an "epic" adventure - epics are generally "for boys"
b) I liked that the author played around with other gendered stereotypes - to have a hero called The Dainty Pirate is pretty awesome
c) Flora's world is mysterious and magical, the world-building was clear and intriguing, I was left wanting to know more

He More...

It's enjoyable enough as YA fantasy, but I feel like the author is making otherwise-smart Flora carry the Idiot Ball, because otherwise there would be no plot. And that's annoying, and makes me tense as a reader. I mean, Flora is curious and contrary about everything, yes? Yes. Her house is magical, and is embodied with/by a butler whose physical well-being and presence maintains the house structure. Her mother banished him years ago, so the house is falling apart. She finds him, and he wants he More...

Audiobook. On the eve of her 14th birthday Flora Segunda (so named because her sister, the first Flora, died before she was born) Flora is in a funk. Her mother, a general, is never home, and her father has succumbed to madness. Flora is left to take up the slack in her 11,000-room house until she finds the banished butler who is the soul of the house. As Flora and her friend try to help the butler, they find themselves in mortal danger as well as the very real danger of not being prepared for h More...

Well, for a start I couldnt finish this book. I found the characthers ok, some were interesting enough, Udo and Poppy being my two favourite characthers.[I thought Poppy was a strange name to call a man!} Other names are strange too some difficult to pronounce, Im a fast reader so I just skimmed over them. It did start off a good story, I liked how it is told from Flora's POV, and she is an interesting, likeable funny character and easy to relate to. It started interesting when she found Valefor More...

I enjoyed this--a YA fantasy a bit on the younger side with truly original worldbuilding. There's inspiration from Spanish/Italian/Mexican/various other traditions in Califa, the city where Flora lives with her military family in a crazier house, not mistakenly named "Crackpot Hall" (which has approximately 11,000 rooms). Flora's adventures begin when she puts off preparing for her Catorcena (a coming-of-age ceremony when she declares her intent to serve in the military) while her mother is out More...

Your childhood hero is ripped to pieces before your very eyes. Not only is he ripped to pieces, but his heart is ripped out of his chest and there is not a thing you can do about it. If your hero can not stop these dreaded bird creatures, how can you possibly have any hope of defeating them? The next step should be running like mad to escape their talons, correct? For Flora Segunda, her next step always seems to lead her into the very places she wishes to flee.

We meet Flora as a child who is ke More...

I, while reading this book, enjoyed it, although I would not, unless someone was looking for such a book, recommend it. It was not predictable, which is found all to often in books, and even though it did have a little of the main character making stupid mistakes, it did not remove from the experience. I seemed not to look forward to picking it up, but once I had started to read, found myself not wanting to put it down. Altogether it was very odd, and even though the writing style was also diffe More...

One of my favorite books.
It's a fantasy YA novel different from any other I've read.
Despite its delightful whimsy, it deals with some very harsh issues.
Flora Secunda is the daughter of a great general (her mother)who is a workaholic and absent most of the time, and a war hero (her father) so debilitated by his prisoner of war internment he has retreated into drinking and madness. The last of a crumbling, great lineage and certainly not the best, 14 year old Flora has been left trying to maintain More...

Ysabeau Wilce’s Flora Segunda is surprisingly compelling reading. The secret lies in the perfectly normal narrator of Flora herself, as she deals in perfectly normal fashion with the very strange world that Wilce has created. It’s a richly detailed world — an alternate version of California, with elements of Spanish, Latin and modern English popping up in the language as if it has always been there, such as Flora’s Catorcena ceremony, or the fact that Flora’s home is near the “Pacifica Playa”. T More...

This was my introduction to Ysabeau S. Wilce and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is well written and left me wanting to read the next one as soon as I can get my hands on it.

The world and magic system are well developed through an economy of words. Crackpot Hall is delightfully amazing and run down at the same time. There is a wonderful lack of gender specific roles. Strength, wisdom and emotion are not dependent on the character's gender, likewise with clothing and occupation.

The characters have d More...

gimmicky and busy and thin on substance, which, come to think of it, is the problem Valefor the butler has that Flora tries to help him with. Wilce spends far too much time coming up with cutesy details rather than creating a strong plot or authentic characters. Then there's the problem of the tone: Flora has family members who were tortured and/or murdered. Flora discusses this fact--and darn near everything else--in a mildly but perversely jovial and jocular way that makes her seem like she's More...

I couldn't wait to be done with this book but it kept going and going. Flora Segunda was around 400 pages long, and I'm not sure it really needed to be that long. Not much happened. I was intrigued with all the talk of Flora wanting to be a Ranger and then stumbling upon a Ranger. And that particular story-line, at least in this first book, fell flat. Instead the book focused on her loss of Will. Also interesting, but not what I was expecting or hoping for. It seems like maybe this book was just More...

Summary:
Flora Segunda is about a girl living with the weight of a family tradition on her shoulders-- while her mother expects her to become a soldier, she desperately wants to become a Ranger, which is a spy of sorts. The books takes place in the author's made up world, and as the novel progresses, Flora gets tangled up in a mess with her family's banished butler and has to sacrifice everything to try and make everything work out.

Opinion:
I've honestly lost count in how many times I've read thi More...

Flora is preparing for her fourteenth birthday, when she will be legally an adult and will enter a military academy, as is the tradition of her family, the Fyrdraacas. Flora wants to be a ranger (a kind of mage spy), but sees no way out of her future, since her mother (the General) is something of a steamroller personality, fully expecting Flora to follow in her footsteps. Indeed, Flora is already following in the footsteps of the first Flora, her same-named sister who died in a war which saw Ca More...

Imagine a Hogwarts-style world set in old Spain. Flora Segunda (Flora the Second), of the House Fydraaca, lives in this world. Her house, Crackpot Hall, is one of the Great Houses of the land, and has over 11 thousand rooms but only one loo, which can either appear right next to one's bedroom, or suddenly stretch far away. The elevator can also be fickle at times, taking its occupant to places unknown, depending on the strength of the occupants' Will. Flora lives here mostly by herself, taking c More...

Check it out, it’s fantasy not Europe! As opposed to fantasy not!Europe, I mean. Young adult story of thirteen-year-old Flora’s magical exploits in alternate, militarized California.

You know how sometimes a young adult book can surprise you with its subtlety, its emotional complexity and maturity springing from a simple story? Yeah, this one went exactly the opposite direction: from a rich, textured, fascinating background world, and a well-drawn familial mess, and a lot of interesting political More...

Flora Segunda really really wants you to see just how gosh-darned whimsical it is.
To say That it is baiting for a movie deal would be an understatement on a scale for which I do not currently possess a simile.

Flora segunda is the story of a semi-misunderstood 13 year old girl, with a troubled but loving family background and burgeoning magic powers. I know I know, you've heard this one before, so have I. It is, of course, flora's hook. Without that somewhat hackneyed set-up, this book would neve More...