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The Diaries of Bluebell Gadsby #2
Flora in Love
Just when Bluebell thought her crazy family were behaving normally, her parents make an announcement that could turn everything upside down.
If only Zoran, their au pair, would come back to live with them. Unfortunately he's too busy teaching guitar to his new protege, Zachary Smith.
Blue is jealous at first, until Zach starts helping her little sister with a secret project and becomes a regular visitor at the Gadsby house.
Then Zach goes missing. Blue needs her family to pull together if they're going to find him...
If only Zoran, their au pair, would come back to live with them. Unfortunately he's too busy teaching guitar to his new protege, Zachary Smith.
Blue is jealous at first, until Zach starts helping her little sister with a secret project and becomes a regular visitor at the Gadsby house.
Then Zach goes missing. Blue needs her family to pull together if they're going to find him...
288 pages, Paperback
First published June 3, 2014
5 people are currently reading
289 people want to read
About the author
Natasha Farrant
27 books118 followersNatasha Farrant grew up in the heart of London's French community, and currently combines writing with her career as a Literary Scout. She is the author of two successful novels for adults, Diving Into Light and Some Other Eden, both published by Transworld. She lives in West London with her husband, two daughters and a large tortoiseshell cat.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 18, 2017
Middle grade Anglophiles will like this, and the characters are as charming as they were in After Iris. But the spark is missing this time around: situations and events feel forced and predictable, right down to the two kittens with twee names who pee inconveniently and create other more "adorable" disruptions right on cue.
The cliffhanger ending, while mild, feels like a calculated setup to the inevitable sequel.
The cliffhanger ending, while mild, feels like a calculated setup to the inevitable sequel.
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December 20, 2020Now I really, really need to read the next book.
September 28, 2015
Flora in Love is a book I had sitting waiting to be read for a while and never got around to reading, but with the series being redesigned, I got the chance to review the updated version which matches the rest of the books in the series, and we all know how important a matching series of books is.
The Gadsby Family is a year older, and Flora in Love lets us see how different they are, and how the children are growing and finding their place, thier own personality.
No longer 'the Babes' Twig has discovered girls and has a crush. His attention is now focused on his hair, football, and his crush. He is learning as much as he can about trains to impress her, and this comes in very handy later on in the book. Jasmine is becoming quite a little star in her own right. No longer so stubborn and defiant, she has found her own niche and sees herself as a poet. Flora has her eyes set on a new boy in town, over her previous crush, Zach now holds all of Floras interest. The more she gets to know him, and the more the Gadsby children know him, the more they have to help. Bluebell, ever present but always in the background, is continuing with her multimedia diary, but also has her own boy troubles, torn between what she feels and what she thinks she should feel.
To add to this crazy, yet endearing family, there is a new addition on the way, and before the secret is shared you can see the clues in the parents behavior.
I really enjoyed the (mis)adventures that the children get up to, what makes some of them funnier is that most of it is accidental, beginning something with one intention only to have to morph into something else, leading them here, there, and everywhere.
Flora in Love was a book that had me engrossed from the moment I began reading. I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting this family again, I had so much fun joining them. The rats, which played a role in the previous book, have been accidentally set free, and in thier place are two kittens, which added thier own mischief to the mix, as kittens do. Flora in Love was everything I expected from the Gadsby family, and from the author, Natasha Farrant. I laughed and cried throughout the pages, and felt like I was a small part of this family.
Final Verdict
Flora in Love is the second book in this series that I have really enjoyed. I can't wait to jump into the next book and take another adventure with this crazy, hectic family.
The Gadsby Family is a year older, and Flora in Love lets us see how different they are, and how the children are growing and finding their place, thier own personality.
No longer 'the Babes' Twig has discovered girls and has a crush. His attention is now focused on his hair, football, and his crush. He is learning as much as he can about trains to impress her, and this comes in very handy later on in the book. Jasmine is becoming quite a little star in her own right. No longer so stubborn and defiant, she has found her own niche and sees herself as a poet. Flora has her eyes set on a new boy in town, over her previous crush, Zach now holds all of Floras interest. The more she gets to know him, and the more the Gadsby children know him, the more they have to help. Bluebell, ever present but always in the background, is continuing with her multimedia diary, but also has her own boy troubles, torn between what she feels and what she thinks she should feel.
To add to this crazy, yet endearing family, there is a new addition on the way, and before the secret is shared you can see the clues in the parents behavior.
I really enjoyed the (mis)adventures that the children get up to, what makes some of them funnier is that most of it is accidental, beginning something with one intention only to have to morph into something else, leading them here, there, and everywhere.
Flora in Love was a book that had me engrossed from the moment I began reading. I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting this family again, I had so much fun joining them. The rats, which played a role in the previous book, have been accidentally set free, and in thier place are two kittens, which added thier own mischief to the mix, as kittens do. Flora in Love was everything I expected from the Gadsby family, and from the author, Natasha Farrant. I laughed and cried throughout the pages, and felt like I was a small part of this family.
Final Verdict
Flora in Love is the second book in this series that I have really enjoyed. I can't wait to jump into the next book and take another adventure with this crazy, hectic family.
October 14, 2022
W kontynuacji ,,Czasu po Iris" Bluebell nadal dokumentuje życie rodzinne za pomocą kamery i swojego pamiętnika. Tym razem w obiektywie często pojawia się starsza siostra, Flora, oraz jej nowy obiekt westchnień.
W rodzinie Gadsbych zachodzi też wielka zmiana, która wkrótce wywróci ich życie do góry nogami.
🏡📖
Niezmiennie pozostaję pod wrażeniem tej serii. Ma ona wszystko, czego szukam w książkach tego gatunku - humor, ciekawie wykreowanych bohaterów oraz interesująco poprowadzoną akcję.
W drugim tomie autorka przedstawia dalsze losy członków rodziny Gadsby, ale wprowadza też nowe postaci. Po raz kolejny przedstawia problem nieobecnego rodzica, lecz tym razem jest on o wiele poważniejszy.
Myślę, że te książki będą idealne dla fanów ,,Lukrecji". Są jednak bardziej złożone i poruszają wiele trudnych tematów. Z niecierpliwością czekam na kolejny tom serii!
December 14, 2015
I was late to the After Iris but I'm so glad I finally got round to giving them a go. Not going to lie it was mostly the beautiful new covers that drew me in.
I love the Gadsby family. I love their quirkiness and how chaotic their life is. I love the relationships between the every member of their extended family and just seeing how life unfolds day to day. I very much enjoyed this latest installment Flora in Love and getting to know everyone again and find out more about them and it certainly won't be long until I pick up book three.
I love the Gadsby family. I love their quirkiness and how chaotic their life is. I love the relationships between the every member of their extended family and just seeing how life unfolds day to day. I very much enjoyed this latest installment Flora in Love and getting to know everyone again and find out more about them and it certainly won't be long until I pick up book three.
June 13, 2014
Lovely, funny, warm and uplifting. I loved it.
March 2, 2023
3,9/5⭐
September 1, 2024
I loved this book it describes perfectly how it’s like to be in a big chaotic and loving family, I couldn’t put it down and I am now very looking forward for the next one.
December 27, 2016
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
Following Flora is the second book in the Diaries of Bluebell Gadsby series, following last year's After Iris. (In the UK, the title is Flora in Love.) A year has passed and Zoran, the family's au pair, has moved out and taken one of his guitar students, Zachary Smith, under his wing in the aftermath of Zach's grandfather's stroke. Zach instantly hits it off with Flora, the oldest Gadsby sister, who is just one of three Gadsbys involved in a romance. Blue has started dating her best friend, much to her utter confusion, and Twig has a crush on a girl in school which has completely changed his behavior. Only Jas is not in love, and she feels so left out she turns to poetry as her solace. In the meantime, the Gadsby parents struggle to accept that they are expecting a new baby.
The characters in this series are so well-realized that the plots of the books are almost irrelevant. So many things are going on in Following Flora, to the point that there isn't really one main thread to follow, but it doesn't matter because the chaos is part of the fun of reading about this quirky family. Few family stories for kids are as honest as this one about the way parents and siblings really act with one another. While this book is by no means dark and dreary, it also doesn't pretend that life is an endless parade of sunshine and lollipops. Middle school readers in particular appreciate this type of honesty, and it is perfectly handled by Natasha Farrant.
Often books like this which include transcripts of video make those sections of the book feel like gimmicky filler, but in Following Flora, as in After Iris, they are used perfectly to further the action of the various subplots. The really nice thing about having a camera's eye view of the action is that each member of the Gadsby family is able to assert his or her personality in just a few lines instead of the author spending pages and pages on describing each one. Because the family is so dramatic and chaotic, it only makes sense for them to act out their shenanigans on film, and for Blue, the quietest of the bunch, to be the one behind the lens.
Following Flora reminds me a lot of Anne Fine's The True Story of Christmas, in that it brings family dysfunction to life in a way that is realistic and humorous at the same time. (Why are British authors always so good at that?) The interactions between the siblings also echoes the way the girls talk to each other in The Penderwicks, but the adult characters are much less stereotypically good in the Gadsby books. Readers who enjoy Hilary McKay's Casson family will be enamored of the Gadsbys in the same way, and everyone who reads this book will immediately start counting down to when the next book is out.
Following Flora is the second book in the Diaries of Bluebell Gadsby series, following last year's After Iris. (In the UK, the title is Flora in Love.) A year has passed and Zoran, the family's au pair, has moved out and taken one of his guitar students, Zachary Smith, under his wing in the aftermath of Zach's grandfather's stroke. Zach instantly hits it off with Flora, the oldest Gadsby sister, who is just one of three Gadsbys involved in a romance. Blue has started dating her best friend, much to her utter confusion, and Twig has a crush on a girl in school which has completely changed his behavior. Only Jas is not in love, and she feels so left out she turns to poetry as her solace. In the meantime, the Gadsby parents struggle to accept that they are expecting a new baby.
The characters in this series are so well-realized that the plots of the books are almost irrelevant. So many things are going on in Following Flora, to the point that there isn't really one main thread to follow, but it doesn't matter because the chaos is part of the fun of reading about this quirky family. Few family stories for kids are as honest as this one about the way parents and siblings really act with one another. While this book is by no means dark and dreary, it also doesn't pretend that life is an endless parade of sunshine and lollipops. Middle school readers in particular appreciate this type of honesty, and it is perfectly handled by Natasha Farrant.
Often books like this which include transcripts of video make those sections of the book feel like gimmicky filler, but in Following Flora, as in After Iris, they are used perfectly to further the action of the various subplots. The really nice thing about having a camera's eye view of the action is that each member of the Gadsby family is able to assert his or her personality in just a few lines instead of the author spending pages and pages on describing each one. Because the family is so dramatic and chaotic, it only makes sense for them to act out their shenanigans on film, and for Blue, the quietest of the bunch, to be the one behind the lens.
Following Flora reminds me a lot of Anne Fine's The True Story of Christmas, in that it brings family dysfunction to life in a way that is realistic and humorous at the same time. (Why are British authors always so good at that?) The interactions between the siblings also echoes the way the girls talk to each other in The Penderwicks, but the adult characters are much less stereotypically good in the Gadsby books. Readers who enjoy Hilary McKay's Casson family will be enamored of the Gadsbys in the same way, and everyone who reads this book will immediately start counting down to when the next book is out.
August 10, 2014
Full review soon but it has been a long time since I read a book in an afternoon and enjoyed it as much as I did this book!
I absolutely loved Flora In Love by Natasha Farrant! I adored the first book in the series, After Iris, and I thought while not containing as many emotional highs as the first book that Flora In Love is a wonderfully chaotic and fun sequel. I desperately want to be in a large family like the Gadsby family and be part of all their weird and wonderful antics.
I will always eagerly pick up a book about this family and their fabulous madness that only comes from being in a large family. I think Natasha Farrant does an incredible job with the family dynamics and especially in the dialogue that readers will be able to mentally picture incredibly well given that it is presented both in written diary entries as well as transcripts of video diary entries. I really love this combination and it really made me feel like I was there alongside Blue and Flora and Twig and Jas and everyone.
Flora In Love takes place a year after the events of After Iris and Blue explains at the beginning of the book that she stops writing and filming diary entries when things are good in the Gadsby family ... and so right from the start we see that there are cracks that are now appearing in Blue's, her parents', and her brother's and sisters' lives. Blue's parents are behaving strangely, Zoran has given up being their nanny and Jas in particular is feeling a bit left out now that everyone but her is having relationship problems.
I think it was really interesting to see the new relationships that everyone is forming. The title of the book is that Flora is in love but Blue also has her first real relationship with her best friend with interesting consequences and we see Twig having a crush on a girl at school that makes his behaviour change. I think all three of the older Gadsby children have things to learn about relationships and it was really fun to witness these experiences over the course of this book.
I think the thing I love the most about this book and series besides a great mixture of humour together with sadness and a whole heap of large family chaos is that all the characters presented are so wonderfully developed. I got a really great sense of everybody from the youngest Gadsby, Jas, to their parents and Zoran and his new charge, Zach. Everybody felt very real and everything that these characters go through in this book felt real and believable too. I really want to read more books about the Gadsby family!
I absolutely loved Flora In Love by Natasha Farrant! I adored the first book in the series, After Iris, and I thought while not containing as many emotional highs as the first book that Flora In Love is a wonderfully chaotic and fun sequel. I desperately want to be in a large family like the Gadsby family and be part of all their weird and wonderful antics.
I will always eagerly pick up a book about this family and their fabulous madness that only comes from being in a large family. I think Natasha Farrant does an incredible job with the family dynamics and especially in the dialogue that readers will be able to mentally picture incredibly well given that it is presented both in written diary entries as well as transcripts of video diary entries. I really love this combination and it really made me feel like I was there alongside Blue and Flora and Twig and Jas and everyone.
Flora In Love takes place a year after the events of After Iris and Blue explains at the beginning of the book that she stops writing and filming diary entries when things are good in the Gadsby family ... and so right from the start we see that there are cracks that are now appearing in Blue's, her parents', and her brother's and sisters' lives. Blue's parents are behaving strangely, Zoran has given up being their nanny and Jas in particular is feeling a bit left out now that everyone but her is having relationship problems.
I think it was really interesting to see the new relationships that everyone is forming. The title of the book is that Flora is in love but Blue also has her first real relationship with her best friend with interesting consequences and we see Twig having a crush on a girl at school that makes his behaviour change. I think all three of the older Gadsby children have things to learn about relationships and it was really fun to witness these experiences over the course of this book.
I think the thing I love the most about this book and series besides a great mixture of humour together with sadness and a whole heap of large family chaos is that all the characters presented are so wonderfully developed. I got a really great sense of everybody from the youngest Gadsby, Jas, to their parents and Zoran and his new charge, Zach. Everybody felt very real and everything that these characters go through in this book felt real and believable too. I really want to read more books about the Gadsby family!
December 29, 2016
This is the AMSING sequel to After Iris
September 9, 2014
3.5/5 Review by Beth
I completely loved The Things We Did For Love by Natasha Farrant but the first in the Bluebell Gadsby Diaries series, After Iris, seemed to pass me by. Unperturbed I thought Flora in Love would be worth a shot and I got stuck into the crazy, madcap family life of the Gadsbys.
Madcap is just one way to describe the Gadsbys, their life is completely unbelievable at times but there is a lot of warmth in their crazy ways and odd behaviours. Throughout Flora in Love, things are told from Blue’s point of view again, as we dive into another crazy race around their lives and the strange things they get up to.
Being unfamiliar with the characters in this sequel, I didn’t get the same pleasure of joining them again as many reviews I’ve read but I did enjoy getting to know them, I don’t think I missed out having not read After Iris. Romance sits squarely at the heart of this novel with almost every character having a dalliance or two.
Easy to read and become immersed in, it’s hard not to wish you were a member of the Gadsby family yourself. Despite the simplicity of the writing the plot is tight and there are unpredictable surprises along the way. There are sad moments which take your breath away amongst the humour and all the key characters are looked at with true feeling and realism. Despite their crazy ways I felt like all of these characters were completely genuine and even those on the periphery like Zach and his mother are given the opportunity to shine.
This didn’t blow me away with its brilliance like the wonderful The Things We Did For Love but it was fun and the characters are wonderfully written.
I completely loved The Things We Did For Love by Natasha Farrant but the first in the Bluebell Gadsby Diaries series, After Iris, seemed to pass me by. Unperturbed I thought Flora in Love would be worth a shot and I got stuck into the crazy, madcap family life of the Gadsbys.
Madcap is just one way to describe the Gadsbys, their life is completely unbelievable at times but there is a lot of warmth in their crazy ways and odd behaviours. Throughout Flora in Love, things are told from Blue’s point of view again, as we dive into another crazy race around their lives and the strange things they get up to.
Being unfamiliar with the characters in this sequel, I didn’t get the same pleasure of joining them again as many reviews I’ve read but I did enjoy getting to know them, I don’t think I missed out having not read After Iris. Romance sits squarely at the heart of this novel with almost every character having a dalliance or two.
Easy to read and become immersed in, it’s hard not to wish you were a member of the Gadsby family yourself. Despite the simplicity of the writing the plot is tight and there are unpredictable surprises along the way. There are sad moments which take your breath away amongst the humour and all the key characters are looked at with true feeling and realism. Despite their crazy ways I felt like all of these characters were completely genuine and even those on the periphery like Zach and his mother are given the opportunity to shine.
This didn’t blow me away with its brilliance like the wonderful The Things We Did For Love but it was fun and the characters are wonderfully written.
June 4, 2014
After falling in love with the Gadsby family in the previous book I knew that I’d enjoy Flora in Love. The question was just how much. The answer: VERY VERY VERY much!
Because you’re already familiar with the characters you’re expecting the chaos but that doesn’t make this book any less entertaining to read. With everyone a year older the dynamics in the family have shifted. The biggest difference is that Jas, the youngest, feels left out now that everyone (even Twig) are having ‘romance’ issues.
I love Blue’s diary format with the video transcripts. You picture it perfectly. Some of them had me in tears I was laughing so much. (Just saying fleas & garden here, when you reach that one you’ll know. ;) ) The moment you begin reading Natasha Farrant has you hooked. Blue and her family are alive from the opening paragraph to the very last sentence and you’re going to miss them when you reach the end of the book.
Flora in Love is everything I wanted it to be; happy, worried, it made me cheer (milkshake anyone?) and cry with laughter. I do so hope there are more books about the Gadsby family.
Because you’re already familiar with the characters you’re expecting the chaos but that doesn’t make this book any less entertaining to read. With everyone a year older the dynamics in the family have shifted. The biggest difference is that Jas, the youngest, feels left out now that everyone (even Twig) are having ‘romance’ issues.
I love Blue’s diary format with the video transcripts. You picture it perfectly. Some of them had me in tears I was laughing so much. (Just saying fleas & garden here, when you reach that one you’ll know. ;) ) The moment you begin reading Natasha Farrant has you hooked. Blue and her family are alive from the opening paragraph to the very last sentence and you’re going to miss them when you reach the end of the book.
Flora in Love is everything I wanted it to be; happy, worried, it made me cheer (milkshake anyone?) and cry with laughter. I do so hope there are more books about the Gadsby family.
May 14, 2015
Blue has a new camera, and has moved from just filming her family, to filming events! Zoran is living on his own now, Blue’s parents are around a lot more, and an au pair is no longer necessary. When Blue is asked to film Zoran’s piano recital, she captures the moment when Flora and Zach first see each other. It’s love at first sight, but maybe she went too far when she uploaded the moment to Youtube. Plus, Jake wants to be Blue’s boyfriend, but he sure isn’t acting like one.
The second in the series, is better than After Iris. The transcripts incorporate better, although some are scripts for imagined situations and some are film transcripts. The story had much more promise, but turned improbable toward the end.
The second in the series, is better than After Iris. The transcripts incorporate better, although some are scripts for imagined situations and some are film transcripts. The story had much more promise, but turned improbable toward the end.
May 11, 2015
I enjoyed this more than After Iris, though maybe just because I already know the characters. Reads like a dramatic sitcom, in episodes rather than one focused story arc. Includes first boyfriend for Blue, a mentally unstable mother, major change in the family, challenges in Blue's parents' marriage, pets, poetry, performing, love at first sight, another YouTube incident for poor Flora, and hints at the possibility of love for Zoran and for Twig. It feels like it's open to a third book, which I'd be interested to read.
November 1, 2015
This book was hilarious! I really loved the mix of getting back on your feet from a depressing experience and humor. Bluebell Gadsby is a very real, quirky person and this book was like stepping into her mind.
Please consider reading this book!
Please consider reading this book!
March 26, 2020
It's a book which is extremely dramatic and funny. The book has lots of unexpected twists which makes the book extremely interesting for the reader. The first book is also really action-packed and I suggest that you read the first one before the second.
May 22, 2014
I loved it! It was even better than the first Gadsby-book. What a great, hilarious and chaotic family.
July 19, 2014
V enjoyable read. If you like Hilary McKay's novels, you will also like this lovely chaotic family.
December 16, 2016
I love that they've got so many family members and with all the chaos, they'd still count each other.
July 4, 2014
I loved this so much! Really brilliant sequel & now I can't wait for the next one.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews