I shall be making very specific bouquets from now on. Love this book and all the detail that went into it. ( )

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Taking inspiration from the stunning cover, I would say this book reflects the author love of flowers (rose) and her wisdom (iris) treating the subject matter with humility and faithfulness (bluebell). This book is full of beauty, the illustrations are gorgeous, and I love that the entries for the flowers are concise but comprehensive. I have seen other illustrated flower dictionaries before, but two things set this book apart: the addition of herbs as well as flowers and the inclusion of the last section for bouquets arrangement (it is good to have a place to start when wanting to create a bouquet and there is so much individual information). And again, that cover...stunning. ( )

This book reminded me/was exactly like The Language of Flowers.
But this book simplifies it, as well as uses updated terminology.
The images were pretty, but I would of expected a more scientific image. ( )

“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember.”

This book was 50% informative-50% an art piece, and that's the reason why it was such a quick read.
Not that I'm complaining (Much, I would have wanted 500 pages, tbh.) since this was like a soft reset for the everyday reader. I feel lighter, happier, and wanting a flower tattoo more than ever.

Crafted with so much love, this was a celebration of an art form that must have brought colour into bleak times. When you aren't allowed to say certain things, do it with flowers (Ignore how slogan-ish this sounds.)

I mean, we're already dealing with a plague, we might as well go back to flower language too and feel the true Victorian vibes. ( )

Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers by Jessica Roux is a stunning collection of artwork and explanations of how these flowers were used to express feelings.

I absolutely loved the illustrations, full page and beautifully rendered. The muted colors add to the appeal in two ways for me. First, it just seems more in keeping with the Victorian theme of the book. Second, I think it allows a lot of the detail to come out, we aren't assaulted by bright colors that distract from nuance and subtlety.

The entries include the basic meaning, why they have that meaning (anything from folklore to how the flower looks or grows), and what to pair it with to tweak the meaning to suit specific situations. The bouquets section highlights some of the more popular combinations of more than two flowers and explains why each is part of the bouquet.

I came mainly because I vaguely remembered something from coursework years ago about flowers and meaning. I wanted to learn more about that. I found that the brief entries served that purpose wonderfully. Enough information to understand but not so much that it ended up going off on tangents. The artwork, however, is what really made the book for me. I think I have mentioned and shown this to most of my friends and they have all been equally impressed with the book.

I highly recommend this for both the information (presented by flower alphabetically) and the art. I looked up the author/illustrator online and she does a lot of amazing work, take a look if you have the chance.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )