Review of Botany with Friends
Posted: 31 May 2025, 08:14
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Botany with Friends" by Troy Aikins.]
It is the first day of botany class. Trent, Lester, Amalia, Kaylaris, and Kurtis learn how to be young professional gardeners. The five students form a group, the Green Guardians, and, over the semester, grow like the plants they are watering. If you are interested in their plans, go read Botany with Friends by Troy Aikins.
My favourite moment from the book is the one where Trent and Kurtis hang out in the latter's living room on Saturday. They take a break from class, eat snacks, play games, reflect on their progress, and plan for the future. It is a very mundane scene, and I will not blame some readers for thinking that nothing happens in that scene, but it feels real. School buddies do interact this way in real life. How odd that my favourite moment from this botany book has little to do with botany itself.
I do not like most of the attempted humour. I am not a fan because it makes the dialogue feel stilted. Special mention goes to the teacher, Twiggums. I understand he teaches botany, but it feels unnatural to hear him sprinkle vocabulary about botany everywhere in his dialogue. No normal person says, "We’ve germinated!" when all the students enter the classroom. There are many instances where the book tries to present Twiggums as funny and quirky, like the time when he, much like a baseball announcer, narrates a group of students clearing weeds, but those instances do not land for me. If you do not know much about planting, it might be difficult to understand why Kurtis being a cabbage in a dream is funny. You will also have no idea why using wasabi spray for pest control is less effective than marigolds.
Botany with Friends appeals to gardening enthusiasts. On the other hand, if you do not like campus, biology, slice of life, or anything related to plants, you will find the story neither exciting nor relatable. I like the sense of progression when seeing the Green Guardians cultivate their own imperfect yet working garden. Extra knowledge, like pest control and greenhouse trivia, is greatly appreciated. The editing is perfect; there are no typos or grammatical errors. However, the attempted humour holds the book back. The five students are not memorable either; none of them stand out in terms of personality or actions. Overall, I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.
******
Botany with Friends
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
It is the first day of botany class. Trent, Lester, Amalia, Kaylaris, and Kurtis learn how to be young professional gardeners. The five students form a group, the Green Guardians, and, over the semester, grow like the plants they are watering. If you are interested in their plans, go read Botany with Friends by Troy Aikins.
My favourite moment from the book is the one where Trent and Kurtis hang out in the latter's living room on Saturday. They take a break from class, eat snacks, play games, reflect on their progress, and plan for the future. It is a very mundane scene, and I will not blame some readers for thinking that nothing happens in that scene, but it feels real. School buddies do interact this way in real life. How odd that my favourite moment from this botany book has little to do with botany itself.
I do not like most of the attempted humour. I am not a fan because it makes the dialogue feel stilted. Special mention goes to the teacher, Twiggums. I understand he teaches botany, but it feels unnatural to hear him sprinkle vocabulary about botany everywhere in his dialogue. No normal person says, "We’ve germinated!" when all the students enter the classroom. There are many instances where the book tries to present Twiggums as funny and quirky, like the time when he, much like a baseball announcer, narrates a group of students clearing weeds, but those instances do not land for me. If you do not know much about planting, it might be difficult to understand why Kurtis being a cabbage in a dream is funny. You will also have no idea why using wasabi spray for pest control is less effective than marigolds.
Botany with Friends appeals to gardening enthusiasts. On the other hand, if you do not like campus, biology, slice of life, or anything related to plants, you will find the story neither exciting nor relatable. I like the sense of progression when seeing the Green Guardians cultivate their own imperfect yet working garden. Extra knowledge, like pest control and greenhouse trivia, is greatly appreciated. The editing is perfect; there are no typos or grammatical errors. However, the attempted humour holds the book back. The five students are not memorable either; none of them stand out in terms of personality or actions. Overall, I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.
******
Botany with Friends
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon