Review of When the Tamarind Tree Blooms

[Danielle Cassandra Mohl]

[Following is a volunteer review of "When the Tamarind Tree Blooms" by Elaine Russell.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Let's start by saying I loved this book so much that I read it twice! The title was not only an amazing choice but also a lovely backstory to go along with it as well. Genevieve’s story, from the first page to the last page of this book, had me on edge the whole time. I was not a fan of Director Bernard and Maitresse Durand as they seemed to have too much power over all those poor girls in the orphanage. Director Bernard was brute and just unwilling to help Genevieve find any information about her parents, and she was lied to all those years by him. It was just heartbreaking and upsetting to know someone with power could do that to another. I do not blame Genevieve and Bridgette for breaking into his office and looking into her file; she would have never known about her twin brother or the name of her parents if they hadn’t. I felt sorrow to know that Bridgette was punished so greatly over the whole thing and felt it just made her last few months of childhood miserable and lasted longer than they needed to. Jumping to the love story of Genevieve and Bounmy, I loved how they met and how we got to read how their relationship blossomed to like to love over a short time. I could only imagine how Genevieve felt when she learned he was promised to another; the lies she had to deal with had to have been tough at that young age. Not only did Genevieve have to go through the assault from Kham, but she also had to go through the heartbreak of losing Bounmy and Bridgette at the same time. So much she had to deal with at 18 years old. I loved this book and the whole story that came with it; I felt it was a coming-of-age book about learning and trusting and then learning from mistakes afterward.

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When the Tamarind Tree Blooms
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