Saturday, February 18, 2023

Five on Saturday - February 18, 2023 ~ The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina Book Review, Valentine's Day, Porch YYC, Heart Espresso Cups, and Dollarama Finds

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all have had a great week - mine was normal, but I'm certainly looking forward to having a long weekend! 

I purchased everything in this post

Right on the back of a book review last week, I've got another book I really enjoyed to share with you! The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova is an adult fantasy/magical realism novel that is lovely, layered and magical. It is described as a combination of Encanto and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and I loved both of those so it's no surprise that I loved this one too! This book follows the Montoya family and starts with all of Orquidea's descendants being introduced and called to her for her funeral, while she is still alive. Orquidea has a large family and has lots of secrets from the family - it starts a little heavy with all the family members and trying to keep track of who everyone is, while using a duel timeline to introduce Orquidea's story (she also has an incredibly complex past). Upon her death, Orquidea gifts everyone a seed, but a few of her grandchildren and great grandchild are gifted magic in the form of a flower growing from them. These are the characters we focus on for the rest of the story, so it makes it easier to focus following the initial introduction to a lot of characters! 

Following her death, the family realizes a force or someone is after them and family members and is slowly killing them. This leads a few family members to travel to Educador to try and connect with their grandmother's story and uncover her secrets that she was unable to reveal. All the while, we still go back and forth with Orquidea's past to discover her story through her eyes. As the stories converge, we see more magic, more complexity, but also more family and more love. I love the connections and discoveries of the characters as well as the magic and the discoveries of what is coming for their family. There is layers and complexities, but it also is such gorgeous and descriptive writing, you can see everything and feel all the magic while you are reading it! 4.5/5 Stars! 

TWO 


This week was Valentine's Day and we celebrated in our usual fashion - we ordered heart shaped pizza! It's always a normal night in our house with maybe some extra chocolate, but I do love cute pizza so we've made it our little tradition! 

THREE 


Last weekend I checked out Porch YYC last weekend for the first time (finally!!!) and loved it! They have a few cute swings at the bar and we snagged them and they had some delicious drinks and we had such a blast there! I will definitely go back!

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How cute are these little heart espresso cups?! They are these Barista Amore Double Wall Glass Espresso Mugs - I love the little heart shape inside and ever since my Italy trip, I love espresso, so these are perfect! 

FIVE 


This past weekend I went shopping at Dollarama and found some cute little goodies - it's early, but there are some Easter goodies! Also, some cake pan liners, some fun glitter washi tape and a bubble wand! 

I hope you all have a great weekend! (And happy long weekend to those of us that get Family Day off on Monday!)

2 comments :

  1. That book sounds so interesting!! Yet another book I need to add to my list! I've been in such a rut with reading lately, but I still love seeing what you have been reading!

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    1. This one might be a little harder to get in to, as it has lots of characters - I've just been on a good roll right now!

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