The Flowers of Time

Lost in Time, Book 3

By: A. L. Lester

Narrated by: Zoe Brookes

Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Jones is determined to find out what caused the unexpected death of her father while they were exploring ancient ruins in the Himalayas. Along with a stack of books and coded journals, he's left her with the promise she'll travel back to England for the first time since childhood to try being the lady she's never been.

Edie and her brother are leaving soon on a journey to the Himalayas to document and collect plants for the new Kew Gardens when she befriends Miss Jones in London. She's never left England before and is delighted to learn the lady will be returning to the mountains she calls home at the same time they are planning their travels. When they meet again in Srinagar, Edie is surprised to find that, out here, the Miss Jones of the London salons is "just Jones" the explorer, clad in breeches and boots and unconcerned with the proprieties Edie has been brought up to respect.

The nonbinary explorer and the determined botanist make the long journey over the high mountain passes to Little Tibet, collecting flowers and exploring ruins on the way. Will Jones discover the root of the mysterious deaths of her parents? Will she confide in Edie and allow her to help in the quest? The trip is fraught with perils for both of them, not least those of the heart.

©2020 JMS Books LLC (P)2020 A. L. Lester

The Flowers of Time

The Flowers of Time is an enjoyable story about Jones and Edie. They venture on a journey together through the mountains so Jones can find out what happened to their parents and Edie can collect plants. Jones and Edie are so sweet together. I love how if nothing ever happened between them sexually they would still be so caring of each other. I love how Jones can be exactly who they are even in a story set so far in the past. Both Jones and Edie are such beautifully written and relatable characters. This was my first book by this author and I will definitely be reading/listening to more.
Narrator Zoe Brookes does a good job.

An immersive story

I give the book, the story, 5 stars. I give the audio narration 4 stars.

I felt completely immersed throughout this book and deeply invested in the characters' lives. It made me laugh from time to time - Edie's inner monologue is particularly funny - and I was definitely held in suspense. I think Jones, who is generally a well balanced and intelligent person, makes some pretty bad decisions with regard to magic. But so does nearly everyone in this series. "DON'T DO THE THING!," they're all told - and then they go and do The Thing. Ah, adventure & curiosity seekers, what would writers do without them?

This book is listed as book 3 on Goodreads & Amazon currently. The author lists it as a standalone set in the same world. I believe it would be fun to read first, as it happens chronologically first, being centuries before the others. The further I got along in the story, the more I wanted to re-listen to/re-read the other books again, to see if there were any dots I hadn't connected. This is further evidence of how much I enjoyed this book and the others - that I immediately wanted to restart.

As for the audio narration by Zoe Brookes, the emotion came through well - she did the dry wit of some of the characters very well, along with the more serious parts. And she does differentiate the voices to an extent too, Jones & Edie are quite differently voiced. But she does the reading very close to the mic, so you can hear the movements of her mouth here and there - I dislike the sound of chewing & such, BUT I did not find her narration discomfiting despite the closeness, so there's that. There are some tech issues, with the filtering seeming to come and go on a few occasions, making for a slight staticky sound. But I've heard worse tech issues than that and, other than those brief moments, I remained fully immersed in the story. I would not shy away from listening to a book with Brookes narrating.

Enjoyed this story

I enjoyed this story. I can only imagine what it must have been like to live as non-binary person during these times. I was impressed with Jones' strength and Edie's bravery. The writing was strong and descriptive. However, I thought the story was too short and that there was a lot more we could have learned about both MCs. I had a hard time with the narration at first. There seemed to be a weird noise after the narrator spoke. It either went away after chapter 2 or it no longer bothered me :-). Overall, I would say that this was a nice listen. I would definitely check out other books by this author!

Enjoyable story, wonderful narration

I enjoyed this book - even especially because the romantic part didn’t come until near the end, but when it did,it was beautiful. I really enjoyed the ending!

The author makes a good case for Jones being not just “a woman struggling against the confines society placed on women (especially in the 1700s)”, but actually non-binary long before anybody coined the term.

The narration was great - I wish I had the written word in front of me, because I find it hard to remember a word if I just hear it and cannot spell it.

This is kind of a crap review, but really, it’s a great book. I love how all the characters in the book get along.

Delightful Story

This is a very enjoyable fantasy with a nonbinary main character, an independent lady and several amusing side characters to enhance the journey. Jones tries to straddle the ways of traditional women's versus men's place in 1779 society and being free. While Edie just wants to travel, explore and study the flora across the world. Both are drawn to each other and really connect as a magical tale is told. Felt like the ending was rushed. Otherwise, an adventurous story to listen to with lovely narration.

Beautiful story!

What a fantastic story! What can I say? I adore Jones, her certainty at who she is, her need for freedom and her complexity. Edie is sweet and kind, 'proper' and very, very independent taking the times into account.

The story is somewhat short but so densely packed with facts that managed to cover years of Jones' life without leaving me with a feeling of shallowness. The magic/paranormal aspects of the story appear late in the book, but they are expected, as there were events from the beginning hinting that something was quite not right.

And the romance... aw, slow burn, how much I love you! I love how slow and tentative is the transition between friendship and something different between Jones and Edie. Their feelings are deep, their intimacy comes from knowing each other, and from trusting each other. And this is all new for them, they both are in uncharted territory and the journey that brought them to this point is beautiful. I really hope we'll be seeing more of them soon :D

Zoe Brookes does an excellent job with the narration :D