Samantha (bookgramsaga reviews)'s Reviews > The Confidence of Wildflowers

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3rd reread)

''I want to be your someone''

Safety warnings:
- H 31 / h 18-19
- Cheating (not between MCs)
- OW/OM drama
- Love triangle
- Mention of child s*xual abuse
- Mention of physical abuse
- Loss of loved one
- Terminal illness
- Cliffhanger

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

Third time reading this, and I still need help processing the events of that ending.

I’ll never get over how much pain was inflicted on all sides.

I love this book and this duology. I understand why some people cannot process the choice Micaela makes regarding that tragic ending but to be honest I saw it coming very early on - there were hints all around the book concerning his safety but that does not mean I was not shocked and completely heartbroken.

Salem and Thayer's love was beyond amazing. Their chemistry was off the charts. I loved how much he did for her and expected nothing in return but did it only to make her happy and bring a smile to her face when she needed it the most.

Salem has Caleb who has been her boyfriend for a few years and her best friend but they are growing apart and spend most of the summer before he heads to Harvard apart (mostly because his mother makes it happen via different ways) and Salem cannot help but feel something extremely deep with Thayer and that leads to them sleeping with each other while she is still with Caleb, she goes to his dorm room the next day and ends their relationship - opting out of telling him about Thayer.

Salem's childhood was horrifying - what her sister and mom had to go through because of their disgusting father wrecked my heart but I am so happy that they survived and that he died (and in a slow agonizing way). We did not get a lot of specific details about how long it went on and what age it started but I was sickened whenever Salem had a nightmare or relived them in her mind.

I felt absolutely heartbroken when her mother confesses that she has breast cancer, but I was glad when she survived the chemo and surgery though it seemed unfair for a woman who went through hell to have to go through this too.

Thayer who has a 6-year-old son Forrest, is a single father who recently got divorced. He moved into the house next door to Salem and asks her to babysit his son from time to time. She agrees and this leads to their relationship blossoming and falling in love.

Sadly, like I mentioned before, there was so much foreshadowing about Forrest's death. The spiral that happened to Thayer is understandable. I felt his pain at the loss and his sadness took over every good thing he had in his life. Nothing was going to fix it and he tried to push Salem away and did a fantastic job at it.

Salem finally leaves and moved to NYC to be with her best friend Lauren and those last few pages where she finds out she is pregnant is earth shattering for her.

Salem choosing to walk away after attempting so many times to get through to Thayer was the best decision for her and her unborn child. I understand her decision considering she thought A) He was with other people B) He had lost his child, and nothing was fixing his pain C) She was young and needed to grow up quickly.

There is also foreshadowing about Thayer not knowing how to be a girl dad (when he gets a puppy for Forrest) and this of course directly connects to the fact Salem had a baby girl.

''Turns out we're nothing but a memory gone up in flames, ashes scattered in the wind''

This is one of those books where I will reread again and again despite how much it hurts.

5 ⭐for the pain
5 ⭐for the angst
5 ⭐for the love

OM drama:
Calen is the main OM drama but technically Thayer is the OM for a while.

OW drama:
Thayer stumbles drunk out of his truck with a woman and Salem/Caleb see after she returns from her sister’s wedding. The woman leaves and Salem ends their relationship for good. (nothing happens and in book 2 we know that he just did it to push her away forever and never intended to be with the OW).