Cherry Blossom Dreams by Gwyneth Rees is a book about a girl named Sasha and she is nearly thirteen. She and her twin brother Sean have a secret place that only they go. It is called Blossom House. Their mother is trying to sell it so they have to keep their visits a secret. In this book follow Sasha’s perspective on her life as she deals with her mother’s secret boyfriend (her English teacher Mr Anderson), her secret crush on her best friend’s brother Raffy and many other dilemmas. But as Sasha and her brother trek further into the history of Blossom House, they discover something unimaginable. How will they juggle their own problems and keep Blossom House a secret? Read the book to find out…
I liked the book because it gives you an idea about how sometimes some secrets are better left alone. It is fun because you feel like you can guess about the problems and secrets of Blossom House even though you haven’t read the book before. There are no illustrations throughout the book so you have to use your imagination. I liked imagining the vast corridors and wide rooms with high ceilings with old-fashioned objects like a record player and a grand piano. That was how I imagined Blossom House. Old-fashioned with beautiful cherry blossom trees outside the window. As you read on through the book it sometimes describes more about it so you have to add more to the image. It makes you wonder what it must have been like to live in such a beautiful place (or to sneak around there!).
The characters are funny and I liked all the different storylines of each one woven throughout the book. I enjoyed it because it is filled with suspense and drama; it serves as a warning about how keeping secrets doesn’t always end well.
The book is great for if you want to use your imagination. Personally I am quite an imaginative person so Blossom House was easy to picture. However, if you are the sort of person that doesn’t want to use your imagination then this might not be the book for you. The length of the chapters helped the book pass fluently and when I finished the book I felt like I had completed the challenge of imagining the whole scene of Blossom House. I would rate this book a 4 star because it would have been nice to have some pictures.
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