The Houseplant Review

Review

An e-copy of the book has been provided by the author, Jeremy Ray, in exchange for an honest review.

“I dedicate this short story to the plant I left behind, and my own fern, Benjie.”

First of all, can we just appreciate how adorably unique this dedication is? Never in my life have I encountered this kind of dedication and I feel so happy and warm reading it over again.

‘The Houseplant’ is a story of, you guessed it right, a house plant. It follows George (the houseplant) and Brenda (the plant’s owner) as their relationship blossoms and their friendship aids them both into a beautiful self-development. I love how it started from an actual scratch—Brenda having little to no clue about how to properly take care of a plant and George being in-love with his current state of seclusion that he disliked the thought of being taken away.

One thing is for sure about this book and that is its extraordinary perspective. A third-person perspective that is narrated by a plant! The peculiarity of it doesn’t just end with that; it also includes the impressive input of a plant’s capacity for communication.

The story is beautifully rendered with an underlying theme of the concept of judgement and how getting to know someone better can change our vantage point. Moreover, I am mesmerized with the subtlety of descriptions. It gave you enough to know the characters, but it didn’t gave away everything which provided an angle for the reader to visualize and give the story a slightly singular experience.

Overall, I find this book highly enjoyable. It is unlike any other book I’ve read and I definitely savored every moment I had reading it, It provided a whole new prospect—allowing our mind the inquisition of what might plants feel and think. Absolutely curious, brilliant, and entertaining, ‘The Houseplant’ is a fun short story that I’d definitely recommend my friends to read.

About the Author

Jeremy Ray graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a MFA in Dramatic Writing. He is the recipient of the Max K. Lerner Playwriting Fellowship for his play Boiling Point and the Shubert Playwriting Fellowship for his play Sisters of Transformation. His work has been performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and his screenplays have placed in the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards Competition, The Academy Nicholl Fellowship, and the ScreenCraft Drama Contest.

However, he is most fond of prose. He spends his free time devouring books like the bookworm he is.