A review by ashra
City of Flowers by Mary Hoffman

5.0

Spoiler

He was going to get a family at last - not the kind of brothers he had once imagined and neither the Father or Mother were where he could see them. But it was enough. "I'm ready," he said (420). AUUUGGGGGG

I don't know I really like Sky but I feel like the true protagonist is Sandro. That boy he KILLS me i adore him. Him being so alone and so lonely and and and finding a family FINALLY i can't.
I can't believe they made a dog a friar. and his name is Brother Dog. do you really need any other reason to read this book

man I have so many feelings. there is no other rating for me. 5 billion stars. the buildup the brides the stakes slowly rising against Arianna the NEW STRAVAGANTI I can't get enough of Giuditta the coolest sculptor ever and Sulien the DAD ever ... the explosive first part of the climax where everything comes together but you know something is off, you can sense that things are not truly settling down... the ENDING. oh man oh man oh man oh man.

Spoiler

Forgive me, Father ... Bless you, my Son... i can't take ittttt

Niccolo is such a good villain I'm so afraid of him but he's so disturbingly sympathetic. man and sweet Falco back at it again ...

This is one of those series that grows more and more expansive as it goes on until we finally hit this intense and powerful and churning climax where three books worth of lore comes to a violent head. Niccolo's comeuppance...

Spoiler

And then all of a sudden [Enrico] knew exactly what had happened to his fiancée... (456) hoooo

And Luciano and Arianna's missing of each other until they FINALLY are able to find the space to be vulnerable together again like they used to be when they didn't have the responsibilities they now shoulder. (wails) Due to the scope of the series, it would be difficult to simultaneously have a very involved new protagonist - since the stakes between Falco/Georgia and Luciano/Arianna vs the di Chimici and the rest of the family have already been so expertly built up from books 1 & 2 - but Sky's just a sweet guy doing his best and I think he's a solid, if less involved, lens to view this new world through. And I have to say it again. I love Sandro and Sulien.

and the ending....

Spoiler

"It will be bliss," he said, smiling. "Just think, we never had the chance to live together as man and wife and we have been together more than twenty years and have a grown-up daughter."
"Don't," said Silvia. "You'll make me feel old."
"You are as beautiful now as when I first met you," said Rodolfo, tightening his hold on her. "And this time all the world will know that we are married and nothing shall ever separate us again" (471).

i would do anything for rodolfo and silvia. anything.

Masterful ending to a high-stakes, complex, and mesmerizingly character-driven series. One of my favorites form my childhood and ... for good reason!! go off stravaganza!
From what I remember, the 2nd series wasn't nearly as integral, so here is the true ending to this phenomenal trilogy <3