This isn't a novel that I would necessarily be drawn to but I am sure glad that I took a chance. This book focuses on grief, Paula loses her long-term boyfriend hours after he tells her he is leaving her for another woman. This was translated beautifully, and the plot ran so smoothly. Just really enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

A fabulous premise (woman loses boyfriend in a car crash, after he tells her he is leaving her for someone else) is completely lost in a poorly written novel that is extremely difficult to follow.

Paula the mesmerizing character in this book is dumped by her longtime boyfriend.Dealing with the shock of his leaving she finds out he has been killed in an accident and to add to her pain she finds out he was having an affair and the woman is pregnant.Paulas grief her emotions take us the readers through her pain& yes at times there are moments that will make you laugh.So well written so creative a book I highly recommend drew me in from first to last page.#netgalley #pushkinbooks

4.5 Stars
This book was not easy to read. It dealt with difficult topics, such as grief, betrayal and depression. It made me sad and cry from time to time.

However, I simply couldn't put it down. The way Marta Orriols describes Paula's pain and her surrender to deep depression was so deeply raw, but at the same time, moving and so poetic. It was hard for me to not to think that I was reading a poetry book.
I couldn't help but relate to Paula's character, her struggles were real to me and it really saddened me to see how easy it is for a person in her situation, to give up everything and allow the madness to take over, in order to ease the pain and scape the horrible reality that is still around.

There was a sentence here that although I don't know if it's popular in this language or not, since English is not my mother tongue, made so much sense and really touched me, which was, "You can't build a house starting with the roof." For me this saying was the most wonderful way to start a healing process in this story.

This is dealing with painful things in the most beautiful way ever. Can't wait for it to be published, because this one is for cherishing.

Learning to Talk to Plants was a realistic portray of someone in mourning. I was expecting something more dramatic based on the plot line that Paula was dumped hours before her boyfriend got into an accident and sadly passed way. But there was no drama, no extreme highs and lows; just a slow burn of someone grieving for her lost, which felt more authentic and real.

3.5 stars.

I asked for a copy of Learning to Talk to Plants because I'd just wrapped up a short story where a woman's houseplant talks to her and was influenced by that headspace. The synopsis itself sounded interesting, and I wasn't disappointed. What stands out about this novel is the way Orriols captures how we move through grief and continue to grow even after one point in our lives has ended. I found Paula well-crafted in how her wants fluctuated from moment to moment, reminding me that we're fickle creatures and, even when grounded in logic, often ruled by emotion. I don't have any real points of criticism to go with the rating; instead, this was simply a story I sometimes found it difficult to stay engaged in due to what was going on in my personal life, and I currently can't see myself reading it again.

There were no actual talking plants, which was a bit of a bummer.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

4.5
This short novel really won me over. Reminded me of Sigrid Nunez’s The Friend in so many ways but easier to read. This is the story of a woman named Paula whose longtime boyfriend/common law husband told her he was leaving her for another woman...and then he got hit by a car hours later and died. The novel is basically Paula working through this complicated grief. Translated from Catalan.

Genre: Literary Fiction | General Fiction

Release Date: Expected 15th June 2021

Translated from Catalan



On the worst day of Paulas life, she lost Mauro twice. First when he announced he was leaving her for another woman, and then all over again just a few hours later when a tragic car accident takes his life. Not knowing how to even begin to deal with this all, she continues as though their life is normal - going to her job as a paediatrician, seeing her family, continuing their life without him in it. But most of all, obsessing over the life was torn from her and the woman who he fell in love with.

But slowly, in the home they'd built together, Mauros food is rotting in the fridge and all of his plants are slowly dying but as they do, Paula tries to learn how to live.



"Dying isn't mystical, Dying is physical, it's logical, it's real."



This story was devastating and moving, but with glimmers of laughter-inducing happiness when we can find the humour in the dark and depressing. It made us ask the impossible questions - can Paula seperate the anger she feels towards Mauro and her anguish at losing him? Can she still be angry at him now that he's dead? And how can she feel all these things at once?

A true-to-life, brutally honest account about the real complexities of grief and loss, and our individual journey back from it. Paula was a wonderful narrator, the prose was unique and almost poetic - it jumped and twisted like we were stuck inside her mind and her thoughts were steadily spiralling out of control.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Marta Orriols, Pushkin Press and Netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

It tells the story of a woman constantly dealing with life and death - she works with premature babies and is grieving the death of her boyfriend, who died mere hours after breaking up with her. Its beautifully written, and really shows the complexity of grief. I absolutely loved this!

Book Review for Learning to Talk to Plants
Full review for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!

Marta Orriols has such an impressive and alluring way with sentences. I was drawn in to this novel very quickly. Her ability to evoke an image and create a world is wonderful. You can almost imagine the uncomfortable stickyness of the table cover she's describing or the wilting plants her protagonist is living with.

A reflective, emotionally honest story that is told with such precision for atmosphere building. I highly recommend this novel.

After reading the first paragraph of 'Learning to Talk to Plants', I knew I was at home. That this book will delight me, that I will keep coming back to it, that I will pause and soak up these beautiful and reflective sentences. When I think about literature that touches certain strings in me, it is usually intimate, personal, reflective prose, devoid of fast-paced action, but full of emotions, yet not laid out, but deeply hidden, which the characters reveal under the influence of certain events, thoughts, observations.

I like when authors allow their characters to develop in front of our eyes, get to know themselves, come to certain conclusions, externalize and err in discovering their feelings, emotions, analyzing their experiences and feelings. In 'Learning to Talk to Plants' we enter the head of Paula, a 42-year-old neonatologist who experiences a double loss. Well, her longtime partner dies in an accident. The same partner who announces at their last meeting that he is leaving her to live with another woman. Therefore, we accompany Paula in analyzing what happened, but also what had happened before. Paula tries to get through Maur's death and rejection. She tries to answer questions that she hasn't had time to ask him. Find answers to questions that she did not have time to pin down herself. He has to deal with anger that mixes with mourning. Cope with the thoughts and reflections that relate to their relationship, routine, and everyday life. Mauro becomes the recipient of her words, conversations in her head.

This is unique, but not easy prose, because it's best to read it slowly, sparingly, feeding on each sentence. I liked the first half of it much more, I liked the fragments about Paula's new acquaintance less. I like unhurried narratives. Although plot is not rich, a lot is happening in the reflective and verbal layer.

I highly recommend!