Reviews

The Necessity of Rain is transformative, transcendent and full of heart.
I thought that Sarah's wordsmithing in her previous books was unbelievable, but she has evolved and found a way to dagger a single word into our hearts. I am blown away by her characters, her worlds, her imagination. But more than anything I am staggered by her evocation of sorrow and love.
I can think of no other writer around who writes the way that Sarah does. The Necessity of Rain is a masterpiece of fiction and I will be shattered for days to come.

starrysteph's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

The Necessity of Rain is quietly, curiously beautiful.

We step into the minds of three characters in a world where the Divine are slowly becoming mortal - losing their Divinity after giving so much to Creation.

Isra is a butterfly woman who was ripped from her war-torn world by a brother who hoped to save her life and a ferrier who couldn’t leave her behind. She’s just arrived in Meadowsweet.

Belladonna is that ferrier - she traveled through Chaos and away from her controlling mother, but time moves differently outside of Meadowsweet, and when she returns with her young daughter she is surprised by how much things have changed … and how much they haven’t. She has sensory sensitivities.

Rosemary grew up in Meadowsweet, and is supporting both of her parents (one Divine and one mortal) as they age. We jump back and forth through time during her narration and witness her journey from poverty & fear to living with an abundance of love, both from parents and mentors and with Belladonna. Rosemary uses a cane as a child and sometimes a wheelchair as she ages, and she grapples with internalized ableism while finding shining acceptance from everyone else in her life.

All of these characters engage with mortality and question what it means to live on after death. There’s this thread of quiet strength – of living through the loss of a loved one, but also appreciating where you are without clinging to the past or future.

There’s also representation of love in all forms. Rosemary discovers beautiful parental love. And Belladonna ponders how to be the best mother to her daughter while stepping away from the toxicity and manipulativeness of her own home.

There is romantic polyamorous love between Rosemary, Belladonna, and Isra, but I didn’t quite buy this. I think the biggest issue here was that there were gaps in the narration – we are with Belladonna while Isra and Rosemary meet, and suddenly they adore each other. It’s unclear how that clicked into place, and while I was delighted that all three of them had each other, I wished we witnessed that development. The narrative voices were also a wee bit too similar.

The writing feels deeply, deeply authentic. This is a collection of internal journeys (not much at all actually happens), and each narrator was exquisitely vulnerable. The language was mostly lovely, but sometimes felt ornamental in a way that took away from the message. I think the prose shined in its moments of simplicity. I did absolutely adore the flower imagery and symbolism, though!

This is the slowest reading experience I’ve had in a long time, and I do feel as though the writing pushed me in that direction. I needed time to process each chapter and let my own emotions simmer. And this is also one of the longest stretches of time I’ve waited before writing and posting my review – I just had to sit with my own feelings about death, loss, and love.

It is profoundly devastating. You’ll cry. But it’s not a tragedy; there’s strength and hope and love and all the things that happen when every cell in your body changes and reshapes itself after loss.

CW: death of loved ones, anxiety, panic attacks, loss of home due to war/bombings, war, emotionally abusive parent, fantasy dementia, homophobia

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