Reviews

The Necessity of Rain by Sarah Chorn

fizzy_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

amk13's review against another edition

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

4.5

joshuawalkerauthor's review

5.0

This book was absolutely incredible. One of Sarah Chorn’s great talents is her ability to write emotions into her characters, and stitch these emotions intrinsically into the world that each one experiences. She does so expertly here, not only with our three main protagonists, but with other figures too, some of which only occupy a handful of pages, and yet every time they appear, they make an impact that stays with us. There is a lot to learn about the craft of writing here, as well as about ourselves. The character of Rosemary in particular really affected me on a personal level during this my time with the book, in ways I have never been affected before by any other character in any other book. Overall, a severely underrated piece of work that needs so many more eyes on it, and hearts in it.

hedgehognerd's review against another edition

I knew this book was going to be emotional and beautiful when reading the authors foreword. Sarah Chorn said “I have a locked room in my soul, a place where I keep moments in amber.” I just stopped and thought am I ready to read this. I’m so glad I did! The story is so evoking and lyrical. The use of imagery throughout creates a deep and meaningful read. The exploration of change, growth and grief transcends other books I have read to understand humanity and emotions. I believe the author poured her soul into this. I don’t feel I can rate it stars as it’s more than a goodreads rating of stars. I think everyone should read this book at some point in their life and revisit it when needed.

gay's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

kayshiddenshelf's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

 5/5 Stars 

Sarah Chorn captures emotional vulnerability, articulates it with beauty and treats it with dignity in this incredible story of loss, change and love. 

I’ll admit, I went into this blind and was my first-time reading Sarah Chorn’s books. What compelled me to read this The Necessity of Rain was all the feedback I had heard from the ARC readers. It was described as a book that made readers cry, hit them with such emotional impact and that was it, I knew I needed to read this. 

I was surprised to find that the Authors Note at the beginning had me choking up, setting the stage for the kind of experience I was in for. 

Let’s start with the story, it follows three POVs; Isra a survivor of Dawnland and displaced from her home and family. Rosemary, suffering from physical disability and chronic pain, she only wishes for her mother’s well-being and Belladonna returned from Dawnland to confront the past the ran away from. 

Seeing these three separate stories come together was emotional evoking. There were several moments I found myself reflecting on my own past or helped give me new perspective. This is the kind of read that will allow readers moments of retrospection, and for those who have never encountered the heart aches within the story, will still find the beauty and perhaps a better understanding of others throughout the scenes. 

In addition, the character work along with their arcs are thoughtfully done. From the circumstances the characters go through to their reactions, it was easy to see how much care and planning went into every moment. 

Now I will say, as the story explores characters in their darkest times it can be emotionally taxing. However, it was incredibly rewarding to read. Despite the heavy parts breaking my heart as I read, the story was masterfully expressed and quickly knit my heart back together again. This left me with a full heart by the time I was done reading and I will never forget that feeling. 

In terms of the prose, it’s poetic yet accessible. While the themes are often complex, Sarah Chorn expresses them with simplicity, showing her skill with writing and storytelling. 

So, the story was beautiful, the characters were well developed but what about the world? 

Simply put, it was stunning. The world is immersive and feels like something built out of a fairytale. Gods and their divine creations fill every inch of the world with creativity and magic, while also weaving in powerful messages about the costs of their power and mortality. I often found myself immersed in the world and it’s one that I’ve come to miss since finishing the book. 

With that being said, I think it’s important to mention that I nearly DNF’d the book at 80% and it’s not what you think. I simply reached a point that was triggering for me. I can’t say exactly what since it would be a spoiler, but I will say it’s written in a way that’s meant to be a beautiful development in the story line. However, due to my own past experiences it triggered a negative memory and made it hard to continue. 

After a bit of thought, I decided to finish the book. There had been incredible moments and compelling writing up to that point, that it outweighed the negativity I felt with this one development.  
 
 The reason I think it’s important to mention this is due to the various topics that are covered within this story that may be sensitive areas for readers. It can be a difficult read as Sarah Chorn goes right for the aches in your heart but in the most compassionate way I’ve seen in writing. 

So, was it worth it to finish the book? Absolutely! 

Every aspect of this book was beautiful, with impressive worldbuilding and storytelling. Despite the development that hit negatively for me, I still think back on this book fondly and would love to return to it some day. 
 
 I’d highly recommend this for readers looking for a fairytale fantasy filled with emotionally driven storytelling. 

 

kitvaria_sarene's review against another edition

4.0

I've wanted to read a Sarah Chorn book for ages, and I finally got around to it.

The Necessity of Rain is a small story, with very big emotions. It reminded me a bit of Rothfuss' Slow Regard of Silent Things, as there is little actual plot, but wonderful prose.

This book is all about the characters, their grief, their growth and their hopes. I loved how divers the cast was, from amazing disability representation,over LGBT inclusion, to neurodivers patterns. I also loved the depiction of gods which made them both more human and more estranged than I'm used to.

There are three main characters, each going through their own growing pains while finding themselves.

I don't know if you ever saw the meme, but this book reminded me a lot of this:
"People talk about caterpillars becoming butterflies as though they just go into a cocoon, slap on wings, and are good to go. Caterpillars have to dissolve into a disgusting pile of goo to become butterflies. So if you’re a mess wrapped up in blankets right now, keep going.”

This is how it feels with these characters. It's messy, it's hard, it's painful, but ultimately it's hopeful.

My only problem was the three voices being a bit too similar, so I had trouble keeping them apart at times. As my eyes are bad I used text to speech, which means I didn't "see" the character names and time frames, as they are set within beautiful chapter art, which the TTS can't pick up on. The time lines were pretty easy to follow anyway, but I didn't always know exactly who was on the page, which I usually pick up on easily just by voice and behaviour. 
I also didn't really get a complete feel for the world, which has butterfly and plant people as well as normal humans. I had a bit of a problem connecting these in my mind. As it's much more about the emotions and insides, this didn't really hamper my enjoyment of the story.

Overall this was a great and emotional read that doesn't why away from the big feelings, and allows the focus to fully fall on the humanity of the characters, and their evolving.