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skycrane's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't quite enjoy this book as much as the other Alpennia novels, but it was still a very good read. The author uses a much different tone and narrative style, and I think it's generally effective at putting the reader into the mind of this particular young woman. The main strength of the book is its exploration of a side of the world hinted at in the author's previous novels, but not shown directly. Instead of dealing with the nobility and bourgeois, now we're seeing life through the eyes of the lower classes. There's still a good mix of magic, romance, and social drama.
druv's review against another edition
4.0
Floodtide takes place in Heather Rose Jones' Alpennia universe, an early 19th century alt-Europe. It's one of my favorite series and it focuses on women exploring miracles, mysteries, and alchemy, as well as their romances with other women. I can recommend the entire series, and this book, without any reservations!
Floodtide switches the perspective quite a bit, focusing on a young maid who does not have the privilege or connections previous main characters have had or ended up with. She has to fight for everything she gets and has no safety net for what she's doing, raising the stakes for the challenges she faces. Those challenges are also less immediately esoteric, focusing more on the challenges of everyday people on the "wrong side of the tracks", or river, as it were.
This is a worthy sequel which I plowed through in a day (sadly, I want more time in this universe :'( ). Buy it!
Floodtide switches the perspective quite a bit, focusing on a young maid who does not have the privilege or connections previous main characters have had or ended up with. She has to fight for everything she gets and has no safety net for what she's doing, raising the stakes for the challenges she faces. Those challenges are also less immediately esoteric, focusing more on the challenges of everyday people on the "wrong side of the tracks", or river, as it were.
This is a worthy sequel which I plowed through in a day (sadly, I want more time in this universe :'( ). Buy it!
emmy_award's review
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
pandon's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a stand alone in the Alpennia series. It was told from the point of view of a 16/17 year old. I really enjoyed it especially the beginning with the harsh realities of the time hitting you in the face. The growth of the main character, Roz, was nice to see. The ending was nicely done with a bit of suspense. I would have liked to have seen Iuliens response to Rozs decision.
8amtrain's review against another edition
5.0
heather rose jones is DOING IT – working class lesbians, women intellectuals in middle europe, fully fleshed out jewish and black characters on top of what's already a spectacular bit of just-realistic-enough fantasy worldbuilding... in contrast to the previous alpennia books, which focus largely on romances between older women, floodtide is told first person from the pov of a teenage girl named roz who works in the saveze household with her own little crew of younger friends – particularly celeste if you remember her! background characters and relationships make appearances that are super rewarding for readers of the previous books, but i think this book could very effectively be read as an intro to the series as well (as jones meant for it to be). it's testament to jones' incredible versatility in jumping from the regency romance register of daughter of mystery to the domestic fiction-esque mother of souls to what is really a delightful romp of a bildungsroman.
also it features an epidemic plot where roz, celeste, and their teenage friends struggle to stop the spread of river fever in the poorer quarters of rotenek. as if this book did not ALREADY hit all the right notes for me!!!!! i'm spoiled by heather rose jones.
also it features an epidemic plot where roz, celeste, and their teenage friends struggle to stop the spread of river fever in the poorer quarters of rotenek. as if this book did not ALREADY hit all the right notes for me!!!!! i'm spoiled by heather rose jones.
thesincoucher's review
adventurous
hopeful
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
5.0
This was a fantastic slow-paced read about a servant in a magical setting. I'd described as the cosy fantasy as much of it is about Roz working, falling in love and making new friends but it does have a plague and homophobia that Roz experiences directly. I love fantasy that focus on the working class and/or poor people as it feels like something that could happen to my family? That is to say, it's more relatable than reading about nobles and billionaires while also being very escapist because it is fantasy and there is magic.
I loved the worldbuilding and the writing and I'm for sure going to check out the other ones in the series.
I loved the worldbuilding and the writing and I'm for sure going to check out the other ones in the series.
kjcharles's review
A fascinating look into the world of Alpennia (a sort of alt-mittelEurope with magic) from the perspective of a servant. And it really is that perspective, with a *lot* of washing and mending and very little free time. It's fascinating both in the detail and in seeing the events of the first books from such a different point of view--trivial things become important and vice versa.
Roz starts off in a very bad place--thrown out on the streets because she's caught with another female servant--and the focus is at first very much on her struggle to survive and not cause any problems or upset anyone. She doesn't have much in the way of social graces (and we can see how that is both her and an upbringing that didn't put any particular stock on such things, unlike the ladies she serves) and her narration is quite...I'm reaching for 'affectless' here though that's not quite right. She doesn't always have the words or the experience to say what she passionately feels, which is really interesting in a first person narration.
The story starts with her personal travails and slowly moves to focus on the floodtide and its consequences--river fever that devastates the poorer parts of the city. The class aspects here are inescapable, and our earlier upper class heroines of the series don't come out with entirely clean hands in their ignorance of the lives of the poor--which is very much plausible. The building tension of the sections waiting for the flood is goosebumpy, absolutely immersive. Alpennia is one of those fantasy places like Astreiant that is so real and vivid you feel like you've been there yourself and just forgot.
Not a romance but features Roz's love life and ends on a very hopeful note, plus there is a lovely secondary trans m/f romance.
I love this series--the domestic detail, the focus on the female, and the heroism of small details. Marvellous.
Roz starts off in a very bad place--thrown out on the streets because she's caught with another female servant--and the focus is at first very much on her struggle to survive and not cause any problems or upset anyone. She doesn't have much in the way of social graces (and we can see how that is both her and an upbringing that didn't put any particular stock on such things, unlike the ladies she serves) and her narration is quite...I'm reaching for 'affectless' here though that's not quite right. She doesn't always have the words or the experience to say what she passionately feels, which is really interesting in a first person narration.
The story starts with her personal travails and slowly moves to focus on the floodtide and its consequences--river fever that devastates the poorer parts of the city. The class aspects here are inescapable, and our earlier upper class heroines of the series don't come out with entirely clean hands in their ignorance of the lives of the poor--which is very much plausible. The building tension of the sections waiting for the flood is goosebumpy, absolutely immersive. Alpennia is one of those fantasy places like Astreiant that is so real and vivid you feel like you've been there yourself and just forgot.
Not a romance but features Roz's love life and ends on a very hopeful note, plus there is a lovely secondary trans m/f romance.
I love this series--the domestic detail, the focus on the female, and the heroism of small details. Marvellous.
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