Reviews with content warning for Eating disorder - Waiting for the Flood

Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall

7 reviews

galleytrot's review against another edition

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

4.25

READ: Mar 2024

FORMAT: Audio

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 4 / 5⭐

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 4.5 / 5⭐

FINAL – OVERALL: 4.25 / 5⭐

In this book, Edwin's home and neighbourhood are threatened by a high flood risk for the first time since moving in, and it's up to him to prepare for the inevitable as best he can. One of the engineers assisting with flood prevention and management takes a shine to the lonely and quiet homeowner, gifting him with special attention and pulling him out of his shell, but the memory of his ex's abandonment weighs heavy on Edwin inside of his house of dreams and expectations. Said ex also gets his own story now, in the second half of this book.

It's been a hot minute since my first time reading this book, and I'd hoped with the re-release that a heavily increased page count meant more might’ve been added to this rather short (but extremely sweet) story. Alas, it's been left the same as before, and the majority of the new content is about Marius with a couple peeks back over at what Edwin and Adam have been up to afterwards. I never exactly wanted Marius' story, nor did I think I would like it very much based off what little we were fed about him through the Spires series. Chasing the Light ultimately never softened me to him, but I'm glad to have read it, all the same.

Waiting for the Flood is like poetry, the way all of the Spires books come across. They're all so beautifully written in this ethereal way that makes them so easy to just soak in and feel, with characters given extensive personalities and histories and quirks of character and interests not commonly found in your other average romance characters. It always shocks me when I am reminded that these are some of Hall's earliest works, because they're all on a level I could never hope to aspire to on my own. The tone of Chasing the Light, on the other hand, takes a hard turn away from that artistic beauty in a way that hits very close to home, having once been a productive artist who has since hit a wall and hasn't created a thing in far too many years. I'm irritated by how effective that tonal shift is, and it’s extremely effective for demonstrating Marius’ fall away from creation.

This book has representation for gays and bisexuals. There is otherwise little else in the way of diversity.

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.

This book contains:

past parent death (heart attack); past addiction (unspecified); injury (severe sprain); blood; and, heavily implied eating disorder.

Content Warnings

jencolumb0's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Chasing the Light is a beautiful counterbalance to Waiting for the Flood (even if Marius is next to feral with self-loathing) and it is lovely to check in on Edwin and Adam. Alexis Hall’s ability to seamlessly expand, with such care and color (and exploration of challenging parents) the world of Edwin and Marius is impressive. Definitely worth picking up the newest edition of the book, even if Edwin’s not a stranger.

Content Warnings

adrienanthony's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-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 is the 6th book by Alexis Hall I’ve finished and I’ve gotta say I love his work.
This book made me cry, frustrated me, and made me deeply sympathize and fall in love with several of the characters.
I thought that the specific perspective of what happens after a long term relationship ends and how that can still affect someone to be a very fresh and interesting concept and it 100% delivered several times over.
I did get the version with the bonus content at the back and for ease of access if you’re going to do that I recommend a paper copy so you can easily flip through the book back and forth.
If you don’t want to do that then I would recommend the ebook and bookmarking basically every page with a star on it to look back at later. I would not recommend the audiobook if you are interested in the annotation section of the bonus content.

Content Warnings

bookforestsprite's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved Edwin's parts of the story so much! They were so poetic and sweet, and yet peppered with a bit of mischief and whimsy, it was a delight!

Content Warnings

fromundertheashtree's review

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relaxing sad tense fast-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

Content Warnings

emrosenq's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5

Spice .5🌶️/5

This book was really sweet, and I loved getting to watch people find love after being hurt. There was a lot about what it means to be vulnerable and how that affects your ability to make connection. It was also incredibly creative to see both Edwin’s and Marius’s story. It’s not exactly an all happy, everything works out perfect romance, so if you’re looking for that, this ain’t it.

Five Emojis to Describe this Book: ☔️🌈⛵️👷‍♂️*insert purple cowboy boot emoji*

Content Warnings

sarrie's review against another edition

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emotional funny relaxing sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

TL;DR: I really enjoyed the first novella in this collection but the second one didn’t connect for me in a great way.

Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall is the Spires short story collection that comes after the first book, Glitterland. This collection follows Edwin and Marius in their respective stories. Edwin is pretty much a shut in after his messy divorce from Marius and he finds love in a gentleman who comes to assist when a flood threatens the neighborhood. In Marius’s story we find him hurt and stranded next to a row of boats. A lovely man rescues him and a relationship develops.

I really enjoyed Edwin, though at times I found him a bit too pretentious. Marius’s story is what actually destroyed this for me, and that’s entirely on me. Marius is very hard edged, sarcastic, unlikable, and takes it out on everyone and himself via an eating disorder (not named, but plainly visible on page). That was a little too close to home for me so I connected in a bad way to that.

These stories were fun, I’m not sure how or where they’ll plug into the main story overall but I enjoyed them (mostly). I do recommend if you’re following the story and enjoy Alexis’ style and unlikeable leads.

Content Warnings

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