Scan barcode
A review by servemethesky
The Valley and the Flood by Rebecca Mahoney
5.0
I absolutely loved this strange and beautiful book. I'm so grateful that I've been bopping around libraries and just checking out whatever catches my eye. Normally I curate my TBR very strategically, and deviating to things that compel me on a library visit has brought me some amazing surprises.
This book is all about grief and memory, filled with fantastical creatures and magical realism-ish elements (I don't know what to call the weirdness in this novel). I loved the depiction of the protagonist's PTSD and her interactions with her therapist. The mystery element was great as it propelled me to keep thinking hard as I moved through the novel. I kept thinking I had figured out Rose's past, what happened with Nick 2 years ago, what happened to Gaby a year ago, but I never had it quite right.
The friendships she forms in Lotus Valley are lovely. I shipped Felix and Alex so hard!! The way Rose reasons with the Flood at the end is perfect and so moving. Having bad things happen to us does not make us bad too. It doesn't change the core of who we are, necessarily. We don't have to carry other people's pain. We can set it down, let it go.
Love. This. Book. An intense but beautiful ride!
This book is all about grief and memory, filled with fantastical creatures and magical realism-ish elements (I don't know what to call the weirdness in this novel). I loved the depiction of the protagonist's PTSD and her interactions with her therapist. The mystery element was great as it propelled me to keep thinking hard as I moved through the novel. I kept thinking I had figured out Rose's past, what happened with Nick 2 years ago, what happened to Gaby a year ago, but I never had it quite right.
The friendships she forms in Lotus Valley are lovely. I shipped Felix and Alex so hard!! The way Rose reasons with the Flood at the end is perfect and so moving. Having bad things happen to us does not make us bad too. It doesn't change the core of who we are, necessarily. We don't have to carry other people's pain. We can set it down, let it go.
Love. This. Book. An intense but beautiful ride!