Book Birthday Review: A Flood of Posies by Tiffany Meuret

5/5 Stars 255 pages
Published February 9th 2021 by Black Spot Books

I have to say before anything else, that this book was so intricate and amazing, and I really didn’t expect it. I definitely thought it would be a good one, a wild ride, but I really just didn’t know what exactly I was getting myself into when I started it. And I’m so thankful I got the chance to read it. This haunting book is something I feel like I will think about for a solid amount of time now that I’ve finished it. It’s horrific and fantastic, but in none of the usual ways. And I’ll explain why.

Following a pair of sisters in 2025 and also in 2026, one ten years older named Doris, and Thea, who jokingly says she was almost named the accident. Their lives are drastically different. Both traumatized by their abusive mother, someone who was obsessed with the image that she presented to the people around her, but not really caring what it took to get to that perfect image, including violence against the two. This lead them to live completely different lives, Doris living with her husband and suffering for her independence after a debilitating car accident, and Thea, an addict living anywhere she can. Everything changes however, when the flood comes. And with it brings the Posies.

Photo by Kristina Nor on Pexels.com

The story rotates between two chapters of before, and two after the flood. It shows both sisters lives, and through these chapters we really get to know each character very intimately and deeply. Easily these two and their mother could be very real people, and there’s no problem believing that. Mixed into that is this fantastically scary world filled with water and death and basically just Thea, or better known as Sestra after the flood, doing what she has to, to survive. This book does an amazing job of describing exactly what it would be like to have to live in the middle of an ocean with no land in sight, and especially no food or water. Starving and dying of thirst, Sestra finds herself on a boat with a man she doesn’t know named Rob, as the two struggle to survive. That’s just the beginning though. Because the Posies are always underneath the surface, just waiting for something to come by. Massive octopus like creatures, they can easily take boats down and crush whatever they can grab a hold of with their tentacles.

Photo by Maria Orlova on Pexels.com

I had a really good time reading this book. As horrific as some of the chapters were, and they really made me scared for them sometimes, I think it did it’s job, and it did it well. This is what I want from a book like this. And I can guarantee that it’ll be something you’re thinking about for a long time after you’ve set it back on your shelf. I think it’s even something I could read again and again, and I very rarely say that. I’d love to have a copy for my own shelf. The breathtaking cover reveals little about what is actually inside the book, and I just really love everything about it. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

If you’d like to grab a copy, you can do so here through my Amazon Associates link.

And if you’d like to keep up with the author, you can here on Twitter!

Thanks for reading! Hope you’re doing well and staying safe.

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.ca and affiliated sites.

Sleepless (Bird of Stone #1) by Tracey Ward Review

5/5 Stars 373 Pages
Published August 12th 2013

After a long break from reading and a depression spell, an amazing book like this was just what I needed. What seems like any other ordinary story of a girl and a boy is actually something beautiful and addicting. Dreams becoming reality, lives being torn apart and rebuilt, and at it’s heart, a story of love and two people finding each other no matter what. And it’s everything I could ever want it to be.

The story follows two people, a girl named Alexia with a sleeping disorder that causes her to slip, or basically teleport herself to wherever she’s dreaming about. After losing her parents, they didn’t die they just decided that they didn’t want her to be apart of their lives at just sixteen, she lives with her older sister who’s deathly worried about her when she wakes up some days to find her missing. Sometimes she’s only gone a night, but sometimes she’s gone for a week, stuck in some frightening city that she’s not familiar with, or even stuck out in the wilderness with nothing but what she’s worn to bed. Good thing she started strapping her phone and some cash to her leg.

Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Pexels.com

The other character is a boy named Nick, who’s come from a military family, and who’s not very close to his mother after deciding he wants to be apart of a very prestigious and important branch of the military, one that saves people and risks their own lives in the process. He’s going through the training for most of the story, but there’s also something different about him. He’s not able to feel fear. The only thing he’s really truly scared of is a nightmare that he has often, one that Alexia also has.

The two find themselves intertwined one day when Alex and her sister are in Florida for a mini vacation, and out of nowhere Nick pops up, clearly drowning from something, but he’s just appeared out of thin air. After that event, they begin to meet in their dreams more often than not, and start to bond. But everything goes even deeper when Alexia tries to dig deep into why she is the way she is, and it’s unlike anything the two could have ever expected.

Photo by James Wheeler on Pexels.com

This story is amazing and exciting and heartfelt. I really couldn’t get enough of it. It’s books like these that really make me want to read 24/7, and after finding out that this is actually a series, I can’t wait until I can get my hands on the next book. The characters are so lifelike despite their obvious differences from our real world, that you could almost believe that they’re real people. The story was gripping and everything I could have hoped for, and more. If you’re looking for something to pull you out of your normal book rut, then I highly recommend checking this out if you get the chance.

If you’d like to grab a copy, you can here, through my Amazon Associates link.

And if you’d like to keep up with the author, you can do so here on Twitter!

Thanks for reading! I hope you’re having a great day.

Seeds of Foreverland (Foreverland 0.5) by Tony Bertauski Review

Tony Bertauski is an author I used to enjoy. He kind of got lost in a sea of other books, but I’m glad that after all these years, I still enjoy his stories, and his writing. Seeds of Foreverland is short prequel novella, but gives a really good insight to who Harold is and where the whole Foreverland thing came from. It’s something that sucks you in and keeps you at the edge of your seat the whole time. If you’re interested in the world that is the first book, or if you are looking to start this series, then this is what you need to check out.

 

5/5 Stars 77 pages
Published October 10th 2015 by DeadPixel Publications

Harold is in grade six. He catches bugs, and puts them in plastic bags. Then he pins them down and plucks them apart with tweezers. He dreams of escaping his sad, angry life. See, he comes from a broken home. Diagnosed with an early case of Alzheimer’s, his mother stays in the basement most of the time with his father doing some kind of experimental treatment. Harold spends most of his time alone, or being bullied at school. But everything will change once he actually goes into the basement that has been just out of his reach for so long.

 

I’ll have to admit, I was a little worried when I started this. Because it had been so long since I read The Annihilation of Foreverland, I was scared that maybe it was something that I once liked but that it wouldn’t live up to my memories of it. All of those worries were swept away once I started reading this. Easy to read, and easy to fall into, this book packed a real punch even though it is very short. I read it in under two hours, with breaks, and I’m glad I could just slide right back into the author’s work. That gives me hope for his other stories, that I’ll like them just as much as I did these. Though I can’t remember what happened in the first book after this, I’m starting to wonder if I should re read it just because. Overall, I think if you want to read something creepy and a little off putting in the best possible way, then this is what you should read next.

 

The book is available here, if you’d like to grab a copy.

Here’s a link to the author’s Twitter, if you’d like to keep up with them.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think below.

Hope you have a good day!

Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu, Sana Takeda, Rus Wooton, Yoshi Yoshitani, & Jennifer M. Smith Review

Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu, Sana Takeda, Rus Wooton, Yoshi Yoshitani, & Jennifer M. Smith 5/5 Stars 235 pages
Published July 19th 2016 by Image Comics

I’m going to be honest here, I probably wouldn’t have got this if the guy at the comic store wouldn’t have recommended it to me. It’s not that it isn’t something I love, which is really is, or that I don’t like it at first glance, I do, it’s just that if it wasn’t brought to my attention, I would have picked something I know. That being said, I would say that this is one of my new favourite graphic novels.

 

Following a young woman named Maika, it begins with her chained up, getting ready to be auctioned off. She’s an Archanic, someone born with magic and the result of cross species breeding, like so many others, but unlike the rest of them, she’s fully human in appearance. Witches and Humans both are very aggressive towards her people in general, mostly keeping them as slaves if they don’t kill them and eat them. They say she’s deformed because of her missing arm, but she’s anything even close to that. A woman refuses to let the auction continue, saying that they must donate the girl and three others to their order instead. Little do they know what’s in store for them.

 

So much was destroyed in the recent war that ended, including Maika’s arm. But so many of the cities were able to rebuilt like nothing happened. The group is then imprisoned and mutilated by the woman who seemingly saves them from the auction. Maika isn’t going to let the children die, however, and escapes and kills most of the people in there. She doesn’t feel bad, and neither do the people working there, because they don’t see the Archanic’s as people, even though they really are.

 

This is an amazing and bloody story, one that I couldn’t stop reading until I was finished. I was able to read it in almost one sitting, if that says anything about the story. I just didn’t want to stop. The story goes so much deeper than I can describe here without spoiling anything, and I really hope that you check this out. If you love bloody books with intricate stories about really unique topics, you’re going to love this.

 

Here is where you can get the book, and here are links to the creator’s Twitter accounts, if you’d like to keep up with them.

https://twitter.com/marjoriemliu

https://twitter.com/ruswooton

https://twitter.com/yoshisquared

https://twitter.com/jenmargretsmith

 

Thanks for reading!