This is a truly unique story and an incredible debut. Perfect for readers who enjoy the mysterious and bizzare style of the Welcome to Nightvale podcast.

To be transparent upfront - I DNF'd this book due to file corruption issues, at approximately 55%.

This book is written in a way that readers are constantly guessing, wondering if they missed something or if they are supposed to be confused. And it's done in a way that is incredibly intriguing. Unfortunately, this writing device was almost used too much and meant that when I had to put the book down, I didn't feel like I was missing much. Because I didn't know what was happening anyway. While the style of story is one of the highlights of the book, it left the story being less engaging than I think it could have been.

Something I adored, however, was the way it approached mental health. Throughout the story, the main character is dealing with grief and PTSD. Mahoney weaves these elements of mental health into the bizarre speculative happenings within the story, creating something that is haunting and oddly beautiful. This is done so in a way that does not take away from the seriousness of such issues. It is also the key reason why I am excited to see what Mahoney publishes in the future.

In her debut YA novel, The Valley and the Flood, Rebecca Mahoney takes readers to a strange town in the middle of Nevada and shows readers how powerful memories and emotions can be.

This book is not a love story. It’s not about different worlds. It’s not even about friendship. It’s about memories and our pasts and how we grapple with it.

The way Mahoney handles writing about PTSD is profound and enlightening. Let it be said that I have no experience with PTSD and the before or aftereffects of that diagnosis. However, this book helped raise awareness of it and gave it validity. It doesn’t matter how or what you suffered through or experienced: your thoughts and pain are valid. And I think that’s the main point to the story.

The plot was interesting and Rose’s alternating POV between the past and present was enlightening since with every flashback, more and more information about Rose’s past gets revealed. The characters were also interesting to learn about, especially the ones for Lotus Valley, and further showcases Mahoney’s emphasis on human emotions and feelings.

Reminiscent of Nina LaCour’s Watch Over Me, this book transcends genres and makes the reader focus on the metaphoric aspects of the story. For readers looking for a unique book, this one is a must-read.

*I received an ARC from Penguin Teen in exchange for my honest opinion.

As someone who struggles with anxiety and PTSD, I was curious to see how Mahoney was going to handle these topics in this book. I have to admit that the Alice in Wonderlandish beginning of the story was not only of my favorites, mainly because I could not figure out what was going on. However, after about 200 pages, things started to click, and when they did, it made up for all of the confusion I felt earlier on. From my experience with dealing with these mental illnesses, Mahoney does a wonderful job of portraying how they can interfere with your everyday life, and also how they can affect how you view yourself as a person.

The way that she used magical realism to help explain the complexities and the depth of all of these emotions was genius, and helped to illustrate that not everything makes sense when it comes to anxiety and PTSD. I absolutely loved how she proclaimed at the end of the story that dealing with these issues does not make you any less of a person, or a different one for that matter. Grief and trauma are monsters and everyone struggles with them in their own way, but dealing with them does not take anything away from you as a person. Mahoney nailed this story, and I sincerely appreciate the way she portrayed these issues in this book. I think everyone should read this story, even those who do not suffer with these issues, so they are able to gain even the tiniest bit of understanding on how destructive they can be.

“… We don’t just talk about terrible things to purge them from ourselves. We talk about them so that the people who love us can tell us when we’re wrong. That we’re being unkind to ourselves, or unfair, or that the things that have happened to us are not our fault. Because fear turns the world a different color, and we don’t always see clearly through it.”

I had to think about my review for a few days before I wrote it. The Valley and the Flood gave me a lot to ponder over. It’s compelling, it’s metaphorical and it explores mental health issues using magical realism so cleverly that it took me awhile to understand the actual depth of this work and of the characters grief, trauma and PTSD.

It is entirely original and as I got further into the plot, I understood that this wasn’t just a book about grief, loss, trauma and the overwhelming emotions attached to those words but it was also about hope and healing. Rose is a character that I understood on some deeper level, one that I think many of us can relate to. The secrets and feelings we keep, from others and from ourselves, hold a power that is so explosive and damaging and can induce strong reactions; panic, fear, depression, worthlessness or stagnancy. What happens when the flood of memories is opened?

I’m hesitant to say more because I think reading this book with the most open mind possible is the best way to go in and fully immerse yourself in the experience. This is an extraordinary story and one that I’m really glad I read.

My thanks to Penguin Teen for gifting me a DRC in exchange for my review.

*Quote taken from an ARC and may change in finished copies

Initial Thoughts

I won’t lie and say that I was super excited to read this one. I honestly forgot that I even requested it from the publisher. I think it was on a form for all the winter titles and I clicked yes. But, after reading the synopsis, it definitely peaked my interest.

Some Things I Liked

Grief as a central theme. I really enjoyed the way that grief, PTSD, and guilt were the main themes in this book.
Little to no romance. This was something I didn’t think I’d enjoy but romance wouldn’t have felt right for Rose. This was her story and her goodbye to Gaby.
Quirky small town. While Lotus Valley was a super weird place, I enjoyed the “quirky small town” vibes it gave off. It’s a place that I feel like if you stumbled upon it and then left, you’d question if you were ever there.

One Thing I Wasn’t Crazy About

Confusing time line. I found that I struggled to keep up with the timeline and flashback scenes. The Valley often showed Rose things and I was confused about whether they were past or present. While I understand the supernatural element, I found it a bit muddled.

Series Value

There’s not much series value here. Rose is moving on with her healing process but I don’t think she’d ever encounter a place quite like the Valley ever again. I liked the writing style, though. I’d read another Rebecca Mahoney book.

Final Thoughts

I liked this book. It was different from what I usually read in stand alones. But, I enjoyed it nonetheless. It was a unique debut from an author I’d read more from.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill – if you enjoyed the mystery elements of this story, try this historical mystery. There are no supernatural elements but it follows the same theme of loss of a best friend.

This book packs a more emotional punch than I was expecting given my indifference towards the narrative structure.

You know those books that are so bizarre that you just eat them up and you like the bizarreness? I really wanted this one to be like that. Still, after finishing it, I don’t even know what I just read. It was confusing and strange and I’m still puzzled.

There were weird vibes throughout, not creepy, but you can tell pieces are missing. It wasn’t intriguing so much as confusing. But then I’d get more information and it would confuse me more. There has to be an explanation for it, right? I don’t feel I got one.

It explores grief and PTSD in ways that I connected with but the bulk of the story never resonated. I expected an ending that brought all the pieces together but it was anticlimactic and I’m still confused. Did I mention I’m confused? Sigh.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Penguin Teen, for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really really enjoyed this book and am still thinking about it after I've finished it!I will leave content warnings below if you would like to know before reading this book. I love that the author put content warnings in the beginning of the book, so helpful!

CW: anxiety, PTSD, scenes of panic attacks and brief description of violent, intrusive thoughts that the MC has

This book is one of the most unique YA contemporary / magical realism books that I have ever read. I love how the author explores grief and trauma through this "flood of memories" that the main character Rose goes through. It's so unique and I really enjoyed it. I appreciate that the book is very pro-therapists which is awesome to see in YA. I think more teens need to know this message and know that it is completely okay to go to a therapist if you need someone to talk to for any reason at all. There were some aspects of this book that I felt were not fully explained that I would have liked to have known more about but I still enjoyed this book regardless of those unexplained aspects.

If you enjoy reading magical realism books that explore some darker topics such as grief and trauma, I would highly recommend this book. The writing is beautiful, the story itself is different and done really well and the characters are fun and entertaining to follow.

Wow. This was unlike anything I have ever read and I absolutely loved it. The tie in of PTSD and the town was written phenomenally.

The Valley and the Flood uses magical realism and metaphor as a way of exploring grief and PTSD. It's an interesting idea and I like a lot of what the book is doing, although I was never able to fully connect with the narrative and some of the turns it took later in the book were a little strange to me.

Rose Colter is on the run, grieving the death of her best friend a year ago, struggling with sever anxiety and PTSD. Her car dies in the desert and a mysterious recording leads her to a strange small town filled with prophecies of a coming flood, humans with difficult stories, and beings that aren't human but are born of change and destruction. Rose is the subject of a prophecy that a flood will follow her and destroy the town.

The book often has a dreamlike quality with flashbacks and other things involving memory. It's decidedly pro-therapy and I love that it's dealing with the aftermath of trauma in such a tangible way. However, when we get some revelations at the end it really didn't go the direction I was expecting given all of the buildup, which made it feel a little anticlimactic. I can't talk much about that without getting into spoilers, but throughout the book I felt more detached emotionally than I would want to be from this sort of story. I hoped that the ending would really click that into place, but it kind of had the opposite effect? I'm sorry if that's vague but it's a difficult book to talk about without spoiling it, not to mention the dreamlike quality.

I did really like the characters in the town. They were interesting and unexpected and the narrative is gentle with the pain people experience. Which was lovely. The case of characters is diverse and the overall story is one of hope and healing. Not what I was expecting or quite what I was hoping for, but still a pretty good book. I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Content warnings include depictions of grief, panic attacks, anxiety etc.

The Valley and the Flood was a unique and beautifully written.

It has been a year since the death of Rose’s best friend, Gaby, but she still talks to her. On a desolate Nevada road at night, when Rose’s car breaks down, she hears the very last voicemail her best friend had left her come through her car’s radio. Leaving her car behind, she heads into the nearby town. Lotus Valley is a strange place filled with prophets. And they have been waiting for her because apparently her arrival marks the bringing of the flood that is supposed to wipe the town out.

Over the course of the next few days, Rose makes some new friends, who all set out to stop this flood from happening. Not everyone is so welcoming though. And while she is dealing with this influx of new information, she is constantly trying to make sense of her past trauma; of the events that led up to the death of her best friend.

Rose begins to see a connection to this town of Lotus Valley, and she must come to terms with all of the truths she uncovers and secrets that are unearthed. This was truly a beautiful novel. The path of self-discovery that Rose embarks on was incredible and at times, very painful. I was very invested in discovering the truth about what happened to Gaby and not only who was involved in her death, but in the realization of how responsible Rose feels.

This was full of wonderful characters and some beautiful magical realism. And as the story progressed, I was increasingly more immersed in the journey. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to read a haunting and lovely tale about a young girl coming to terms with who she is and what she is capable of in the face of trauma and heartbreak.

First off, I want to thank Penguinteen for sending me this book through NetGalley for review!

This book explored the depths of trauma, painful memories, grief, and PTSD. This was a book that I wasn’t 100% sure I was going to like, but it pleasantly took me by surprise. This book brought lose, but it also brought the ideas of hope as well. Even though this book had fantastical elements in it, the emotions and message of the book were so real and deep.

The characters in this book were so deep and intricate, and I found myself feeling connected to a lot of the characters found in this story. I am glad I gave this story a chance, and I highly recommend picking this book up! Make sure to mark your calendars for February 22, 2021 for when this book releases!

Final Rating: 4/5 Stars ⭐️

This story is about trauma.

Rose is the main character who has to deal with her trauma and past memories and she is traveling to Las Vegas when her car breaks down and she hears a voice on the radio that sounds a lot like her best fried who had passed away.

She ends up in a town where she is confronted with things and also has to deal with grief.

This story was deep and beautiful and I dont want to spoil it but it was something i needed to read as I am dealing with my own trauma and grief.

4 stars

Rebecca Mahoney has created a fast paced dystopian/fantasy hybrid that I could not put down! Rose finds herself on a literal and metaphorical journey through Lotus Valley, a surreal setting where her past is inextricably intertwined with the town's future. By turns, tense, lyrical and funny, Rose's companions work with (and maybe against) her as she tries to make sense of her own grief and loss.

This book blew me away. It's so wildly imaginative and so deeply weird in the best possible way. Think David Lynch, Twin Peaks, Twilight Zone, X Files, but with this amazing, poetic writing and a YA cast. The book explores trauma in a vivid and tangible way, and the protagonist goes through some real moments of emotional progress and understanding that are both painful and satisfying as she processes what happened to her. The neighbors are MY FAVORITE PART. I won't spoil what they are, but trust me they are amazing and I yelled with creeped-out delight at some of them. To be honest I probably drove my husband nuts because I kept raving out loud about how great this book was as I was reading. You should pick up a copy the second this book comes out!

Publication date: February 23, 2021 #TheValleyandtheFlood #NetGalley

My Thoughts:

This YA book by debut author Rebecca Mahoney is a fast-paced read by an author who is an avid reader and fan of this type of psychological horror/thriller. It shows in the way she plays with mood, tone, even time in this book. What Mahoney is able to do is hold on to the suspense and questions for so long that when the answers start revealing itself, it is inconsequential because what it reveals is that I really did not have the right question. I really donʻt know how else to explain this, but for example, when I really got to the point where as a reader I understood what Nick did/did not do and why his presence makes the main character leave for the desert, I realized that Nick was not the question. He actually was inconsequential to the real problem. Then, when I found out what the real problem was, like the PTSD, I also found out that knowing that was not going to solve the ultimate problem or keep the Flood at bay.

I realize that this sounds like babbling because it is. This book just has to be read to understand that it will both suck you in and defy any predictions you have as you are reading. In the end, the answers to my questions were given freely at the beginning and still I could not predict the end.

This is about grief, memory, trauma, monsters in the shadows, and a mysterious town in the middle of the desert where prophets and misfits wait for their prophecy to come to town.

From the Publisher:
Rose Colter is almost home, but she can't go back there yet. When her car breaks down in the Nevada desert, the silence of the night is broken by a radio broadcast of a voicemail message from her best friend, Gaby. A message Rose has listened to countless times over the past year. The last one Gaby left before she died.

So Rose follows the lights from the closest radio tower to Lotus Valley, a small town where prophets are a dime a dozen, secrets lurk in every shadow, and the diner pie is legendary. And according to Cassie Cyrene, the town's third most accurate prophet, they've been waiting for her. Because Rose's arrival is part of a looming prophecy, one that says a flood will destroy Lotus Valley in just three days' time.

Rose believes if the prophecy comes true then it will confirm her worst fear--the PTSD she was diagnosed with after Gaby's death has changed her in ways she can't face. So with help from new friends, Rose sets out to stop the flood, but her connection to it, and to this strange little town, runs deeper than she could've imagined.

Debut author Rebecca Mahoney delivers an immersive and captivating novel about magical places, found family, the power of grief and memory, and the journey toward reconciling who you think you've become with the person you've been all along.

unfortunately, this one is just not working out for me. this book is in no way bad, in fact it is actually quite beautifully written and contains some very deep and well-handled content. it just didn’t connect with me.

*Spoiler free, 3.5 stars*

I mean, with a cover and a synopsis like that, I was absolutely intrigued about this book. Though, at the same time, I wasn't sure of it. Books like these aren't ones that I usually gravitate before. But there was just something about this book. Maybe it was the combination that it sounded really cool, a girl who is destined to bring a flood to a small town, and the love I had seen for it online, but I knew that I wanted to give this book a shot. <b>Trigger warnings: intrusive thoughts, PTSD, panic attacks</b>

There's just something about this book. It's hard to describe, but there's just something about. It's not a barb stuck to something, it's more like something that slips under your skin. There's just something about it.

First off, this book is WEIRD. Like, it took multiple times to for me to get ordinated with what was happening. But, it embraces its weird. Though, at the same time, it just let it's weird happen. It fully knows it's weird, and it does not apologize for it.

Another thing that makes this book as good as it is is the writing. It's just beautifully, spectacularly done. It does what it wants to do so carefully. It places the story gently in front of the reader, but it also doesn't hold back from the pain it holds.

The pain is also what makes this book so good. This book is one that revolves around mental health; PTSD, anxiety, depression, grief, and everything that comes with them are highlighted. I do not feel qualified to talk about a lot of it, since it is tied so closely to PTSD, which I have no experienced. I just know that it was there, and it had a big impact. It's all about being alright, and how it's alright to not be alright, and that's ALRIGHT. It's alright to feel angry. It's alright to feel pain. It's alright to feel everything. It's even alright to be scared of those emotions. It's just alright.

The characters were some that I didn't quite fall in love with, but ones that I respect. They're there, and I don't quite fully connect with them, because their emotions are so different than mine. But that's alright! Because I can understand them, and that's enough.

Yes, I am very extremely vague about everything, but I feel like that's the best way to go into this book. I went in knowing very little, but the impact was extremely strong. It's a book that's weird, but still so good. It's a book that's full of pain, but is still hopeful. It's a book that's scary around the edges, but has a core of friendship and a journey towards healing. It's a very solidly good, very weird, overall amazing book.

This is a dreamy book that has a great deal of potential, however it fell short for me.

I was unable to connect to the main character and throughout the book I found myself wondering what was going on because I had to have missed something. People blended into one another, and it always felt like something else needed to be explained.

The thing is- I loved the concept of this book. I loved the way that the author described panic attacks and intrusive thoughts. Unfortunately I had to struggle to get through the majority of the book.

3 stars for the good parts.

The writing in this book is lyrical and captivating. This book had me curious and reading on in order to try and figure out what exactly was happening. This book was unexpected and refreshing. It's full of grief and loss and the author isn't afraid to show the brutal and raw moments that happen while one is grieving.