Cover Image: A Flood of Posies

A Flood of Posies

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Member Reviews

A Flood of Posies didn't quite work for me, but I think would be a great fit for many readers of horror and post apocalyptic speculative fiction! It has an intriguing premise that raised more questions than it answered, leaving the reader unsettled and intrigued. Why is the world flooded? Who are the Posies? I definitely wanted more of their monstrous presence...

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I'm sorry but I DNFed this book because it wasn't for me.
I thank you though the Publishing House for letting me read this book through Netgalley.
And I'm sorry that I wasn't able to give my review before now ! I completely forgot to do it and i'm very sorry.

Wishing you all the best
Sara

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This wasn't for me. What I expected from the blurb was a dystopian story with some monsters. What I got was two sisters arguing about everything under the sun.

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This book was immensely hard to follow and I really didn't understand the story until I stepped back and put the pieces together. This should never be necessary in my opinion. This book went back and forth in time to cover the flood and the time before, however not really in a way that made much sense. I felt that the book would have been better starting from the past and working forward. I found the posies to be a metaphor for the abuse and drug addiction issues and I liked the imagery here. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

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I really wanted to love this book but it just didn’t work at all. I was hoping for something very dark and creepy but the book focused on these 2 sisters who would argue over the most random things. I didn’t like either sister and struggled to connect with the story. The plot wasn’t developed and I was confused for most of this short book. All in all, a pretty big disappointment for me so I’m giving it 1/5 stars.

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I thought this book was going to be a post-apocalyptic fantasy story, but it is really either a post-apocalyptic survival story or a post-drug hallucination, or somewhere between the two.

In addition to substance abuse and addiction, the story covers potential triggers areas such as child abuse, emotional damage, estrangement and repression. Throughout, the question hovers: is Thea dealing with horror-style monsters, human monsters or the monsters in her own mind.

The main focus of the story is exploring the complex, damaged and damaging relationship between the two sisters, Thea and Doris, as they perpetually resent and misunderstand each other’s struggles.

The book is unrelentingly dark and hopeless in tone and is very well-written, in its nightmarish bleakness. However, I did feel that the blurb and cover were misleading, as they lead readers to believe they are getting a horror-fantasy story, when it is really a dark family drama.


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

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I had a very hard time trying to read this book. I just didn't like it.

I really liked the plot premise. The two sisters living in a post-apocalyptic, flooded world with tentacled monsters lurking in the deep. But it just didn't really develop. The story felt aimless as if it wasn't building up to anything, and the alternating narrative between the past and the present made it very confusing as well.

The sisters, Doris and Thea (or Sestra), aren't even remotely likable as main characters. I didn't care for them and I wasn't rooting for them at all.

One aspect I did liked was the writing style; it's simple but also rich with details, making it so easy to picture all of this happening.

All in all, as I said before I didn't like this book, but I thought it had the potential to be really good. It's disappointing.

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A FLOOD OF POSIES is the most strikingly remarkable novel. Meuret has created something truly special by giving her readers more than just an end of the world story. This book blurs the lines between women's fiction and fantasy in the best way possible.

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Meaning the sisters... they'll stick with me. Though Thea was the addicted, and societies, families, friends, strangers tend to blame them for much, I feel like Meuret's story paints a good portrait of a situation where "the good one" could easily be identified as the one with most of the problems. This was evident from some of the odd behaviors and taunts coming from the (much) older sister, Doris, visited-on the toddler, Thea. Yet, oddly, at the same time, Doris was sooooooooooooo sweetly protective of her younger sibling. Meuret did an amazing job of creating this very complex relationship for you to see under all its grey skies. Sadly, she goes on to tell a story where that made for some very tough adulting. But from my perspective, it was DORIS -- the one 'being good' -- who was most destructive on the adult side of things, as opposed to the addict. In conclusion, I wanted better for where they both land on that last page. But I *really* understand why and how they couldn't have that, though. And so in my opinion, those two "in conclusion" sentences encapsulate all the reasons why you should buy and read this book. They'll stick with you, too.

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I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The cover is really amazing, it reminds me of Mara Dyer.
Unfortunately the plot didn’t convince me.
I was expecting much more, but I was quite disappointed in the end.

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Gorgeous cover but it was mostly that. The story and the characters weren`t interesting to me. I just felt like i didn`t get to connect to the characters.

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I couldn't finish this one unfortunately. I found it really hard to get into and felt like the storyline didn't make sense.

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A FLOOD OF POSIES is quite likely the most character-driven example of Apocalypticana I have ever encountered. At first expectation, a reader might think: "No, Apocalypse means action, adventure, danger, and lots of scares." That's for certain, and believe me, this novel never lacks for those! But what carries the story, and makes it a treasure to me, is CHARACTER. What the author makes of Character is astounding, worth reading twice, once for the Apocalypse, one to savour Character!

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I was really torn in rating this book because it was well written with great characterisation and eerie world building but I guess I was expecting more. I felt like there could have been a lot more imbued into the story given the rather heavy content and was thinking it might end up being a twist at the end but there wasn't.

I was still invested in the story and enjoyed reading but I was left wanting more and that's why it's given 3 stars and not higher.

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In 2025, sisters Doris and Thea have very different lives despite living near each other. Doris had the ordinary life while Thea skulked about the edges of society as the world slowly flooded. Along with the water came Leviathans that swam through the depths, as well as Posies, dangerous creatures that are just one of the many dangers facing the survivors of the floods. Thea now calls herself Sestra, and maneuvers through this world with Robert. When they discover a tugboat that they thought was abandoned, it calls into question what they know about the floods.

The story moves between that of the flooded world and what had happened before the immense rains began. Thea's drug use and behavior is discussed and described, giving a good picture of the strain between them. We also get flashes of Doris as a child, then as a teenager with Thea as a toddler; their mother is a piece of work from the beginning, and I feel sorry for the both of them escaping her as best as they could. I thought Doris' anger toward her husband and the car accident she had been in prior to the flooding was because he had cheated, or worse yet, cheated with Thea. I really don't like infidelity in stories, and that would've turned me off of from this book completely. Spoiler, it's not infidelity. But the distance means that the two of them are emotionally distant when the book opens, and her husband isn't there when the flooding begins. Instead, it's Thea that helps her.

While this novel depicts a watery end of the world, it's as much about the ties of family and sisterhood, and the drama that comes when people can't connect. Pain comes in many ways, and the hurt that lay unspoken between the sisters was still present, even at the end of the world. They don't magically reconcile, and Thea's struggle to survive when half starved and angry takes up a good part of the present day thread of the novel. Nightmares and dreams can blend into the waking world, and there aren't easy solutions for their survival.

The title comes from Rob's name for the tentacled monstrosities beneath the water. He calls them poseidons, and Sestra shortened it to posy. Whatever they are, and their existence is never really explained, they remained in the watery depths just out of sight. It adds to the dread and the terror of the unknown in this situation, and we're sucked into the emotions that Rob and Sestra have to deal with. They're uncomfortable, and neither really talk about truly bothers them, or what they grieve. In the end, memories of loved ones prove to be just as strong and important as present day alliances.

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Okay I did not enjoy this book and I knew that this book is one of those where you either love it or you DNF it. I struggled through this book hard. The synopsis and the amazing cover art is what drew me in, unfortunately the story crumbled like dry cake.

A Flood of Posies sounds like a thriller book with a mix of horror and biblical references. But the Posies rarely show up, and when they do, there isn't any ominous feelings or tension. There's no real description of the Posies other than "Leviathan like creatures" and assuming from the cover a Posie is some sort of octopus or squid-like inspired creature. The flood is never explained. It just happens. I felt no anxiety over the Posies or the fate of anyone who'd survived the flood.

The characters were more annoying than anything else. Doris and Thea fought the same way my 11 and 8 year old do despite being grown ass women and ten years apart. The story is told through mostly Thea's POV but there are a few chapters of Doris's POV. ThoughI found that Doris's POV didn't add much to the story other than unnecessary dysfunctional family tension between the two sisters. Thea is a junkie, thief and heroin addict. Doris is bitter, in a marriage she hates, and physically incapable of pretty much everything. Neither seems to have any redeeming qualities, both are extremely selfish, and neither is likable. I did not connect with either POV/ The first chapters has them fighting an oncoming flood (where does this flood come from? And why did it suddenly grow so fast, while people ignore it and go to work?), and then, it flips to a flash-back of their difficult childhood. With a jerk, it then swings all the way to a future time, where Thea renames herself and floats around with a man. But then, it swings back to the sisters and the flood before jumping forward again.

Was the flood real? Are the Posies real, or just Thea's guilt drowning her in a drug-induced bender? Was the other characters real or just a drug-addled mind grabbing at straws. If you are looking for a fantasy book that has sisters fighting sea creatures, you wont find it here. I still have so many questions about this book and Im struggling to understand. I'm leaning more towards a hallucination while Thea is OD'ing on heroin or some other drug but I can't really tell you honestly.

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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.

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.

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.

(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)

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I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley!

The cover of this book is simple but eye-catching.
The characters were... not likeable.... but I think at times, that may have been the point.
The storyline was truly unique, which is part of why I REALLY wanted to like this point, but like many others, i found myself forcing to continue reading so i could see if it got better at any point.... unfortunately not.

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A Flood of Posies was an interesting read. None of the characters a likable, and this I feel is what keeps many of them alive. Thea is alive purely out of spite, at this point. While the first 50% of the book felt like trudging through people’s trauma and petty arguments, it all comes to a point shortly after. This book made me consider DNF’ing multiple times due to this, though, as the “horror” did not feel particularly in focus until after 50%. I stuck it out for the mere purpose of wanting to know more about the Posies themselves.

To call this simply horror, and not a contemporary horror, leads this to be a marketing fumble. Many go into this book expecting some kind of fantastical horror, and instead see the arguments between two sisters who seem to loathe one another. If I had not read other readers reviews, I probably would have gone in expecting the same. However, I was prepared. Knowing this was the book set up helped me greatly, and that leads to a question about the summary and the genres this falls under. I feel that often we don’t call a spade a spade, and this is one of those instances. This book is more contemporary in a horror setting, than a horror book.

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I really wanted to enjoy this book. I think it had the potential to be an interesting story and journey, especially based on the synopsis. For me, however, I found the dialogue and relationship between the sisters, Thea and Doris, too much to overcome. I found myself skipping large sections, which I don't care to do while reading, but I didn't miss anything by doing so. It was a difficult and disjointed read for me personally, but it may just be my own inability to enjoy certain kinds of dialogue. Others may find it a really interesting story if they aren't troubled by the characters themselves. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

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