I'm a sucker for dystopian future stories and The Marigold delivers. It takes place in a near-future Toronto where disaster, corruption, and horror weave through the city. Due to the various characters and storylines that need to be established, the book takes a bit to get going, but I feel that it starts hitting its stride around Chapter 5 and becomes hard to put down. Andrew F. Sullivan does an excellent job of explaining the characters and their motivations and I found myself wanting to learn more. If you love dystopian survivor stories and sci-fi thrillers, this is a great book for you. Special thanks to ECW Press and NetGalley for the eARC of the book!

While initially excited to read this book, it ended up falling a bit flat for me. With too many plot lines and characters, this story was a jumble of extreme circumstances wading around future Toronto. From The Wet that seems to be creeping into everyone’s lives to the farmers planting their “seeds” and the sinkholes that continue to multiply, I wanted to remain focused on one problem and expand upon it.

I was intrigued by the writing and the dialogue. Both kept me interested in completing the book. I wish there were more to the story about the crumbling town and fewer characters to muddy it up.

Overall, a decent read. It was the perfect combination of dark sci-fi, gritty fiction, and the best of seedy underbelly and rich high-class troubles.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was extremely excited to read this book because reading the description, it has everything: a city being taken over by developers, a sci-fi mold that is taking over that city at the same time, narrators ranging from the wealthiest to children living in areas basically abandoned, a mega-corp trying to create their own kingdom at the same time.

However, this book fell flat for me. There were so many narrators and so many plotlines that just fizzled out. It was hard to keep track of the characters, and harder still to keep track of the mystery. Add to that that the mystery was never really satisfyingly addressed (I won't spoil it, but a truly wild sci-fi plotline shows up about 70% through the book and then is ... not reckoned with).

Still, the concept and the underlying themes were fascinating, and the author deserves kudos for how inventive this book is!

Besides this striking cover, I was initially intrigued by the book's description: a combination of dystopia and eco-catastrophe. The book definitely has these in spades, but it's the way those elements were interwoven with the mundanity of present day life that really struck me as I was reading. This setting is one in which all of our worst prophecies for society and the planet have been fulfilled, but everyone seems to have shrugged and just moved on with life, taking Ubers and ordering delivery like the very fabric of human life isn't on the brink of unraveling. The juxtaposition is chilling.

There are four separate narratives in the story, which were a bit hard to keep track of, especially in the beginning of the book when terms, like "Threshold" and "The Wet" and "the price," are thrown around without any real context. I found Stan Marigold's narrative the most puzzling and difficult to follow, and my confusion during his chapters almost made me want to DNF this one. I did appreciate how the different threads of the story finally came together at the end of the book, although the ambiguity of the ending didn't jive with my ISTJ brain (We ISTJ's prefer an ending less open to interpretation). My favorite element of the book by far were the vignettes of different Marigold residents interspersed throughout the book. These short chapters were the reason I kept pushing through the book.

Probably a 3-star read for me, but I'm rounding up to a 4 since The Marigold is the most original book I've read so far this year. Thank you to Net Galley for providing an eARC of this book!

An interesting concept. Dystopian setting, environmental disasters, and it really forced you to be uncomfortable the entire time. Which is impressive beyond belief!

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A complex sci fi story set in a dystopian world where climate change has caused dramatic weather changes and flooding
The story looks at a group of people living in future Toronto where huge sink holes are appearing at an increasing rate swallowing individuals and eventually whole buildings
What is the significance of the sinkholes who are the Farmers who are planting seeds in the ground in places where new sky scrapers are planned and what is this toxic mould that appears to be spreading from the buildings to humans .You do discover the answers to some of these questions but quickly find there are more questions that are revealed.I found this rather frustrating particularly towards the end of the story when I hoped for more explanation
My one criticism of the book wad that almost without exception the characters you meet are thoroughly nasty self serving individuals.Think Succession tv series level awful people .The only person I felt for was the young woman tasked with documenting the progress of the “mould”
The book is fast paced exciting and atmospheric I could feel the damp and decline in the story .Reading it made me feel tense and negative which did effect my enjoyment of the book .It’s very skilful of an author to be able to affect their readers so profoundly .I’d give the book 3 for my enjoyment But 4 for the quality of the writing and storytelling
I read an early copy on NetGalley Uk the book is published April 2023 by ECW press

Many Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC!

First of all this story is set in Toronto, Canada and that is where I spent more than half of my life so far. Especially my childhood so it hold a special place in my heart.

This story is a good mix of Science fiction and horror and if that isnt me I dont know what is. I was invested from the very start.

This an eerie story about how the future is going to be affected for normal people because of the advancement in technology, the wrong directions the government is taking us and just overall how toxic the corporate world is becoming.

The writing was so good that I forgot I was reading fiction and started to get angry and frustrated with this world.

4/5 Stars!

This book ticks so many boxes, which is kind of the problem. It’s too much and yet not enough. The Marigold would be an amazing start point for a series, but the all encompassing Wet is just too much for when you factor in the large number of subcharacters and plot points at hand.

Fans of the genre will love this book for all of its flaws, im one of these people. But it just needed more room to breathe.

This was definitely a fun, spooky sci-fi read! The concept is so unique and bounces between a sci-fi thriller, which is so fun to read. I loved all of the social commentary in regards to how future technology will affect every day, ordinary people. The writing was good and I think Andrew F. Sullivan did a wonderful job with this novel. Sometimes, the multiple perspectives had me a little confused, but once I re-read a couple of things, I could figure it out. Overall, it was definitely a fun, cool read and I would recommend checking it out if you like thrillers, sci-fi's, or both!

Thank you NetGalley and ECW Press for this free arc in exchange for my honest review.

3.25 stars

Overall a dark and disturbing reading experience. I did enjoy it quite a bit, and found myself thinking often about it in those times I could not be reading.

Set in a not-too-far in the future Toronto, The Marigold is a combination of Sci-Fi/thriller/horror/speculative fiction, with a touch of weird fiction and a bleak atmosphere akin to a cyberpunk world aesthetic. The novel is full of social commentary on the future of life for the ordinary people based on where technology, government and corporate greed is taking us. The Wet, a moldy rot that seeps throughout the underbelly and into the structure of Toronto, serves as a metaphor for how the aforementioned things are writhing their ways into society in detrimental ways. The writing will get under your skin the way The Wet gets into everything.

This was such a spooky read! i always love reading about places that have been abandoned And how it affects society as a whole. I did really enjoy this, however it was hard with the multiple perspectives. But still a must read for fall!

One of my fears is some kind of unknown creature coming back and getting me, so this was a great read for me. It had that element of fear that I want from this type of book and the atmosphere kept me reading. The plot was what I was hoping for and loved the body horror in the novel, it works perfectly together and really makes me think. Andrew F. Sullivan has a great story on his hands and I really enjoyed being able to read this.

"Yes, it implies resiliency, survival, rebirth; all that good stuff. People love that shit. Overcoming adversity. A dark night of the soul leading to a clear morning.”Jaclyn didn’t fall so much as tip over the side, losing her balance in the loose dirt along the edge of the pit, leaning out into the air until she disappeared. Stanley could only watch from the corner of his eye. The scream went on for longer than he expected."