BOOK REVIEW: After The Flood by Kassandra Montag
Release Date: September 3rd, 2019
Genre: Fiction / Dystopia
Published by William Morrow
5 ⭐️rated and reviewed by guest blogger, Suzanne (Instagram: @thebookblondie)
BOOK BLURB:
A little more than a century from now, our world has been utterly transformed. After years of slowly overtaking the continent, rising floodwaters have obliterated America’s great coastal cities and then its heartland, leaving nothing but an archipelago of mountaintop colonies surrounded by a deep expanse of open water.
Stubbornly independent Myra and her precocious seven-year-old daughter, Pearl, fish from their small boat, the Bird, visiting dry land only to trade for supplies and information in the few remaining outposts of civilization. For seven years, Myra has grieved the loss of her oldest daughter, Row, who was stolen by her father after a monstrous deluge overtook their home in Nebraska. Then, in a violent confrontation with a stranger, Myra suddenly discovers that Row was last seen in a far-off encampment near the Artic Circle. Throwing aside her usual caution, Myra and Pearl embark on a perilous voyage into the icy northern seas, hoping against hope that Row will still be there.
On their journey, Myra and Pearl join forces with a larger ship and Myra finds herself bonding with her fellow seekers who hope to build a safe haven together in this dangerous new world. But secrets, lust, and betrayals threaten their dream, and after their fortunes take a shocking—and bloody—turn, Myra can no longer ignore the question of whether saving Row is worth endangering Pearl and her fellow travelers.
SUZANNE'S THOUGHTS:
A century in the future, America has been overcome by rising floodwaters. Our country is nothing more than a few colonies atop the mountain peaks that poke out of the surface of the water. Myra and her young daughter, Pearl, are surviving on their small boat and trade fish on the dry land to sustain life. Myra has been torn apart for 7 years after her husband stole their other daughter and left her pregnant and lonesome. When Myra hears that her other daughter, Row, was seen in a colony near the Arctic Circle, she pours all of her faith into a voyage to rescue the child that was taken from her.
This book has potential to be THE best book of 2019. There, I said it. The plot is simply captivating and the language paints such a stunning portrait of this futuristic earth that is hard to conceive. Some stories read like a movie. And while this one is vivid, I can only express that it reads like a song. It’s lyrical and each sentence flows into the next. Montag invented such dynamic and well-rounded characters- each with their own secrets, but the storyline never gets muddled with unnecessary dialogue or detail. You know an author has talent when they're able to develop a protagonist who lives in a world entirely different from your own and still make that character relatable. Myra has so many qualities and desires that we all can relate to. She's a woman who is accustomed to being fiercely independent and she constantly fights her desire for companionship despite her urge to be part of a team. She wades through a dense present while she is tethered to her past, and I think that’s something we can all relate to. Myra holds out this desperate hope that she'll be able to find her estranged daughter, Row, and rebuild her life with both girls by her side proving that hope is such a strong driving force in this story. Of course, Myra and Pearl are not the only characters as the mother-daughter duo encounters other travelers amidst their quest. Every single chapter ends with the reader wanting more, which only encouraged me to binge-read like I’ve never binged before. As the plot shifts between the present and Myra’s memories of the past, your heart breaks and is mended and then breaks again.
“I knew it was sometimes easier to love ghosts more than the people who were around you. Ghosts could be perfect, frozen beyond time, beyond reality, the crystal form they’d never been before, the person you needed them to be. Sometimes I wanted only the good moments to surface in my memory.”
Doesn’t that quote just tug at something deep within your soul?
I promise you that I was not AT ALL disappointed or bored while reading this masterpiece. Please pick this one up and tell me your thoughts! This book undoubtedly gets 5 stars from me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A HUGE thanks to Suzanne for the great review and for being a guest blogger/book reviewer!
Please pay a visit to her Instagram account @thebookblondie and let her know you read this review❤️
0 comments