If you are looking for light-hearted fare to lift your spirits, this isn't it. this story is more on the soul searching, gut wrenching, finding salvation at the end side of things. on a positive note, it does put mental health, loss, grief, PTSD, and the use of trauma therapy into a good light. it shows how it can help. It is not just about mental health though there are also touches of mysticism, superstition, and becoming someone that you didn't think you were capable of for the greater good. a pretty good read all in all. do not read it if you are already depressed or are suffering from depression unless you're into that and it makes you feel better.

The Valley and the Flood is a unique story that manages to explore both mental health and prophecies. It follows a teenage girl named Rose Colter who is attempting to get home in the days leading up to the first anniversary of the death of her best friend Gaby. There are a lot of books that have themes grief and loss, but I still thought that exploring those topics through the lens of a teenager who lost her longtime bestie in a freak accident (something that I know happens in real life but isn’t really talked about) was interesting. Rose also has PTSD stemming from the death of Gaby, and Mahoney doesn’t shy away from describing how it affects her. In The Valley and the Flood, we get some pretty detailed depictions of Rose’s PTSD symptoms, and some snippets of the therapy sessions that she participates in (props, obviously, for normalizing therapy).

While driving home, Rose’s car breaks down and she finds herself in a small town called Lotus Valley, whose residents are very superstitious, which is where the prophecies part of the story comes in. Unlike many books involving prophecies, The Valley and the Flood does not lay out the entire thing at the beginning, but it’s still pretty easy to understand. When Rose shows up in Lotus Valley, she is unaware of the fact that her arrival is part of a prophecy that will bring about a flood that will destroy the town. She decides to attempt to stop the flood with the help of some new friends.

I did have to suspend my disbelief a bit, not only because of the whole prophecy thing, but also because Rose has vivid flashbacks of various points in the past year of her life. This helps fill in the gaps of Rose’s backstory, but still I couldn’t believe how vivid they were. Overall, though, this was a heart-wrenching, punch to the gut magical realism story.

Thank you to Penguinteen for this arc!

'The Valley and the Flood' is a YA novel with supernatural and magical elements that follows Rose Colter as she deals with the aftermath of her best friend's death. When her car breaks down in the middle of the Nevada desert, Rose winds up in this mystical small town where she meets Cassie, the town's most recent prophet, who tells her they've all been awaiting her arrival. According to Cassie, in three days, a flood will come and destroy everything, but Rose can stop it. Now, Rose must find a way to cope with the PTSD she has from her best friend's death and save this small town she can't explain her strange connection to.

Overall thoughts: I didn't get to finish this book, but the parts I did get to read were very well-written and quite magical. Mahoney did a remarkable job of introducing Rose's character, and I felt like I could understand her guilt and pain from the loss of her best friend. If you enjoy magical and lyrical writing, you'll love this book!

Make sure to look up TWs as mental health and loss are central parts of this story

WHY DID I LISTEN TO THE VALLEY AND THE FLOOD BY REBECCA MAHONEY?
The Valley And The Flood by Rebecca Mahoney has such a unique concept. I’ll admit that I first picked it up because I had assumed there was a cult aspect and I do love reading books about cults. However, that isn’t really what the book is about. Rather, I kept listening because of main character Rose’s character growth and for the magical realism aspect. This was a quiet sort of book that hit just right with me at the time that I had read it.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
Rose Colter is driving through the Nevada desert one night when her car breaks down. She begins to hear a voicemail from her best friend Gaby over the radio. “Rose, are you there?” So, Rose goes to the nearest radio tower which is located in Lotus Valley. There, she learns that her arrival in town is part of a prophecy which ends with the town being destroyed by a flood. There’s also prophets which populate the town. As it turns out though, this is a book about PTSD and the very real trauma that Rose is dealing with.

WHAT DID I THINK OF THE VALLEY AND THE FLOOD?
It’s kind of hard to go into detail on The Valley And The Flood because it is a story where things are revealed bit by bit. Also, I don’t want to spoil you. What I will say is that I appreciated the exploration of trauma within. I thought the author handled it in a sensitive manner and was quite thoughtful as well. Additionally, I wasn’t sure what to make of the flood and magical realism aspect, but in the end, it really worked for me. This was a genuinely good book and quiet too. I think it’ll end up going under the radar, because it is so different from what else is out there. Still, it is totally worth picking up.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
The audiobook of Rebecca Mahoney’s The Valley And The Flood is narrated by Phoebe Strole. It is 10 hours and 28 minutes unabridged. Strole has a voice that is youthful, so she was fitting to narrate Rose’s story. Overall, I tend to like Strole’s narration and this book was no exception. I am glad I listened to this book, but kind of think I would have processed it a bit better had I physically read it or listened to it a bit further out from having a baby (I am super sleep deprived which means not processing things perfectly). Still, this book was really good and I do recommend it.

On paper, this sounds like a perfect book. A quiet contemporary about books, love and grief with some beautiful prose to go along with it. Unfortunately the execution was a little lacking for me and it ended up being pretty forgettable.

Just a warning, my opinion is definitely not that of the majority. In fact, considering all of the five star reviews I think I can put myself clearly in the outlier category. Usually with books like that I can understand why people love them so much, but with this I honestly can't. Its almost like I read a different book to everyone else, or missed something- which is entirely possible considering I started skimming the book toward the middle/end.

The thing is, I thought this book was objectively good- but just nothing special. The characters were fine but they didn't stand out for me. The magical realism was ok but definitely a that felt like it didn't belong in the world.. The dialogue was pretty ordinary for me. The writing was standard to me. I do love what the author is doing concerning mental health but the book as well.. a book was just okay for me.

The Valley and the Flood
By Rebecca Mahoney

I enjoyed this wonderful story about the effects of a death of a best friend in your life and the trauma you feel as you get past those emotions to try to move on without forgetting and honoring the memories. PTSD can manifest in many ways and I felt that this story through fantastic and magical realism did just that. The story is centered on Rose, who is just trying to get home to San Diego but end up in a small town in Nevada - Lotus Valley. There, new friends are formed and a flood to contend with.

Through a beautiful story with prophecy and a very unique plot, we are taken on a journey through that point in life where recovery and moving on from traumatic events happen.

Such a wonderful story I enjoyed.

I enjoyed this book, but while it starts out with almost creepy Welcome to Nightvale vibes, that kind of diminishes throughout the story, and it becomes something between “missing explanation for things” and “weird enough to not need explanations”, but not being either. Therefore, there were a lot of times when I lost focus, because it was unclear what was happening or why.
A big part of the story is this elusive tragedy we don’t have the facts about, that the main character lost a best friend to, but when we get the details 3/4ths of the way through the book, the secrets about it that are kept from the reader turn out to be very mediocre and normal compared to the buildup to it. It therefore feels like a lot of buildup for something normal, and the book would have been much the same even if we had known all of the details from the beginning.

This book tells the story of a teenage girl who is driving through the Nevada desert when her car breaks down. She is drawn by a radio transmission of a voicemail from her best friend, and follows it to a tiny mysterious town in the middle of the desert. It turns out that the voicemail was not the only thing drawing her to this place, as she is actually part of a prophecy that says a flood will destroy the town three days after her arrival. In the process of learning what to do about the flood, and this strange town, Rose also learns how to confront the grief and guilt she's been carrying about her best friend's death.
The writing style of this book is incredibly dream-like. It was vague (sometimes to the point of confusion) and the past and present seemed to float together in a way that felt very apt for what the main character was going through emotionally. The ambiguity builds up a sense of mystery and of being lost, but eventually comes together along the main character's journey. The town and characters were charming and quirky, which added some levity to a story which is actually very heavy and emotional. My only complaint are that I personally had a hard time staying focused and understanding what was going on at times, which I think was a result of the dream-like writing. Definitely an interesting book overall!
Thank you to Penguin Teen for a Netgalley ARC!

It took me a while to get into this book, but the story ended up being interesting. The writing style was generally really good but was at times somewhat awkward - the phrasing would pull me out of the story, which was too bad. Overall, would recommend.

Quick Stats
Overall: 4.5 stars
Characters:5/5
Plot:4/5
Setting:4/5
Writing:5/5

First of all—dang that book was a brain-twister. Very weird. Very intriguing. Very entertaining.I loved it. Now let’s get into the nitty gritty.
Rebecca Mahoney masterfully weaves a tale of loss, intrigue, and paranormal happenings. The book involves frank, realistic depictions of PTSD, panic attacks, grief, and more.
Rose, our main character, is a entertaining, real, honestly quite broken, and occasionally a bit of an unreliable narrator. Her raw emotion drew me in from the start. I felt like I was right there with her, inside her head, experiencing the events of the book along with her.
Rose experiences a couple panic attacks in what are essentially flashback scenes, and as someone with severe anxiety and a history of panic attacks, I rarely resonate with books’ descriptions of panic attacks. They’re not wrong, by any means, but they just don’t fit my experiences. Mahoney’s descriptions of panic attacks, however, were pretty much spot-on with my own experiences. She describes them in a real way that never strays into the cliches that sometimes are present while describing panic attacks.
Secondly, I would like to talk about how much I ADORE Alex Harper. I wish we saw more of him, as we do Felix and Cassie. Alex had a terminal illness (essentially) that was cured magically (again, essentially). This toes the line of the magical healing trope, which I absolutely loathe, but in my opinion, because of the circumstances of his situation, and the fact that he has lasting effects stays firmly planted in A-OK territory. My favorite thing about him is his constant—and rightful—insistance that he is not fragile, despite chronic illnesses and his past illness. The other characters (mostly Felix) try to coddle him, and Alex has NONE of it. And I love it. That’s one of the things I hate the most about being chronically ill—the way I’m often treated like I’m breakable. Alex did a really good of articulating, and showing, how frustrating and kind of offensive that is, no matter how honorable the intentions.

The story unfolded naturally, and the pacing was really good. I typically don’t like books that take place over such a short period of time because the pacing is very hard to get right, but I think Rebecca Mahoney did a magnificent job. I was never bored, and it never felt rushed. Every next step was logical. The earlier twists and turns were appropriately surprising while still making perfect sense. The last couple twists/reveals felt as if the author showed her hand just a chapter or so too early leading up to the big reveal, but it wasn’t too big of an issue. That final resolution was not what I expected, but I really, really liked it. The morals were slightly heavy-handed, but they were important enough, and incorporated enough that it didn’t bother me.
All in all, Mahoney crafted a really solid debut novel that gave me a little bit of The Raven Boys vibes (it’s not at all similar, it just for some reason reminded me of that series), and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next. Highly recommend!

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

This book surprised me.

It's hard to give a summary but think prophecies, memories, shadow(?) creatures, and lot's of dealing with trauma. Of course like the name of the title there is a flood that threatens the valley but I don't wanna say much more than that because I'm sure the blurbs for this book are better than anything I could have written.

Please look at trigger warnings before reading this book.

When I started it I was really thrown and had a hard time telling up from down but I think it's meant to be written like that to make us feel how our main character Rose Feels. I had a hard time getting into this book just because couldn't grasp what was going on and there was past and present moments that melted together. Obviously some is intentional and well done but some are just confusing. I also had a difficult time with knowing the characters until much later in the story. I thought Flora was Rose's friend until like 1/2 of the book had gone by. While the beginning was a little rough for me it really started to get good in the middle and I was fascinated by what was happening and what would happen next. This book made me quite emotional as we watch Rose deal with feelings of guilt, regret, and her past trauma. I think the concept for this book is really unique and although not exactly like "We Were Liars" I think if you liked that book you might like this. That being said I personally enjoyed this book more and thought it packed more of an emotional punch.

My one critique is that while the magical realism is cool it leaves the story very confusing. A lot of things aren't exactly explained and I really didn't get what was happening until maybe 65% into the book. It was hard to keep track of the many different aspects of this book and I don't really think things came together until later.

Overall, 3.5/5 stars and I would still recommend this book.

My absolute favorite thing about this book, besides the beautiful cover, was the amazing writing. The style of writing felt almost majestic in a sense. I felt really immersed in the book as a whole, and I feel like I felt every emotion possible whilst reading it. I did however get confused throughout the plot, especially during the many flashbacks that occur. I also felt as though I didn't and couldn't really get attached to any of the characters. Overall a solid read I would recommend to others!

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

I don't know how much I'm a magical realism person, so I didn't really get into this story until 70% in cause it was disorienting and confusing at times just how Rose's PTSD affects her. Honestly, there were moments I felt like I wasn't smart enough for this book haha. The conversations around memory and perception left me 😰😅
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I really liked the characters though and how big the personalities of the supporting characters were. They felt so realistic that they kind of keep you grounded in the story since Rose deals with so many flashbacks and is constantly going between the present and her memories. Felix was that annoying one that is always freaking out and blowing things out of proportion but it would have been weird if everyone was calm about possibly dying in a flood.
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The writing overall was really good and in theory it was cool how Mahoney keeps you on edge like Rose, but as the reader I struggled with that a bit. I would recommend this to people who want to read a book with a teen struggling with grief and her PTSD diagnosis that often makes her an unreliable narrator, alternating timelines, and an apocalyptic feel that keeps you reeling and on your toes but also encourages you.

I started reading this book but it was not to my liking. This will unroftunatley have to be a DNF for me but will be rating it 5 stars as the writing was nice but the story did not fully speak to me. Its not the authors fault that this is the system created.

A beautiful use of magical realism to illustrate Rose's struggle with PTSD and grief. The cover is really beautiful.

First off, have you ever seen such a beautiful and unique cover?? That is what immediately drew me in to this book and I wanted to know what it was about. I really loved how the author used magical realism to explore PTSD and trauma. I did enjoy the story, but it was quite weird. The author embraced the weirdness and made it work.

I loved how beautiful the writing was and almost put me in a trance if that makes sense. I had to really focus and get totally immersed in the book to understand everything that was happening because we get flashbacks and just so many weird points as well. This book had me feeling all the emotions because I felt for the main character and her trauma from losing her best friend.

I just really really loved the unique plot of a girl who lost her best friend, getting stranded in the desert, finding a random town and finding out that she is like a prophet and the town is going to have a flood and they have been expecting her. I don't really want to say anything else because I went into it knowing hardly anything and it made it really beautiful and lovely.

The only thing I have to say is while I loved it, at the end I wasn't attached to any of the characters. It did make me feel sadness and I loved the premise, but not totally in love with it.

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