A woman's thoughtful look into her own life, and her most important relationships. Sophie is an artist, one who works with stained glass. She's twenty-seven, and the most important person in her life is Alex, her best friend since childhood and sometimes lover. Then she meets Maggie, and is instantly drawn to her. They become close, but relationships are always complicated... particularly those between artistic twentysomethings.

I liked Sophie as a protagonist. She's definitely a bit weird, but also fascinating. I enjoyed the emotion of the story, the realness helped along by the first person narration. The novel is well written, and the narrative style quickly drew me in. Worth the read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I thoroughly revered the
exultations and perils of exploring relationship, grief, and navigating
the complicated offspring.

Boy oh boy. From about 10% in right up til the end, this was an emotional gut punch! There’s a steady enjoyable plot and the characters are fully fleshed out, heavily intricate and nuanced with many flaws and contradictions (which I always love the most) that I could feel myself connect to - what more could you ask for?

I had many moments of introspection reading this. There was so much beauty, so many lines that I stopped to think on. It opened up lots of new perspectives for me; specifically on the different ways of defining family. Everything these characters felt I seemed to feel along with them. The sharp prickle of betrayal caught me in my chest. The warmth, ease and familiarity of their relationships. The struggle of fraught childhood memories resurfacing. I became cocooned in Sophie, Alex & Maggie’s little world and really didn’t want to leave.

My only real criticism is that there are unnecessary slurs and some generally questionable language. I counted 2, but possibly more, uses of s*** which there’s really no reason for. It felt out of place and confused me, particularly when otherwise the writing was so gorgeous.

Despite this I would still definitely recommend as it’s a searing debut, a complex & intimate portrayal of modern dating, relationship dynamics, and the painful accuracy of navigating trauma. Very grateful to have received this arc!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an eARC.

I liked the story but unfortunately it wasn’t executed well.

This book felt pointless and mundane. I enjoyed while I was actively reading, but never felt excited to pick it up. Some books can pull off not having a strong plot, this one can not. With that being said, some parts of this book were generally interesting and enjoyable. Some things felt like they were just added to sound smart, but it was not fulfilling.

fleabag insipred and trying to be something a la rooney but feels affected and ultimately shallow tbh.

This book was different from what I normally read but I found it intriguing and I'm glad I gave it a chance.

Hmm this was an odd one for me. It was interesting and I might have enjoyed it more at another time but it didn't quite click with me. It meanders and monologues in a way that made it hard to get a grasp of, particularly in terms of connecting to the characters. That said, I did like how it showed the messiness of being an aspiring artist in your twenties. It did a good job of scene setting. A read of ups and downs.

Such an interesting novel. I am excited to read more of their upcoming work. im glad to have read this!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending through an e-copy for review!

I feel strangely about this one. It’s a completely different style to what I’d usually read and I didn’t necessarily click with it, yet it’s a book I’d recommend preserving with.

Although I didn’t connect with the characters, some of Sophie’s deep inner musings resonated with me - she’s an extremely interesting character and she feels everything so intensely which I relate to in a way.

The writing style was a bit difficult for me at times, but I do think the content itself was beautifully written and Waterman truly has a special way with words.

I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately I didn't find myself drawn into the character's stories or lives. There were a lot of philosophical musings and internal dialogues on the page which I might have been interesting if they were connected more tangibly to the characters life, but a lot of the time I got so lost in these monologues that I couldn't remember what was happening in the character's lives. I wasn't sure what anyone wanted in the book or if maybe the characters didn't know, but in the end I didn't know what to root for so lacked a connection to the characters that would draw me into follow their stories.

I struggled with the writing style of this book. It was too non-traditional but I one that I think is worth persevering with.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for this e-ARC!

This feels like a hard book to review! I liked Waterman’s writing style, and liked Sophie’s recounting of her own memories and how they impact her in the current moment, and I also liked hanging out in this version of Toronto, but all of the other characters felt a bit out of reach to me. I didn’t have a solid conception of Alex or Maggie by the time we go to the end of the book. Sheila Heti was Waterman’s mentor for this book, and I can feel the resonances of Heti’s style here really strongly.

I couldn't get into it because of the writing style. There are very few line breaks, and no dialogues at all. I don't see the point in this stylistic choice, since it was a story like any other that didn't seem to benefit in any way from being written like that, apart from making the mundane things that were happening very, very boring and slow. The little prologue by the authors made me very curious and eager to read this story, but it immediately became apparent I wasn't going to be able to get through it because of the writing style.

I'm an absolute SUCKER for a Romantic retelling and I am so thankful to Dundurn Press, Aley Waterman, and Netgalley for granting me advanced access to this behemoth before it came out on October 17, 2023.

For me, this book took me awhile to get through. I didn’t like the fact that there were no defined chapters. The relationships seemed dysfunctional and lead to complicated and confusing situations for the three in this story. There didn’t seem to be anything too deep emotion wise which I expected there to be and couldn’t connect with any of the characters.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, this is a voluntary honest review.

When someone asks me for the short list of my favourite books, Mudflowers will be on it. You follow the meandering lives of 3 twenty-somethings in Toronto, and you fall in love with them every step of the way. The prose are beautiful and have a very Sally-Rooney-esque vibe to them (down to the lack of punctuation where you would expect it to be). I will be anxiously awaiting this author's next novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Not for me. The actual premise, writing and characters aren't bad but it felt like an outpour of words and just this constant stream without any breaks and it took a way from the good aspects of this book. I think this needs a bit more editing and to make the characters more likeable and relatable.

I'm afraid that this book wasn't for me, but I'm sure that other people might enjoy it more than I did.

Thank u netgalley for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Dnf at 38%. I feel like this is trying too hard to be something. I love literary books like this, but it just isn’t giving what it needs to give. I’m not connecting with anyone, and so far pretty much nothing has occurred. It feels very stagnant. This book isn’t bad, it could just be a lot

2.5 stars