While I can completely see how this could be a book that other's love, it fell flat for me. The character's personalities didn't feel complete and I didn't feel any connection. Even though the storyline didn't keep my interest, there were a couple lines by the author that I found to be so beautiful and poetic. I would love to give author another try! I just don't think this story was for me.

Aley Waterman’s debut novel Mudflowers is a loose exploration of grief, love, sexuality, friendship, and finding yourself in your 20s - right up my alley!

The first few pages had me feeling a bit skeptical as Sophie, our narrator, traverses through a number of complex thoughts and feelings, and I found myself getting lost in these journal-like musings without having much opening context to ground her experiences and have them stick for the following chapters. Eventually I felt a good rhythm come in as characters and a loose plot line were introduced.

As the novel continues, the themes become jumbled as Sophie takes brief detours into other subjects, and it was hard to decipher exactly what message Waterman was trying to get across. While I do enjoy a Sally Rooney-esque ‘no plot just vibes’ kind of story, this one had a few too many ‘vibes’ flying around for anything to leave a solid mark on me.

I did love how Waterman writes about certain feelings and experiences with such detail (although some of the metaphors felt a bit too overly specific / abstract), some that I can relate to but have never seen explored in a novel. At moments it felt like I was reading my own internal monologue which was spooky - a bit chaotic, judgemental, and lots of personal reflection.

I’d recommend giving Mudflowers a spin if you’re looking for a moody read with a healthy dose of character-study, but be wary that slow moments that can make this read a bit of a push to get through.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for this eBook, Mudflowers will be released in October!

I absolutely loved the stream of consciousness element of this book as honestly it’s how my brain processes things. it was a really engaging novel even if the image of bisexual women as being more prone to cheat was definitely a downside for me!

i think this is the type of book thats only enjoyable if u can somewhat relate to it. i couldnt relate to the main character at all and i very quickly lost interest in trying to understand her feelings or get to know more abt her. the narrative style didnt help with that bc disliked being stuck inside of sophie's head sm and the books very heavy on introspection. i also couldnt connect to the other characters nor really understand what sophie liked abt them/what they liked abt sophie. so yeah, found this pretty boring overall and it really dragged on even tho its just 200-something pages

Mudflowers started out really strong and had its very amazing parts, which were:

- its writing (!!!!!)
- its pacing (medium-paced, I liked it)
- its characters

I really felt deep into the protagonist, Sophie, and her monologues. This book talked about many things but one that I loved most was about loving someone and also wanting to be loved. There are lots of lines in this book that resonated with me, and one of the reasons why I liked it is it made me feel something. Yeah sometimes that’s enough for me to like a book.

Its only negative part was it got very dragging and boring after 100 pages and only got interesting again like 170 pages in. Other than that, there are many reasons why people should read this book and one of those is the GAYS here, obviously.

Loved everything about this book, it’s definitely one of my high 3 stars out there.

- the story drew me in within the first few paragraphs. The quote “I wanted so badly to love in a good way.” is what really drew me into the story. And honestly I have never read a book where there was no quotation marks around the speaking parts so it took me a bit to get used to it.
- I love the attention to detail this book has. I loved reading about who the main character (Sophie) interacts with and who they were in her life. Sophie is a complex character and during the book it shows how she has these complex feelings, sometimes good and sometimes bad, but she still feels it because that’s what happened when you are human. There were times throughout the book I was annoyed by Sophie’s actions or decisions and looking back it makes me like the book even more. It shows how complex Sophie’s character is and this book is a true character study.
- The sentences read like poetry and there were so many quotes from this book that reminded me of such.
- I appreciated being able to to read this book. Thanks to the publisher and Net Gallery.

My feelings towards this book were very up and down whilst reading.

I love a messy girl Sally Rooney-esque, no plot just life kind of story.
Flipping between finding everyone insufferable but then going along with the chaotic vibes.

Exploration of loss of a parent, grief, relationships in your 20’s and found family.

I did like the ending and thought it was sweet.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rare Machines.
3/5 ⭐️

Aley Waterman's debut novel Mudflowers is an intimate look into the mind of a young woman as she navigates the messiness of love, grief, and getting lost in other people in an attempt to meet herself. 27-year-old glass artist Sophie is finding her footing in the wake of her mother's death, living in a cramped apartment with grouchy fiction writer Lionel and her not-quite-boyfriend, Alex. Inseparable since childhood, Sophie and Alex have been weaving in and out of a hazily defined relationship over the years that has kept each of them afloat through the harsh realities of life. When Sophie meets the enigmatic poet Maggie and starts to fall for her, all of their lives tangle together in ways that will change them forever.

Waterman's portrayal of young adult life and art culture is both timely and timeless, speaking to the alienation of remaining constantly available to friends, colleagues, and lovers without (at least intentionally) letting them close enough to see anything about you too cringe-inducing. If that sounds like setting yourself up for failure, it is: Sophie constantly wavers between her desire for an all-consuming connection, and how stifled and disappointed she feels once she gets it, the fantasy dispelled on both sides. She is, ironically for all her identity management, irrepressibly herself to the reader. Profound and insufferable all at once, Sophie embodies contradiction while always coming across as consistent in it -- the yearning that drives her is always clear for us, even when it isn't for her. Waterman's dreamy, poetry-inflected prose is the perfect brush to paint an idealist with a judgmental streak, making the universal into something deeply personal and meaningful.

Sadly, not all of Waterman's story is strong enough to bear the weight it wants to carry. Sophie's musings on life tend to go on for pages that could be better spent showing us who she is rather than telling us at length, While the insight we get from these inner monologues is vital to who she is when there's no one to perform for but herself, they do really make the short page count drag. Waterman also takes some odd detours into discussions about intimate violence and the politics of being or feeling like a "bad man," whether you are 'bad' or a man at all. These subjects come across as shoe-horned into Sophie's narration, out of place in her self-consciousness about them. People who have used their influence or social position to hurt others do appear in the novel but are depicted in such a way that their inclusion in the narrative feels pointless. The novel clearly has something to say about sexual harassment/assault, but doesn't manage to do so with much conviction.

With all that said, if you're looking for a moody and thought-provoking character study to mull over this fall, Mudflowers will give you just that. The book is set for release in October. Thank you to NetGalley & Dundurn Press for providing the eBook!

Thank you to NetGalley and Rare Machines for the opportunity to read this book. This novel follows Sophie, whose mother has passed away, and her relationships to a poet, Maggie, and a childhood friend, Alex. The writing style was evocative and engaging, reminding me of Sally Rooney's novels. I enjoyed and appreciated the reflections on the effects of grief on one's life and relationships, which resonated with me personally. That said, I found the relationships between the characters slightly difficult to follow, This is a great pick for those who enjoy love triangle stories!

This book was so beautiful. Very Sally Rooney-esque (down to the lack of quotation marks and everything). The writing is candid and so perfectly suited for the story. Sophie, the protagonist, is messy and interesting, she’s flawed and does some shitty things but she isn’t written as invincible, there’s real consequences for every action. I love the way the plot meanders and flows and ebbs and is just so much lovely nothing but also felt like it could have just a tiny bit more of a structure. I was happily surprised with this book. Recommend if you’re looking for a life-affirming, beautiful piece of fiction. Thank you netgalley for the digital ARC.

A look at found families and the impact they have on you. She was following Sophie, an artist living with her longtime boyfriend, Alex. When Sophie meets a woman who flips her perspective upside down. Sophie starts to see life with this new woman, leaving her boyfriend and old life behind. When her lover and new obsession betray her, Sophie is left in pure isolation.

Unfortunately this was only a 'middle of the road' book for me. While I usually like 'no plot' books, I don't think Mudflowers is going to be very memorable for me. I did like how character focused this was but lost me in the dialogue.

I really enjoyed this book because it taps into my love of co-creating relationships with people that fit with how our Venn diagrams overlap rather than adhering to prescribed norms.

The characters in this book are very much holding space for what they want rather than what they think is right, which is quite beautiful. Albeit rather messy as they're all in their late 20s.

I like this writer's voice and the world of the story they created. Keen to see what they do next.

“We stood there quietly for a moment looking at each other, maybe mutually wondering if we had both just added a whole person to our lives, or maybe it was just me wondering that”

This book was a strange one, quaint, self conscious, and a little pretentious, I can see it appealing to first year philosophy students. Some parts were enjoyably surreal, reminding me of Miranda July short stories in making the ordinary extraordinary, but others felt juvenile, more befitting of the young adult genre. That said, there are also moments of beauty, of observational comedy, of putting common human experiences into uncommon soul stirring prose.

“Maybe it would be nice, I thought, if, from the outset of meeting a person, you could just get a glimpse of when someone would mean the most to you — the highest point of love between you and a person, a percentage, so that you could know what you were getting yourself into. You would get one shot, the moment of pure love recorded from the future and sent to you via email, where you could assess it on your lap- top, from the safety of your bedroom. Then you would get a follow-up attachment that showed you all of the pain the person would bring you, too. You would push your thumb into the screen and feel the love or the pain for as long as your hand made contact. And when you broke contact, there would be no necessity of recovery, just a decision: Do I want to love this person? Am I prepared?”

I think the author has a lot of potential, that will take some maturity to realise. Where she was good she was great, my interest is piqued, and I will be keeping an eye out for her next work.

“When I think about this time that I didn’t get, it hurts more than anything else hurts, because it is as imaginable as it is impossible and there’s no getting out of it, the space between the feeling of inevitability and impossibility”

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

this character study explores family: the one you are born into and the one you form with those around you through sophie, post her mother’s death as she navigates a love triangle between her childhood friend alex and poet maggie.

i have mixed feelings on this. on the one hand, i loved the messiness. perhaps not relatable to me yet or at all, but still, something we know all too well in various areas of life. on the other hand, i struggled to connect with this. the characters felt straight out of a sally rooney novel but without the substance and intrigue rooney crafts them with making for a mid-read.

<i>- 2.5 stars.</i>

<i>thank you to netgalley and dundurn press for the arc.</i>

It was okay, nothing stood out and it times it was slow. Didn't love it, didn't hate it, wish there was more going on. I didn't really connect with the characters Sophie was bland, her love interests were too opposites which felt a bit ridiculous.

I wanted to like this one due to the plot and being set in Toronto. But, i found myself pretty bored throughout and although I love books with not much plot, couldn’t click with this one

Thanks to Netgalley!The no plot just vibes are just immaculate with this one✨ . It's about a woman in Toronto named Sophie who falls in love with a woman called Maggie, after first seeing her at her poetry reading. Sophie lives with her childhood best friend Alex, who she loves AND has sex with quite a lot but she doesn't think she'd be good for him. The author's writing is so poetic and beautiful. But I found the narration a little bit confusing at the beginning. I wish it was a bit more clearer. This book describes a lot of very very true feelings and thoughts that I didn't even know could be put into words. And as it kept reading , I got this feeling that someone got a spoon and was stirring my heart with it🥲.My heart ached because of Sophie's sadness and I felt a bit lonely for her. All in all this book was a beautiful, painful , euphoric experience.

Fans of Sally Rooney will most likely love this. It’s me, I’m the fan.

Mudflowers started our pretty slow at first, and I was in a little bit of a pickle—I loved how introspective it was, but it veered a little too close to a navel-gazing narrative for me to be excited about it. I love a deep character study, but it started out almost too self-indulgent to the point that it became a little too slow. It picks up towards the latter half of part one, though, for which I’m thankful—because I devoured it promptly after.

It’s a no-plot-just-vibes book in its simplest form; one that tears through our own preconceived notions about intimacy, friendship, and unresolved trauma. Our main character, Sophie, takes on an inquisitive tone—and she’s written much like a Rooney character. She’s incredibly flawed, borderline naive, yet undeniably easy to fall in love with. Throughout the book, she brings to the surface a multitude of questions and issues I’d otherwise be terrified to say out loud.

The narrative reads like modern stream of consciousness—modern, dareisay, to a millennial extent. It was an interesting experience to read about current—as in actually current—pop culture references, mixed with the occasional social politics. It was refreshing; new—yet eerily familiar; as if I’ve read this book before but can’t quite seem to place it. That being said, it can read a little too closely to Rooney—with a plot line similar in vein to Conversations with Friends, save for the complication of a not-quite-ménage à trois. This will be compared to the likes of Rooney/King once it comes out—so if you like those two, then this might pique your interest.

Truthfully, I had some issue with how some of the characters dropped off the earth with not much exposition on their later fate—but for a debut, this was a very interesting read. 3.75🌙

Mudflowers is a type of specific book that some will either like or dislike, like Sally Rooney's writing style. Its prose is that of a long stream of consciousness, a playback memory minute by minute which can be alluring. On the downside, it can be monotonous if there isn't much going on. It's a beautiful story about the relationships between three people, an ex, a crush, and the main character who is out of sorts with their feelings in a contemporary setting.

There's a lot of good here, okay over there, etc. I think if given the time to write in different prose or even a different genre, I'd be entirely convinced. But unfortunately it doesn't read "brain chemistry altering" status. I believe everyone's experience is vast and infinite but sometimes it feels too familiar, too same-y. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but unfortunately there's not much here that sticks out. Overall, it was a good read.