Reviewed by Donna

 

TITLE: Waiting for the Flood

AUTHOR: Alexis Hall

PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing

LENGTH: 106 Pages

BLURB:

People come as well as go.

Twelve years ago, Edwin Tully came to Oxford and fell in love with a boy named Marius. He was brilliant. An artist. It was going to be forever.

Two years ago, it ended.

Now Edwin lives alone in the house they used to share. He tends to damaged books and faded memories, trying to a build a future from the fragments of the past.

Then the weather turns, and the river spills into Edwin’s quiet world, bringing with it Adam Dacre from the Environment Agency. An unlikely knight, this stranger with roughened hands and worn wellingtons, but he offers Edwin the hope of something he thought he would never have again.

As the two men grow closer in their struggle against the rising waters, Edwin learns he can’t protect himself from everything—and sometimes he doesn’t need to try.

 

REVIEW:

All I really want to say to review this book is this one sentence – It made me sad. Thank you very much, review written, I’m off to drown my sorrows in an alcoholic beverage.

No? I need to write more? Damn. Well how about I start by sharing with you the little notes I wrote to myself as I was reading this? See, I have the worst, worst memory. So if I’m reviewing a book I’ll highlight and write notes as I read. These are the completely unedited notes I scribbled out (which may or may not be tear splattered).

– First half – I just feel deeply sad profoundly sad

– felt like I was going to cry through the whole thing

– no bad stuff is happening but it’s all just so goddamn sad

– 75% – still crying

– thank god this is only 100 pages

– marius isn’t a bad guy. he just stopped loving Edwin – which was so much sadder

– And then it was all ok

So, in case you may have missed it – this book will make you feel sad. (Someone want to do a word count on “sad”?) I honestly spent the first 80% of this book with that burning feeling in my throat, you know when you’re going to burst into tears at any moment. Truthfully, the only thing that kept me reading was knowing there was going to some relief at the end. And oh my God, if I had discovered a bittersweet ending I would have lost my shit! The reason for all this pain and suffering? Well, that would be Edwin.

Edwin Tully loved Marius. He would love Marius forever. For ten years Marius loved Edwin back. Then he didn’t. And Edwin found himself all alone, still loving Marius and not knowing how to stop. AND SHIT I’M CRYING AGAIN! I really wish you had just let me write – It made me sad! Edwin still lives in the home that he shared with Marius, practically isolated from the rest of the world, even when he goes out into it. He no longer feels comfortable around their joint friends or Marius’s mother, who still sees Edwin as family despite the fact that he holds her at arms length. It doesn’t help that Edwin is a socially anxious stutterer.

When Edwin’s neighborhood begins to flood with the rains he’s forced to ask for help from an Environmental Agency worker. That worker is Adam Dacre, who isn’t shy about letting Edwin know he’d like to do more than just help stop the flood waters. But Edwin is uncertain if he wants to risk another relationship because, as he points out, Marius didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t cheat or get violent and he cried when they broke up. He just realized that he didn’t love Edwin anymore and Edwin is terrified that there’s nothing he can do to stop that from happening again.

Despite all the crying, I did enjoy this book. I know I said – thank god it’s only 100 pages, but that’s only because Edwin and I both needed to be put out of our misery. For those 100 pages the emotion dial was cranked all the way to high and when I reached the spot where Edwin gives in, when he lets go of his fear and tells Adam that he wants to try, oh my god, I swear I just felt such relief. It really was just like the rain had stopped and everything was calm again. That was some bloody intense and fabulous writing.

While I haven’t seen this marketed as part of a series, it is labeled “A Spires Story”. The other Spires Story being Glitterland. Please don’t go into this thinking you’re going to get a similar story, or even a connected story (although I assume Max is the same Max). If you thought Ash was depressing just wait till you meet Edwin.

So was there no humor? Well, I’ll admit that I did have a little chuckle when I read that Adam’s sister’s name was Myfanwy. I figured that made him the only gay in the village. (But if you’re not a Little Britain fan you’re probably wondering what the heck I’m going on about, huh?)

I recommend that you read this at one of two times. Either when you’re in a super good mood and think you can deal with the emotional pain or when you feel the need to have a bloody good cry.

 

RATING: 

 

BUY LINKS:

Riptide Publishing

Amazon

ARe