There are some books that lay out the plot and other important details right from the start, and then there are others that lead you on through the chapters until you get enough information that you can start to piece together the story and what is really going on. I felt that The Valley and the Flood was definitely in the latter category, and I was a little confused as I began reading it, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t understand what this book is all about right from the beginning. 

The story begins with a bit of a mystery. Rose Colter’s car is on the fritz, and it seems as though her phone and the radio in her car are as well. She’s contemplating some decisions that she has recently made when all of a sudden, her car radio starts playing a voicemail off of her phone. Weird, right? Well, it turns out that this is just a little bit of the weirdness that is going to happen in this book, so prepare yourself for lots of other strange happenings. Against what might be her better judgement, Rose gets out of her car and starts walking towards some lights she sees in the distance, assuming it’s a town and thinking she will find someone there to help her with her car troubles. Rose doesn’t know what to expect in the near future, but it turns out, the lights are from a town and the town is expecting Rose. 

Throughout the story, Rose takes us through some of her past experiences and how they shape where she is now, which is a town called Lotus Valley (that may or may not be real). It is clear that Rose went through a major trauma and is still working through it, and perhaps stumbling across this town, and the people in it, is part of what will help her heal. Essentially, Rose is trying to figure out who she is without a very important person in her life, and what her life looks like without them.

Looking back on my experience reading this book, I realized that throughout most of it, I wasn’t really sure what was happening. Then I reached the end and came to a realization and lots of things made more sense. The Valley and the Flood has metaphors abounding if you look for them and has a really great lesson at the heart of it. Some of the emotional stuff that Rose is dealing with is really rough; however, the way it is portrayed is more of an adventure where she learns how strong she is along the way.

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Penguin Group

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  9 religious exclamations; 9 mild obscenities; 1 religious profanity; 21 scatological words; 3 anatomical terms; 4 F-word derivatives.

Violence/Gore:  A minor thinks about the possibility of being murdered; a mention is made of a minor having died; a mention is made of a girl losing her father when she was young; a brief scene occurs where a minor is hit by a car; a mention is made of a boyfriend having a tendency of being violent; a brief scene occurs where a ghostly being is mentioned to eat people; a creepy scene occurs where a spider/snake-like creature appears and communicates with humans; a notice is released to a town about a “dangerous interloper, a bringer of calamity”; there are conversations about an incoming flood in several brief scenes; a dish is mentioned to be thrown out of a window and shatter on the ground; an accident is referred to where 2 minors died in an ATV accident; a different accident is referred to where a little boy drowned; a situation is referred to where a man is taken into psychiatric care because people are afraid he might “do something”; a brief scene occurs where a report of a car accident is made, a minor girl is mentioned to be dead, having been killed on impact; a brief scene occurs where a minor experiences the shock of having airbags deploy; a mention is made of a woman who lost her twin years ago; a minor girl imagines a scenario where she uses a paring knife to injure a peer that she does not like, but realizes later that she could never injure him; a panic attack is depicted in one scene from the point of view of the minor experiencing it.

Sex/Nudity:  A minor girl kisses 2 boys on the cheek; a boy kisses another boy on the cheek and there is a brief conversation hinting at the boys being gay.

Mature Subject Matter:

Loss of a parent; mental illness; loss of a friend; shoplifting; PTSD (included in a warning at the beginning of the book).

Alcohol / Drug Use:

An adult mentions to a minor that they shouldn’t drink unless it is in their house; a man is mentioned to be getting drunk; a minor is mentioned to have been allegedly driving under the influence and then to have gotten in an accident.