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Lush
Eighteen-year-old Isla lives in Naudiz, a historical reenactment community in a future America. Contracted by the government to perform the traditions of her Mennonite ancestors for tourists, she loves her family but wonders where life could take her.
A new schoolteacher spots Isla's potential as a CREIA cadet, making her one of many girls recruited to visit the closely guarded Library of Ages. There are rumors that girls who go to the CREIA never return, but Isla is armed with a powerful tincture from her brother's workshop and has her best friend Esme by her side.
She soon learns the dark secrets hidden in the CREIA's beautiful campus. The girls are assessed for a sinister destiny and forced to become dream addicts, forever lost in a hallucinogenic reality. When it seems there is no hope left, Isla's connection to nature and the chance at a new love reveal that the key to the future lies in the past. Sifting among the ruins, she finds herself standing up to answer the question all Citizens want to know: Where will they go as the Earth begins to heal from environmental destruction, growing into a lush land full of promise?
A new schoolteacher spots Isla's potential as a CREIA cadet, making her one of many girls recruited to visit the closely guarded Library of Ages. There are rumors that girls who go to the CREIA never return, but Isla is armed with a powerful tincture from her brother's workshop and has her best friend Esme by her side.
She soon learns the dark secrets hidden in the CREIA's beautiful campus. The girls are assessed for a sinister destiny and forced to become dream addicts, forever lost in a hallucinogenic reality. When it seems there is no hope left, Isla's connection to nature and the chance at a new love reveal that the key to the future lies in the past. Sifting among the ruins, she finds herself standing up to answer the question all Citizens want to know: Where will they go as the Earth begins to heal from environmental destruction, growing into a lush land full of promise?
262 pages, Paperback
Published November 15, 2020
2 people are currently reading
1631 people want to read
About the author
Anne-Marie Yerks
6 books40 followersAnne-Marie Yerks is a creative writer from metro Detroit, MI. A graduate of George Mason's MFA program, her work has appeared in literary journals such as "Juked," "The Penn Review," and in several anthologies. She is the author of "Dream Junkies" (New Rivers Press, 2016) and "LUSH" (Odyssey Books, 2020). She has freelanced for many magazines, publishing non-fiction articles about wellness, fashion, real estate, crafts, home improvement, and education. A longtime writing teacher, she loves traveling to literary destinations and occasionally presents at AWP and the Winter Wheat Festival of Writing. Anne-Marie is also a certified seamstress (but prefers the word "sewist"), a fiber artist, and a beginning gardener. Contact her on Twitter @amy1620 or through her website (http://amyerks.wixsite.com/home).
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 1, 2020
Lush is the kind of book where you just have no idea where it's going to take you. I absolutely loved all the twists and turns, loved that I never really knew what was going to happen next, or how it could possibly end. I always wanted to know more, especially with it's eerie dystopian setting. The world was interesting and unlike anything I've read before. Isla made a great protagonist. She's a regular girl who just wants a simple life, and she was really relatable. But when outside forces upended her life, I love how strong she remained despite everything.
Lush is a fast and gripping read, perfect for fans of Divergent or if you're just beginning your foray into dystopian novels.
Thank you to Odyssey Books for providing me with a copy!
Lush is a fast and gripping read, perfect for fans of Divergent or if you're just beginning your foray into dystopian novels.
Thank you to Odyssey Books for providing me with a copy!
dnf
March 22, 2024CW: non-consensual kiss (called out in text), kidnapping, ableism, eugenics, use of r slur
DNF @25%
I struggled with this one, and I’ve decided that I have to let it go.
I didn’t enjoy the writing style. It kinda made sense for Isla to narrate and talk the way that she did, she’s spent her whole life literally living in a pre-civil war reenactment so of course her way of speaking would sound stilted and unusual to someone from today. But when all the characters who weren’t raised in a historical reenactment are talking in exactly the same formal and stilted way, there’s a problem. Plus there were so many moments where everything stops so the characters can say things they already know to provide exposition for the reader, and not once did it read as natural to me.
I can accept strict gender norms, cisnormativity, and heteronormativity in a futuristic and dystopian setting if the main character chafes against it and it’s shown to be wrong. Granted, I only read a quarter of this book, but what I read in that quarter gave me no hope that these things would be improved upon later on. A side character’s father had died at some point in the backstory, so she and her mother don’t work on their family’s farm anymore because apparently it’s impossible for women to do that. There’s no way that Isla could possibly find someone she likes at this tech company job interview thing, because there are only going to be girls there, and obviously we all know that girls need to find husbands. The narration uses the phrase ‘his or hers’ completely unironically. It takes more effort to do that than it does to just say ‘they’, I guarantee that when people aren’t thinking about it they’ll say ‘they’ automatically. I did it just then, and that wasn’t even planned! Whenever I see someone use ‘his or hers’ it just tells me that they deliberately took the time to decide not to be inclusive, and there’s never any excuse for that.
I think Isla should be gay. I think that would resolve some (not all, but some) of the issues I’ve had with the first quarter of this book. If she’s gay, then she would have to call out and go against some of the things that the society presented in this book accept as being universally true, and I genuinely think that this extra layer would make for a more interesting story. It’s also the only way that the constant cisnormativity and heteronormativity would be even slightly worth it. But I’m not going to make myself sit through something I’m not enjoying in the vain hope that the main character might be gay. I’ve done that before, it’s never worth it.
To clarify, I'm not saying that I don't like reading about cis and straight characters, or that this book is bad because it is, as far as I can tell, about cis and straight characters. But this was obnoxiously so to the point where it was pulling me out of the story. I was perhaps the wrong person for the publisher to approach with this one.
I’ve read the first quarter and she’s only just reached the CREIA HQ. Which is supposed to be the inciting incident as indicated in the book’s description. In all the page time so far, nothing of significance has actually happened. We’ve simply followed Isla through a few days in her life before she’s finally taken to the place where the story is actually going to happen. I don’t have the time or the patience for this.
The exact thing that made me stop reading was the use of the r slur in a list of things (including ‘physical abnormalities’) that developing technology and ‘genetic control’ is apparently able to eradicate. I’m well aware that it’s the bad guys who are literally advocating eugenics here, but I legitimately cannot tell whether the reader is supposed to think that this is what makes them the bad guys, or if it’s something else that hasn’t been revealed yet. Isla certainly didn’t see a problem with getting rid of disabled people. And regardless of the intended meaning of the scene, I don’t think the slur was necessary at all.
I didn’t read enough of this to feel comfortable rating it, but if I’d pushed through I doubt my rating would’ve been a high one. I do not recommend this book.
I recieved an e-arc from the publisher in return for an honest review. All quotes may differ in the published version.
DNF @25%
I struggled with this one, and I’ve decided that I have to let it go.
I didn’t enjoy the writing style. It kinda made sense for Isla to narrate and talk the way that she did, she’s spent her whole life literally living in a pre-civil war reenactment so of course her way of speaking would sound stilted and unusual to someone from today. But when all the characters who weren’t raised in a historical reenactment are talking in exactly the same formal and stilted way, there’s a problem. Plus there were so many moments where everything stops so the characters can say things they already know to provide exposition for the reader, and not once did it read as natural to me.
I can accept strict gender norms, cisnormativity, and heteronormativity in a futuristic and dystopian setting if the main character chafes against it and it’s shown to be wrong. Granted, I only read a quarter of this book, but what I read in that quarter gave me no hope that these things would be improved upon later on. A side character’s father had died at some point in the backstory, so she and her mother don’t work on their family’s farm anymore because apparently it’s impossible for women to do that. There’s no way that Isla could possibly find someone she likes at this tech company job interview thing, because there are only going to be girls there, and obviously we all know that girls need to find husbands. The narration uses the phrase ‘his or hers’ completely unironically. It takes more effort to do that than it does to just say ‘they’, I guarantee that when people aren’t thinking about it they’ll say ‘they’ automatically. I did it just then, and that wasn’t even planned! Whenever I see someone use ‘his or hers’ it just tells me that they deliberately took the time to decide not to be inclusive, and there’s never any excuse for that.
I think Isla should be gay. I think that would resolve some (not all, but some) of the issues I’ve had with the first quarter of this book. If she’s gay, then she would have to call out and go against some of the things that the society presented in this book accept as being universally true, and I genuinely think that this extra layer would make for a more interesting story. It’s also the only way that the constant cisnormativity and heteronormativity would be even slightly worth it. But I’m not going to make myself sit through something I’m not enjoying in the vain hope that the main character might be gay. I’ve done that before, it’s never worth it.
To clarify, I'm not saying that I don't like reading about cis and straight characters, or that this book is bad because it is, as far as I can tell, about cis and straight characters. But this was obnoxiously so to the point where it was pulling me out of the story. I was perhaps the wrong person for the publisher to approach with this one.
I’ve read the first quarter and she’s only just reached the CREIA HQ. Which is supposed to be the inciting incident as indicated in the book’s description. In all the page time so far, nothing of significance has actually happened. We’ve simply followed Isla through a few days in her life before she’s finally taken to the place where the story is actually going to happen. I don’t have the time or the patience for this.
The exact thing that made me stop reading was the use of the r slur in a list of things (including ‘physical abnormalities’) that developing technology and ‘genetic control’ is apparently able to eradicate. I’m well aware that it’s the bad guys who are literally advocating eugenics here, but I legitimately cannot tell whether the reader is supposed to think that this is what makes them the bad guys, or if it’s something else that hasn’t been revealed yet. Isla certainly didn’t see a problem with getting rid of disabled people. And regardless of the intended meaning of the scene, I don’t think the slur was necessary at all.
I didn’t read enough of this to feel comfortable rating it, but if I’d pushed through I doubt my rating would’ve been a high one. I do not recommend this book.
I recieved an e-arc from the publisher in return for an honest review. All quotes may differ in the published version.
November 22, 2020
This is an interesting read where the protagonist, Isla, finds out that life isn't what she expected. She is given a chance in life that may help her, but when she realises how society outside her small hometown is not as what she had hoped, Isla learns of the horrible truth that surrounds women within this futuristic world.
Although the culture in the story is rather old fashioned, since in the future different countries have waged war and ravaged all of humanities history into oblivion, there is a little bit of steampunk feels within the work, which shows more through the story the further you read. It's a nice subtle way to show how the progression of humanity becomes more corrupt as Isla continues on her travels, and in itself the story is a motif for the way in which our own world could head into.
The subject matter does tend to get quite dark in this book, and it was definitely up my alley. There are a lot of vibes with religion, cults and authority that makes Isla's journey more hazardous when she comes to the ultimate realization of just how corrupt the world around her is, and the desperation of how far humanity will go in order to survive.
Although the culture in the story is rather old fashioned, since in the future different countries have waged war and ravaged all of humanities history into oblivion, there is a little bit of steampunk feels within the work, which shows more through the story the further you read. It's a nice subtle way to show how the progression of humanity becomes more corrupt as Isla continues on her travels, and in itself the story is a motif for the way in which our own world could head into.
The subject matter does tend to get quite dark in this book, and it was definitely up my alley. There are a lot of vibes with religion, cults and authority that makes Isla's journey more hazardous when she comes to the ultimate realization of just how corrupt the world around her is, and the desperation of how far humanity will go in order to survive.
December 3, 2020
Review of LushLush
By Anne-Marie Yerks
Published by Odyssey Books
“I was forced by birth to live in the past, but I was more excited by the future and longed to shape mine in many different ways.” So thinks 17 year old Isla Kiehl in 2151 as she works at a spinning wheel. It’s Saturday in a Heritage Mennonite farm and Isla is chatting about the old ways circa 1856 with busloads of Citizen tourists “in pastel pinks, yellows and blues—the standard shades for retirees.”
This time and place in the environmentally ravaged future is rich with possibility, for Isla’s life ahead of her and for us, as readers. Runaways and revolutions come to mind immediately. Isla narrates the novel and her voice is immediately engaging and trustworthy. What she wants, with her 18th birthday mere days away, is not to be married off to Archie Pimm, her only suitor to date. But there is another outlet for bright young women and Isla and her best friend, Esme are more than curious about it.
The Center for Research on Ecological and Intellectual Advancement or CREIA is rumoured to have a legendary library and state of the art research laboratories. It’s also the place where women who want to be teachers can be selected for training there. Or at least, this is the glossy promotion offered by a glamorous speaker at their high school. It would seem to be a respectable escape from life as a living museum exhibit in Cherish Our Past and especially from a suitor with an egg-shaped head and unfortunate eyebrows.
Another young man Isla has eyes for, a mutual crush, warns her about her charismatic teacher and CREIA and Isla’s brilliant brother is uneasy about his little sister leaving the safety of their farm and their father. They’ve already lost their mother to cancer and their elder sister ran away from home and was found dead in mysterious circumstances. But Isla is young and spirited and she wants to see and experience life beyond the derelict houses and trailers near their farm. Off to CREIA she goes with her best friend in a car driven by their teacher despite some last-minute misgivings.
There is a constant undercurrent of fear and menace in the highly stratified colony where they have been taken. The writing throughout is a brilliant example of ‘show, don’t tell— and trust your readers.’ Those of us who are fans of adventurous stories where female characters thrive because they are strong and ingenious and determined when confronted with challenges will bring our reading history to Lush. We will experience a delicious sense of anticipation mixed with dread as we read about the colony where some will teach, some will serve, some will garden and some will have their fertile eggs harvested to contribute to ‘composites’. Did you just shiver involuntarily?
The pacing, meaning the rate at which we learn about this new yet strangely familiar world, is perfectly maintained as well. There are great disparities in food and potable water and housing and power and footwear, things great and relatively small. Like the best dystopian world-building, there is just enough ordinary evidence of civilization to scare the bejeepers out of anyone when Isla has to evade a hologram spider the size of a rabid house-cat. Every character, major or minor, is distinctive and decaying urban streets and rural landscapes are fully imagined, endowed with crucial details— the bare feet, the rope belt holding up frayed jeans, the dignified man on a park bench reading a newspaper, one of the UnSaved. Or the cargo ship heading downriver with a cargo of prisoners which makes me think of the Mississippi or even the Thames. Will the toxic world be restored by working with science or nature, or both? Will Isla succumb to an assigned role in society for the sake of good food and clean water? What price freedom? How can the goodness of humanity prevail over the power-mongers and their allies? What keeps the human quest for hope alive? All these questions and more are deftly and intelligently explored in lyrical language that is never heavy-handed which it could be in less accomplished hands.
The author lives in Detroit, Michigan and the publisher is based in Wellington, New Zealand. Kudos to a creative partnering of Northern and Southern hemisphere denizens!
Highly recommended for readers 12-18 especially but as with all good writing, this book is for any reader of any age who loves a ripping good plot, interesting characters and very good writing guaranteed to keep you reading far later into the night than you should.Lush
By Anne-Marie Yerks
Published by Odyssey Books
“I was forced by birth to live in the past, but I was more excited by the future and longed to shape mine in many different ways.” So thinks 17 year old Isla Kiehl in 2151 as she works at a spinning wheel. It’s Saturday in a Heritage Mennonite farm and Isla is chatting about the old ways circa 1856 with busloads of Citizen tourists “in pastel pinks, yellows and blues—the standard shades for retirees.”
This time and place in the environmentally ravaged future is rich with possibility, for Isla’s life ahead of her and for us, as readers. Runaways and revolutions come to mind immediately. Isla narrates the novel and her voice is immediately engaging and trustworthy. What she wants, with her 18th birthday mere days away, is not to be married off to Archie Pimm, her only suitor to date. But there is another outlet for bright young women and Isla and her best friend, Esme are more than curious about it.
The Center for Research on Ecological and Intellectual Advancement or CREIA is rumoured to have a legendary library and state of the art research laboratories. It’s also the place where women who want to be teachers can be selected for training there. Or at least, this is the glossy promotion offered by a glamorous speaker at their high school. It would seem to be a respectable escape from life as a living museum exhibit in Cherish Our Past and especially from a suitor with an egg-shaped head and unfortunate eyebrows.
Another young man Isla has eyes for, a mutual crush, warns her about her charismatic teacher and CREIA and Isla’s brilliant brother is uneasy about his little sister leaving the safety of their farm and their father. They’ve already lost their mother to cancer and their elder sister ran away from home and was found dead in mysterious circumstances. But Isla is young and spirited and she wants to see and experience life beyond the derelict houses and trailers near their farm. Off to CREIA she goes with her best friend in a car driven by their teacher despite some last-minute misgivings.
There is a constant undercurrent of fear and menace in the highly stratified colony where they have been taken. The writing throughout is a brilliant example of ‘show, don’t tell— and trust your readers.’ Those of us who are fans of adventurous stories where female characters thrive because they are strong and ingenious and determined when confronted with challenges will bring our reading history to Lush. We will experience a delicious sense of anticipation mixed with dread as we read about the colony where some will teach, some will serve, some will garden and some will have their fertile eggs harvested to contribute to ‘composites’. Did you just shiver involuntarily?
The pacing, meaning the rate at which we learn about this new yet strangely familiar world, is perfectly maintained as well. There are great disparities in food and potable water and housing and power and footwear, things great and relatively small. Like the best dystopian world-building, there is just enough ordinary evidence of civilization to scare the bejeepers out of anyone when Isla has to evade a hologram spider the size of a rabid house-cat. Every character, major or minor, is distinctive and decaying urban streets and rural landscapes are fully imagined, endowed with crucial details— the bare feet, the rope belt holding up frayed jeans, the dignified man on a park bench reading a newspaper, one of the UnSaved. Or the cargo ship heading downriver with a cargo of prisoners which makes me think of the Mississippi or even the Thames. Will the toxic world be restored by working with science or nature, or both? Will Isla succumb to an assigned role in society for the sake of good food and clean water? What price freedom? How can the goodness of humanity prevail over the power-mongers and their allies? What keeps the human quest for hope alive? All these questions and more are deftly and intelligently explored in lyrical language that is never heavy-handed which it could be in less accomplished hands.
The author lives in Detroit, Michigan and the publisher is based in Wellington, New Zealand. Kudos to a creative partnering of Northern and Southern hemisphere denizens!
Highly recommended for readers 12-18 especially but as with all good writing, this book is for any reader of any age who loves a ripping good plot, interesting characters and very good writing guaranteed to keep you reading far later into the night than you should.Lush
January 3, 2021
Lush is set in a futuristic America of the 22nd Century. Isla Kiehl lives in the town of Naudiz, a historical community where she re-enacts past traditions and practices for tourists. However, when she is chosen by the CREIA organisation to possibly be selected as one of their prestigious cadets, a sinister nightmare begins to unfold and Isla wishes she could return to her simplistic former life.
I found Lush to be an absorbing and quietly powerful novel. Ms Yerks’ writing is beautiful; intricately woven and yet sharply driven with little superfluity. As the story develops, the narrative becomes inhabited by a creeping sense of foreboding. Even at the beginning, when we learn of her rural, almost bucolic existence, there is an apprehensive, disquieting atmosphere which is both intriguing and ominous; the forced, archaic routine at unsettling odds with the advanced nature of the age. There are enough subtle hints about Isla’s life and the governing administration/organisations, Lush and CREIA for the reader to deduce malevolent forces at work and you are immediately curious. When Isla is taken to CREIA’s campus, the story becomes nightmarishly dystopian. It’s fascinating and horribly compelling not only because of the chilling nature of the plot but because you are not sure who to trust or where the story is heading; the narrative has a number of possible avenues and this keeps the reader gripped. Ms Yerks’ charming writing cloaks the absolute horror of the CREIA campus and yet the elegance of the prose conversely also reinforces the monstrous nature of the place. The spiders, for example, were terrifying and more so for the fact they only appear on a couple of occasions and are described with such eloquent precision. For swathes of the novel, Isla is the only character and she carries the book capably. However, I did think she was occasionally a little superficial and lacking in emotion. Personally, I would have liked to have seen the relationship between herself and Averitt developed earlier. There were a couple of loose ends; Hollis and Ashleen seemed a touch unfinished although their incomplete stories did fit with the nebulous quality of the novel as a whole.
I was concerned that the conclusion would be either ridiculously far-fetched or merely evaporate into nothingness. Neither happened; it was a neat ending and I think one that worked well. The plot throws up a number of questions and the outcome, although seemingly tidy, still had me wondering, which personally I like.
Lush is a thought-provoking, beautifully written and engrossing novel that offers a retrospective and profound warning from a fictional future world that somehow seems very timely. Highly recommended.
I found Lush to be an absorbing and quietly powerful novel. Ms Yerks’ writing is beautiful; intricately woven and yet sharply driven with little superfluity. As the story develops, the narrative becomes inhabited by a creeping sense of foreboding. Even at the beginning, when we learn of her rural, almost bucolic existence, there is an apprehensive, disquieting atmosphere which is both intriguing and ominous; the forced, archaic routine at unsettling odds with the advanced nature of the age. There are enough subtle hints about Isla’s life and the governing administration/organisations, Lush and CREIA for the reader to deduce malevolent forces at work and you are immediately curious. When Isla is taken to CREIA’s campus, the story becomes nightmarishly dystopian. It’s fascinating and horribly compelling not only because of the chilling nature of the plot but because you are not sure who to trust or where the story is heading; the narrative has a number of possible avenues and this keeps the reader gripped. Ms Yerks’ charming writing cloaks the absolute horror of the CREIA campus and yet the elegance of the prose conversely also reinforces the monstrous nature of the place. The spiders, for example, were terrifying and more so for the fact they only appear on a couple of occasions and are described with such eloquent precision. For swathes of the novel, Isla is the only character and she carries the book capably. However, I did think she was occasionally a little superficial and lacking in emotion. Personally, I would have liked to have seen the relationship between herself and Averitt developed earlier. There were a couple of loose ends; Hollis and Ashleen seemed a touch unfinished although their incomplete stories did fit with the nebulous quality of the novel as a whole.
I was concerned that the conclusion would be either ridiculously far-fetched or merely evaporate into nothingness. Neither happened; it was a neat ending and I think one that worked well. The plot throws up a number of questions and the outcome, although seemingly tidy, still had me wondering, which personally I like.
Lush is a thought-provoking, beautifully written and engrossing novel that offers a retrospective and profound warning from a fictional future world that somehow seems very timely. Highly recommended.
January 19, 2021
This book was a wild ride and I kind of loved it.
At the start of the book I felt unsure about what was happening and whether I was going to like it but as I read more of Islam's story and the story progressed the more I feel in love with the story. It certainly went in directions I didn't expect and I liked that becuase it kept me in my toes and heightened my enjoyment of it. The ending was sweet and a little bit strange but that's ok, it fit with the book well.
The characters were certainly interesting and Isla was just wonderful. She was so resourceful and brave and strong throughout the whole ordeal she went through and I admire her for that. I didn't like how so many characters changed so drastically at the end but that's not that big of a deal as it helped along the story and did make sense. I just prefer slightly more developed arcs. However, Perrin and Janie and Isla and Averitt are so sweet and I love them so much!
The writing style was great, like the story it took a little bit of time for me to warm up to it but once I did I knew how great it was. The creativity to come up with all the twists in this book as well as the utopian/dystopian world that the characters lived in is incredible.
Overall, a really good book that I thoroughly enjoyed!
At the start of the book I felt unsure about what was happening and whether I was going to like it but as I read more of Islam's story and the story progressed the more I feel in love with the story. It certainly went in directions I didn't expect and I liked that becuase it kept me in my toes and heightened my enjoyment of it. The ending was sweet and a little bit strange but that's ok, it fit with the book well.
The characters were certainly interesting and Isla was just wonderful. She was so resourceful and brave and strong throughout the whole ordeal she went through and I admire her for that. I didn't like how so many characters changed so drastically at the end but that's not that big of a deal as it helped along the story and did make sense. I just prefer slightly more developed arcs. However, Perrin and Janie and Isla and Averitt are so sweet and I love them so much!
The writing style was great, like the story it took a little bit of time for me to warm up to it but once I did I knew how great it was. The creativity to come up with all the twists in this book as well as the utopian/dystopian world that the characters lived in is incredible.
Overall, a really good book that I thoroughly enjoyed!
December 19, 2020
Lush is a dystopian YA novel that centers around Isla, who dreams of a life that's vastly different from the one she has now. She lives in a historical reenactment community called Cherish the Past in Naudiz with her father and older brother Perrin, where life is simple but not as modern or as exciting as she would like. When Isla gets the opportunity to attend the CREIA, a school for girls where they are evaluated based on certain skills and talents to take part in programs that will further develop the CREIA's scientific research and studies, she soon uncovers a far darker and more ominous mission at the school.
Like most YA books, it is a classic coming of age story where the heroine sheds her naïveté in order to survive and adapt to her unfamiliar and grim surroundings. Lush does have a similar vibe to The Hunger Games, which made it quite easy to get engrossed in the story once you begin. The world is unique and the author does a good job at establishing a place that's both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
The story falters for me based on how certain passages are written and how unrealistic some scenes play out. The writing overall is immersive and quite beautiful to read, but it gets slightly spoiled by awkward descriptive visuals that never quite work.
Isla's relationships with some of the characters, like Esme and Averitt, could have been fleshed out better. Esme is supposed to be Isla's best friend from Naudiz, and yet I still didn't get the sense that they were as close as two friends should be. Averitt is introduced as a potential love interest for Isla, but I found it unbelievable, even laughable at times, that these two suddenly were close and so trusting of each other after spending such a short amount of time together. If more time was spent on these characters and really developing Isla's relationship to them, it would have made the book stand out more than it did for me.
Despite these missteps I did enjoy the opportunity to read Lush by Anne-Marie Yerks. I thank Odyssey Books for reaching out and sending me an e-galley in exchange for a review about the book.
Like most YA books, it is a classic coming of age story where the heroine sheds her naïveté in order to survive and adapt to her unfamiliar and grim surroundings. Lush does have a similar vibe to The Hunger Games, which made it quite easy to get engrossed in the story once you begin. The world is unique and the author does a good job at establishing a place that's both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
The story falters for me based on how certain passages are written and how unrealistic some scenes play out. The writing overall is immersive and quite beautiful to read, but it gets slightly spoiled by awkward descriptive visuals that never quite work.
Isla's relationships with some of the characters, like Esme and Averitt, could have been fleshed out better. Esme is supposed to be Isla's best friend from Naudiz, and yet I still didn't get the sense that they were as close as two friends should be. Averitt is introduced as a potential love interest for Isla, but I found it unbelievable, even laughable at times, that these two suddenly were close and so trusting of each other after spending such a short amount of time together. If more time was spent on these characters and really developing Isla's relationship to them, it would have made the book stand out more than it did for me.
Despite these missteps I did enjoy the opportunity to read Lush by Anne-Marie Yerks. I thank Odyssey Books for reaching out and sending me an e-galley in exchange for a review about the book.
April 16, 2021
Isla jump many hurdles. She lived in a corrupt world that pushed her to the limits. Plots are interesting and characters are compelling. I love The story.
December 17, 2020
Incredibly creative and beautifully written, Lush weaves a compelling tale of a future world that is trying to find itself again. An original and heartfelt story, highly recommended.
September 18, 2020
I think it’s safe to say that I’ve never read a book quite like LUSH by Anne-Marie Yerks – it is certainly one of the greatest literary discoveries of the year so far! I’m not typically the biggest reader of sci-fi/dystopian, but I was thoroughly impressed with the way in which Yerks has blended historical and dystopian elements to create a completely unique and original novel that stands out among the standard YA fiction on the market. Clocking in at just over 200 pages this is the perfect read to devour in one sitting, and I guarantee that once you start reading, you’ll be hooked from the very first page.
I don’t want to give too much away in terms of plot, as, despite its short length, LUSH really does pack a punch! We follow our protagonist Isla, who, at the start of the novel, is living in a historical re-enactment community, contracted by the government to keep alive the traditions of her ancestors for the tourists who come to visit. I loved this aspect of the book; the seamless blending of the old with the new was so interesting to read about, and it reminded me of a lot of school trips to similar places I took when I was younger! While Isla knows that staying in Naudiz with her family is the safe and sensible option, not wanting to end up as an ‘Unsaved’ – a person with no home or security, often at risk of death by disease or starvation – if she leaves the community, she can’t help but wonder what else life has to offer.
When an opportunity arises to become a CREIA cadet Isla makes the choice to leave the home she has known and, along with her best friend Esme, see what lies outside of her simple life on the farm. Here’s where the plot really kicks off, as not everything at CREIA is quite what it seems; something deeply sinister is amiss, and it falls on Isla to put things right. With plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing and a few moments that had me gasping out loud, the pacing is truly wonderful and will have you utterly absorbed until the very last chapter.
The writing style was so easily to read despite dealing with somewhat complex topics and settings, and I loved the themes of nature and environmentalism woven throughout, which felt particularly relevant given our current climate:
"The power of nature was stronger than anything else, and it was through nature that I would find my way home."
Even if, like me, you’re not the biggest reader of sci-fi or dystopian fiction, I’d still really recommend that you give LUSH a read; unique, compelling and exceptionally timely, there’s something in here for everyone, and it’s the perfect read to cosy up with and devour in one sitting. Highly recommend!
I don’t want to give too much away in terms of plot, as, despite its short length, LUSH really does pack a punch! We follow our protagonist Isla, who, at the start of the novel, is living in a historical re-enactment community, contracted by the government to keep alive the traditions of her ancestors for the tourists who come to visit. I loved this aspect of the book; the seamless blending of the old with the new was so interesting to read about, and it reminded me of a lot of school trips to similar places I took when I was younger! While Isla knows that staying in Naudiz with her family is the safe and sensible option, not wanting to end up as an ‘Unsaved’ – a person with no home or security, often at risk of death by disease or starvation – if she leaves the community, she can’t help but wonder what else life has to offer.
When an opportunity arises to become a CREIA cadet Isla makes the choice to leave the home she has known and, along with her best friend Esme, see what lies outside of her simple life on the farm. Here’s where the plot really kicks off, as not everything at CREIA is quite what it seems; something deeply sinister is amiss, and it falls on Isla to put things right. With plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing and a few moments that had me gasping out loud, the pacing is truly wonderful and will have you utterly absorbed until the very last chapter.
The writing style was so easily to read despite dealing with somewhat complex topics and settings, and I loved the themes of nature and environmentalism woven throughout, which felt particularly relevant given our current climate:
"The power of nature was stronger than anything else, and it was through nature that I would find my way home."
Even if, like me, you’re not the biggest reader of sci-fi or dystopian fiction, I’d still really recommend that you give LUSH a read; unique, compelling and exceptionally timely, there’s something in here for everyone, and it’s the perfect read to cosy up with and devour in one sitting. Highly recommend!
November 16, 2020
I was invited by the publisher to read and review, "LUSH" a YA novel. I was not sure that I was the right audience, as I'm not a big fan of dystopian fiction.
However, I was hooked from the first page and instantly drawn into Isla's world. LUSH is set in a dystopian future not too far removed from our own, so it was easy find myself sympathizing with Isla's situation. Author Anne-Marie Yerks has done a wonderful job at world-building. I was able to visualize both Isla's home and the CREIA, a school for girls where Isla is taken against her will.
I can honestly say that I could not put this novel down. Isla's character was relatable as an eighteen year old who is trying to figure out her place in the world as well as navigate her relationships with her family and friends. There is a depth to her character that will make you yearn for her and cherish the small quiet moments that define her. The story is fast-paced and filled with twists and turns, curious rituals, mysterious scientific experiments and evil politics. I would definitely recommend this book, even to those who are not big fans of dystopian fiction. Isla and her story will draw you in and you'll find yourself mesmerized and longing for more.
The Epilogue was especially beautiful and a lovely ending.
I received an e-arc from the publisher in return for an honest review.
However, I was hooked from the first page and instantly drawn into Isla's world. LUSH is set in a dystopian future not too far removed from our own, so it was easy find myself sympathizing with Isla's situation. Author Anne-Marie Yerks has done a wonderful job at world-building. I was able to visualize both Isla's home and the CREIA, a school for girls where Isla is taken against her will.
I can honestly say that I could not put this novel down. Isla's character was relatable as an eighteen year old who is trying to figure out her place in the world as well as navigate her relationships with her family and friends. There is a depth to her character that will make you yearn for her and cherish the small quiet moments that define her. The story is fast-paced and filled with twists and turns, curious rituals, mysterious scientific experiments and evil politics. I would definitely recommend this book, even to those who are not big fans of dystopian fiction. Isla and her story will draw you in and you'll find yourself mesmerized and longing for more.
The Epilogue was especially beautiful and a lovely ending.
I received an e-arc from the publisher in return for an honest review.
December 2, 2020
Lush by Anne-Marie Yerks is a dystopian novel set in the future when the world is rebuilding after environmental devastation. Eighteen-year old Isla lives on a farm with her father and brother where the family re-enacts Mennonite life for tourists. She and some of her female friends are chosen to apply to a supposedly prestigious teacher-training program in the city but, on arrival, they discover CREIA has a far more nefarious purpose. Lush is the story of Isla’s escape and her fight against the corruption and exploitation of the male-dominated government.
The novel starts with several chapters describing life on the farm while providing the reader with the backstory of how the current state of the world came to be. Once Isla arrives in the institute known as CREIA, the story really captured my attention and pulled me through to the end. Yerks has done an admirable job of imagining this world and constructing believable and interesting characters and situations.
The writing itself I found to be overly wordy. Dialogue often sounds unnatural, used to explain backstory. While letting the reader know the protagonist’s thoughts helps us bond with her, this too is sometimes overly packed with information. Yerks is a fearless writer who is not afraid to turn a poetic phrase and while this is often effective, sometimes it comes across as awkward.
Due to the age of the characters and the issues they work through, a young adult audience would likely relate most to this story although many older readers such as myself would also enjoy it. As far as rating, I must give the novel three stars for its writing. However, Lush deserves a solid five stars for how marvelously well Yerks creates this dystopian world and for giving us such a fine heroine as Isla.
The novel starts with several chapters describing life on the farm while providing the reader with the backstory of how the current state of the world came to be. Once Isla arrives in the institute known as CREIA, the story really captured my attention and pulled me through to the end. Yerks has done an admirable job of imagining this world and constructing believable and interesting characters and situations.
The writing itself I found to be overly wordy. Dialogue often sounds unnatural, used to explain backstory. While letting the reader know the protagonist’s thoughts helps us bond with her, this too is sometimes overly packed with information. Yerks is a fearless writer who is not afraid to turn a poetic phrase and while this is often effective, sometimes it comes across as awkward.
Due to the age of the characters and the issues they work through, a young adult audience would likely relate most to this story although many older readers such as myself would also enjoy it. As far as rating, I must give the novel three stars for its writing. However, Lush deserves a solid five stars for how marvelously well Yerks creates this dystopian world and for giving us such a fine heroine as Isla.
December 5, 2020
This is a renaissance festival novel, a frontier novel, a revolution novel, and a coming of age novel, set in a dystopian future and helped by a pinch of botany magic. The characters all have the manners and formality you see in the actors at your annual renaissance festival, and the main character, wow-ee. She’s a farm girl, sweet, naive, and - sneaky. She uses all she has to survive a corrupt government that’s determined to consume every bit of her with the efficiency of a meat processing plant.
I could complain that they eat too much liver in the LUSH future. They do; it’s disgusting. Instead, I’ll say that this is a thriller dressed in corsets, pinafores, and slave uniforms. I cared so much for this novel’s rich characters, and together they and the plot had me stuck to the page, er, Kindle. The shortage of paper in LUSH’s time made it feel weird to read it on the Kindle. If I read it again, I might go for the paper version.
Reading LUSH gave me a lot of the same feelings I got from The Hunger Games and Wicked. Isla, Katniss, and Elphaba have to put up with a lot of crap. How they deal with it and emerge victoriously makes the book. So anyway, in case you didn’t pick this up by now, I liked it. The sequel is going to rock.
I could complain that they eat too much liver in the LUSH future. They do; it’s disgusting. Instead, I’ll say that this is a thriller dressed in corsets, pinafores, and slave uniforms. I cared so much for this novel’s rich characters, and together they and the plot had me stuck to the page, er, Kindle. The shortage of paper in LUSH’s time made it feel weird to read it on the Kindle. If I read it again, I might go for the paper version.
Reading LUSH gave me a lot of the same feelings I got from The Hunger Games and Wicked. Isla, Katniss, and Elphaba have to put up with a lot of crap. How they deal with it and emerge victoriously makes the book. So anyway, in case you didn’t pick this up by now, I liked it. The sequel is going to rock.
January 12, 2021
I was asked by the author to read this novel and provide my honest review and I gladly took the offer. I am a huge fan of dystopian novels, so I jumped on the chance and was not disappointed.
Yerks has a way with words that left me mesmerized and contemplative, long after I put the book down. I enjoyed Isla as a character because she felt honest and relatable. I found myself rooting for her in every chapter. If you were a fan of Station Eleven or Never Let Me Go, I would certainly recommend this novel! Although in 2151, the story weaves in elements of the past which set forth the plot for the character. Interesting approach towards the dystopian category.
I was approached through my beta reading service, and in return I leave my honest review and opinion of the book.
Yerks has a way with words that left me mesmerized and contemplative, long after I put the book down. I enjoyed Isla as a character because she felt honest and relatable. I found myself rooting for her in every chapter. If you were a fan of Station Eleven or Never Let Me Go, I would certainly recommend this novel! Although in 2151, the story weaves in elements of the past which set forth the plot for the character. Interesting approach towards the dystopian category.
I was approached through my beta reading service, and in return I leave my honest review and opinion of the book.
December 1, 2020
"While there are lots of aspects of this ‘future’ appears to me as completely fictional for our world, some of it, unfortunately, seem realistic. The future Yerks presents that repeats the mistakes of the past is a quintessence of our society and governments."
Detailed review on https://featherpenblog.com/book-revie...
Detailed review on https://featherpenblog.com/book-revie...
August 5, 2022
I was always free. ~Anne-Marie Yerks' LUSH, Epilogue end.
Its introductory tale about the heroine, Isla Kiehl's peaceful, slow-paced farm lifestyle exhibits how her laid-back life frames her thinking and perspective. She is courageously sought after by the opposite gender but has the secret desire to live life as a CREIA member and be independent. The entire book is about how the truth behind the luster and glamour of the CREIA foundation unfolds, and Isla grows through an enormous pile of hardships to accept herself as a person and her life back at the farm with her family.
LUSH is extraordinarily splayed over for a wide range of readers. It works with a world of advanced science but is expressed from an amateur's view. Thus, rendering it readable even for people with no prior idea on that matter. The rich history preservation expressed is a blended utopia for people who definitely believe in cherishing the past and working towards a future. The plot was unique and narrated through the eyes of a youth, who has a kind view towards people but is also equally misinformed about life outside her small farm. The wide range of characters expressed that this book was about liberation from a veiled prison with a mass breakout to freedom.
The characters appeared ambiguous. More detailed character development would have ensured the book with the dominant traits the liberators needed. It lacked a bit of spice. The pace throughout the book was varying. The time taken to develop the plot towards Isla's life at the far and leading to CREIA was longer than her discovering the truth behind the words of the boy she fancied (referring to Gareth's warning against CREIA and Ms. Hardin). It would have worked better as a series as compared to a single book.
The most saddening part of the tale was the chief motive behind CREIA. The Polity's aim was undisclosed, and it seemed like a mere preface to an upcoming storm. An explanation was due. They had used women as commodities, but the reason behind them is hazy. The book failed to converge on the bitter angst and anger of the girls when they realized their worth was being measured in credits. A properly planned and launched attack would have welled up better emotions within the readers as compared to the cold and easy death of the leader.
The book had a million worthy elements, but they offered just a teasing glance. The story behind Mother Cordish and her beliefs or the truth of Ms. Hardin or the Polity or the UniKind project and the reason behind the composites (which was in fact brilliant) was unsure. I would have loved to see the story (Part III & IV) unfurl to a full-blown revelation and the heroine disembarking on a revolution, leading women to victory over the Polity.
All in all, I would compliment the author, for the plot was unique and if developed in-depth would be a masterpiece. I would suggest it as a read for young teens and readers looking for a quick read.
Ratings:
Plot: 3/5
Pace: Varying (Part I & II slow, while Part III & IV hurried).
Reading Difficulty: Easy
Character Development: 2/5
Overall: 3/5
Its introductory tale about the heroine, Isla Kiehl's peaceful, slow-paced farm lifestyle exhibits how her laid-back life frames her thinking and perspective. She is courageously sought after by the opposite gender but has the secret desire to live life as a CREIA member and be independent. The entire book is about how the truth behind the luster and glamour of the CREIA foundation unfolds, and Isla grows through an enormous pile of hardships to accept herself as a person and her life back at the farm with her family.
LUSH is extraordinarily splayed over for a wide range of readers. It works with a world of advanced science but is expressed from an amateur's view. Thus, rendering it readable even for people with no prior idea on that matter. The rich history preservation expressed is a blended utopia for people who definitely believe in cherishing the past and working towards a future. The plot was unique and narrated through the eyes of a youth, who has a kind view towards people but is also equally misinformed about life outside her small farm. The wide range of characters expressed that this book was about liberation from a veiled prison with a mass breakout to freedom.
The characters appeared ambiguous. More detailed character development would have ensured the book with the dominant traits the liberators needed. It lacked a bit of spice. The pace throughout the book was varying. The time taken to develop the plot towards Isla's life at the far and leading to CREIA was longer than her discovering the truth behind the words of the boy she fancied (referring to Gareth's warning against CREIA and Ms. Hardin). It would have worked better as a series as compared to a single book.
The most saddening part of the tale was the chief motive behind CREIA. The Polity's aim was undisclosed, and it seemed like a mere preface to an upcoming storm. An explanation was due. They had used women as commodities, but the reason behind them is hazy. The book failed to converge on the bitter angst and anger of the girls when they realized their worth was being measured in credits. A properly planned and launched attack would have welled up better emotions within the readers as compared to the cold and easy death of the leader.
The book had a million worthy elements, but they offered just a teasing glance. The story behind Mother Cordish and her beliefs or the truth of Ms. Hardin or the Polity or the UniKind project and the reason behind the composites (which was in fact brilliant) was unsure. I would have loved to see the story (Part III & IV) unfurl to a full-blown revelation and the heroine disembarking on a revolution, leading women to victory over the Polity.
All in all, I would compliment the author, for the plot was unique and if developed in-depth would be a masterpiece. I would suggest it as a read for young teens and readers looking for a quick read.
Ratings:
Plot: 3/5
Pace: Varying (Part I & II slow, while Part III & IV hurried).
Reading Difficulty: Easy
Character Development: 2/5
Overall: 3/5
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