What do you think?
Rate this book
North
Lachlan Haynes has always felt the pull to go north; to the land of heat, wetlands and humidity so intense it sends people mad. So, midway through his doctoral candidature on the medicinal properties of Australia’s most venomous sea creatures, he up-ends his life and moves to Darwin, the northern-most capital city of Australia, and takes a job at Rinydjirinydjimirri Station as the maintenance man.
But the station is not what it seems, and those who live there hide unfathomable secrets. Everyone who has contact with the Lakarriny people whispers of disease and the end of days. When he finds a dead body glowing in one of the property’s mausoleums, the amazing new life Lachlan had been settling into is thrown into chaos.
Arafura was not part of Lachlan’s grand life plan, even if a prophesy might suggest he should have been. If he wants to change their future, he’ll need to find a way to convince people to let go of the past. Before the rain comes.
But the station is not what it seems, and those who live there hide unfathomable secrets. Everyone who has contact with the Lakarriny people whispers of disease and the end of days. When he finds a dead body glowing in one of the property’s mausoleums, the amazing new life Lachlan had been settling into is thrown into chaos.
Arafura was not part of Lachlan’s grand life plan, even if a prophesy might suggest he should have been. If he wants to change their future, he’ll need to find a way to convince people to let go of the past. Before the rain comes.
267 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 25, 2022
7 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Lindsey Black
8 books33 followersLINDSEY BLACK lives in Darwin, Australia, where the weather report permanently reads ‘humidity at 100%, only going to get worse’ for ten months of the year and ‘monsoon at 4:00 p.m. for exactly fifteen minutes’ for the remaining two. Between teaching and studying full-time, she escapes this oppressive environment to bushwalk for weeks on end wherever the mobile phone reception has zero bars for as long as possible and the weather report reads something along the lines of ‘blizzard likely.’ She enjoys martial arts, music, and mayhem, which explains the untidy state of her home where she attempts to write while splitting her minimal amounts of spare time between her incredulous husband, lazy Chinchilla cat, and crazed Siberian husky. If you expect her to sit and have a chat, it’s best to have a matcha green tea latte with almond milk on hand and your hiking boots within reach. Oh, and be sure to bring a guitar for impromptu jam sessions.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 24, 2025
This was such a weird book, so unique and random. I truly don't think I've ever read something quite like it.
In all honesty, I don't remember how or why I ended up with this book in my Kindle. But I am glad past me decided this was a book to have, because I had the absolute best time reading it.
I don't know why it is not more popular, or if it just got lost amid the endless catalogue of MM books released each year. I really think this is a story worth reading if someone wants to read something different.
I am not super sure how to review this book or how much to write. Lachlan was a really funny and endearing character. His whole approach to life was refreshing. The story starts when he fulfills his lifetime dream of moving and living in Darwin to finish his Phd, and while there, he ends up with a very unique job that allows him to meet a secluded community of people who might be more than what he originally thought. To say The Precipitate were a cult would be inacurate but also it's like saying they were aliens or something. I don't know how to describe these seemingly gods/rain-people/former stars (?) who are now stuck on earth.
Arafura, aka The Requiem, was super sweet, and I loved his relationship with Lachlan; both were enamoured with each other after a 2nd (better) meeting.
My only minor and tiny complaint is that the ending felt a bit open, and I would have liked to know how the future looks for them, together and as a community.
In all honesty, I don't remember how or why I ended up with this book in my Kindle. But I am glad past me decided this was a book to have, because I had the absolute best time reading it.
I don't know why it is not more popular, or if it just got lost amid the endless catalogue of MM books released each year. I really think this is a story worth reading if someone wants to read something different.
I am not super sure how to review this book or how much to write. Lachlan was a really funny and endearing character. His whole approach to life was refreshing. The story starts when he fulfills his lifetime dream of moving and living in Darwin to finish his Phd, and while there, he ends up with a very unique job that allows him to meet a secluded community of people who might be more than what he originally thought. To say The Precipitate were a cult would be inacurate but also it's like saying they were aliens or something. I don't know how to describe these seemingly gods/rain-people/former stars (?) who are now stuck on earth.
Arafura, aka The Requiem, was super sweet, and I loved his relationship with Lachlan; both were enamoured with each other after a 2nd (better) meeting.
My only minor and tiny complaint is that the ending felt a bit open, and I would have liked to know how the future looks for them, together and as a community.
May 31, 2023
Pretty glowing zombie, the master of mites.
Way more than just a “silly little romance” and yes, that is a direct quote 😉
So much more.
But yeah, it was at times silly but in the absolute best way.
Where do I even start with this? I admittedly was a tiny bit nervous going in. Not because I don’t love Lindsey Black’s writing, no. More because the setting is absolutely unknown to me, as well as the folklore. I should have known better. I should not have feared it at all. I never felt lost. I felt invested. I felt like I was transported to a foreign land but I never felt like I was not in the know, well, in the know about as much as Lachlan was, or familiar with it. I really felt comfortable from the very beginning and I loved where I was.
I finished this yesterday afternoon and I woke up with my head still full of this story. Almost to the point I feel like reading it again. I imagine I would find things I missed during my first read and it would just be a better story for it. I’ll admit I devoured the book and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough so I know I certainly missed things.
It’s going to be impossible for my words to do this book any justice and honestly, it is better I just stay vague. I wouldn’t want anything to be spoiled for you because it is such an experience and should be just jumped into.
This story truly had everything.
Romance, actually, paranormal romance which was as perfect as it should be. Instant, necessary and soul changing.
Humor. It was very funny. I mean, smiling and laughing out loud funny. All throughout, even in the moments of fear or absolute uncertainty there was humor. It just felt good.
Emotion. All of them, for real. Tears of sadness and joy. Again, it felt good. I felt good.
But it was so much more than just those things. It had a message. It was a story about adapting, or not. About living, or not. About finding home. I figure everyone will come away with a feeling when they finish but I betcha they are all overwhelmingly good. Even if you are at peace I bet you walk away wanting to change something for the better or do something for the better. Even if it is just learning. I think we could all learn a little something from this story.
Admittedly, I’m a huge fan and have been since she published Fishy Riot in 2017. Still, I told her I’d be honest and there was a little fear there too. No need for it, no feelings hurt here, no let down. I fell head over heels in love with her “unique corner of the world” as well as with Lachlan and Arafura. Honestly, every character, minus maybe two (haha), were impossible to not fall in love with.
So yeah. This is a favorite. It was an exceptional story and beautifully told. I’m sad to be leaving Rinydjirinydjimirri Station and have a good feeling I’ll be visiting again soon.
Thanks for the book Lindsey!
**ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.**
Way more than just a “silly little romance” and yes, that is a direct quote 😉
So much more.
But yeah, it was at times silly but in the absolute best way.
Where do I even start with this? I admittedly was a tiny bit nervous going in. Not because I don’t love Lindsey Black’s writing, no. More because the setting is absolutely unknown to me, as well as the folklore. I should have known better. I should not have feared it at all. I never felt lost. I felt invested. I felt like I was transported to a foreign land but I never felt like I was not in the know, well, in the know about as much as Lachlan was, or familiar with it. I really felt comfortable from the very beginning and I loved where I was.
I finished this yesterday afternoon and I woke up with my head still full of this story. Almost to the point I feel like reading it again. I imagine I would find things I missed during my first read and it would just be a better story for it. I’ll admit I devoured the book and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough so I know I certainly missed things.
It’s going to be impossible for my words to do this book any justice and honestly, it is better I just stay vague. I wouldn’t want anything to be spoiled for you because it is such an experience and should be just jumped into.
This story truly had everything.
Romance, actually, paranormal romance which was as perfect as it should be. Instant, necessary and soul changing.
Humor. It was very funny. I mean, smiling and laughing out loud funny. All throughout, even in the moments of fear or absolute uncertainty there was humor. It just felt good.
Emotion. All of them, for real. Tears of sadness and joy. Again, it felt good. I felt good.
But it was so much more than just those things. It had a message. It was a story about adapting, or not. About living, or not. About finding home. I figure everyone will come away with a feeling when they finish but I betcha they are all overwhelmingly good. Even if you are at peace I bet you walk away wanting to change something for the better or do something for the better. Even if it is just learning. I think we could all learn a little something from this story.
Admittedly, I’m a huge fan and have been since she published Fishy Riot in 2017. Still, I told her I’d be honest and there was a little fear there too. No need for it, no feelings hurt here, no let down. I fell head over heels in love with her “unique corner of the world” as well as with Lachlan and Arafura. Honestly, every character, minus maybe two (haha), were impossible to not fall in love with.
So yeah. This is a favorite. It was an exceptional story and beautifully told. I’m sad to be leaving Rinydjirinydjimirri Station and have a good feeling I’ll be visiting again soon.
Thanks for the book Lindsey!
**ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.**
October 20, 2022
I read this in one night! Could not put it down.
The characters hilarious and had me in stitches with their banter. I will forever think of Lachlan when the rains come and I smell the petrichor.
The characters hilarious and had me in stitches with their banter. I will forever think of Lachlan when the rains come and I smell the petrichor.
December 7, 2022
Arafura was the scent of rain when you know the storm is coming. He was the ache in your bones before thunder rattled the windows. The shock of electricity that raised the hairs on your skin at that moment lightning crackled across the sky. He was energy and life and humid breath and the mere thought of him consumed me to the point of incapacity. Lust or love or desire—these were foreign to the beast that ate away at my sanity. I didn’t feel that I had known him forever. I felt I was him, and that he was me.
He smiled at me, a crooked, soaked and blurry estimation of him through the tank, and I was lost.
One of the most beautiful stories I have ever read. I am so grateful
He smiled at me, a crooked, soaked and blurry estimation of him through the tank, and I was lost.
One of the most beautiful stories I have ever read. I am so grateful
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 16, 2025
I don't know what I did right to have this book by a new-to-me author pop up in my recs, but it was aaaahmaaaaaaaaazing! 😍 I absolutely love that no clear, concrete answers were provided for the paranormal aspect - it made it feel so much more real that no one had that god's eye view that would have allowed them to understand everything. I ADORED Lachlan, fell in love with a part of Australia that it sounds like I'd never, ever want to visit in real life (yikes!🤣), and am extremely sad to see that this book appears to be the most recent by this author, published three years ago. I'd love to read more by her - and luckily for me, it looks like she does have another paranormal one in her catalogue, so I'll be starting that next! - but if she's stopped writing that would be a tragedy IMHO. I truly hope it's just a hiatus, as I'd LOVE to see more from her in the future. 🥰
April 18, 2025
Wonderful story!
This book has a fascinating story line. If you like reading something unique, then this book is for you. Fascinating story with a HEA.
This book has a fascinating story line. If you like reading something unique, then this book is for you. Fascinating story with a HEA.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews