A review by onthesamepage
Nothing but the Rain by Naomi Salman

dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Welcome to Aloisville, rainiest town in the rainiest state. Population: we don’t recall.

Told in the form of a diary written by our main character, Laverne, Nothing But the Rain is about a town called Aloisville, where something in the water erases people's memories. It's in the rain, in the pipes, and every leaky faucet is a potential danger. And the worst part is, they have no way of communicating with the outside world. The town is barricaded by mysterious soldiers wearing full body suits, and any and all signals have been cut off.

There's not much I can say about this novella that won't spoil something about it. I really loved what this story was doing. The writing was excellent, and the ending was well-executed. It will leave you with more questions than answers, however, and that is maybe one of the few complaints I have. While I wasn't expecting to have everything explained, and, in fact, appreciate an open ending when I feel the story warrants it, in this case it felt weird because of how the story wrapped up. There are several mysteries that are alluded to in Laverne's journal, and I wanted at least some of them to be resolved.

The other thing is that, despite how short it is, some of it felt a bit repetitive. But overall, a fantastic debut, and I would definitely recommend picking this up. 
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