Marigold is set in a Toronto of the near future, a city rotting away from the inside. You may read this as allegory if you wish. In a series of more or less loosely connected vignettes, we follow a selection of people who call this mouldering city home: some of them are responsible for what is happening, some are looking to fight it; others are just trying to survive. In this it becomes a study of human character against a dystopian backdrop of oozing bodyhorror.

The horror is where the book shines: always straddling that border between almost-understanding and completely alien otherness. L'appel du vide becomes l'appel du monstre, and though the characters may deal with it all in their own different ways, they all hear its call.

The vignettes about the many characters, some of whom we only meet once, set against this monstrous city that is devouring its inhabitants is disorienting, but I think it is meant to be. The reader experiences some of the same struggle to understand as the characters do, there's no superior knowledge that the reader holds over the characters whose fates he follows. I can see how that might be off-putting to readers who prefer a clear, linear narrative, but I thought it was skillfully done and comes together well in the end.

I'd recommend this to readers who enjoy slightly psychedelic horror/urban fantasy in the vein of China Mieville, Jeff VanderMeer or the Nyquist-novels by Jeff Noon.

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here expressed are my own.

There's a lot of social commentary here, along with unlikable characters. I didn't like it as much as others in this genre, but the writing is pretty good. Some will find the plot hard to follow, but I liked it overall.

I really appreciate the free ARC for review!!

First of all, we just need to acknowledge here the wonderful, eye catching cover for this book. Truly, a work of art!

Does the story meet the expectations I had when I picked it up? Oh…my…word…Yes! And then some.
This isn’t one that is a, hit-the-ground-running, kind of of pace. But this is all done on purpose and really does the job of drawing you in. The author takes the time to introduce his cast of characters to us. The thought that has gone into this, the actual effort that’s been put into each person to create their backstories, to make us care, has all been worth it. Had me completely engrossed and engaged with this story, it was easy to forget that the characters are a figment of someone’s imagination!
( In all honesty, there’s more depth and personality in these characters, than in certain real-life people I’ve met over the years. And I cared about these characters more).
Now, couple this with a touch of suspense, a dash of mystery and a heap full of horror and your set.
I know, I’ve just found a new favourite author to go on my list of “Must Read” authors. You know, the small list each reader has, where you buy the book before even reading the blurb JUST because you love the author so much you KNOW it’ll be a banger. Yeah, that list.
I highly recommend you read this book, and it’s an absolute perfect time of year too.
My only word of advice…try not to get attached. Seriously, don’t!
Thank you SO much to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for this arc.
If I could give this more than 5 stars. I absolutely would. 10/10!

Loved the setting and the writing was pretty solid. Unfortunately not all the characters compelled me as much as I'd wanted to. I can definitely recommend this one to all the horror fans out there.

part suspense, part mystery, part horror and a lot of social commentary packed carefully into fiction is the best description I can give for “The Marigold.” I will also strongly caution anyone reading not to grow too attached to characters as many are well fleshed out, given plenty of history and backstory and still do not survive to the end of the book. In a way, that is both what makes the book so enjoyable and so chillingly depressing.

A slow start that gains momentum and felt like getting slammed into a wall with its ending—once it’s out? Read it. But read in a discussion group because you’ll need to talk through that roller coaster ride and it’s implications. I cannot stop thinking about this book and it’s carefully constructed warnings about global warming and consumerism.

[Blurb goes here]

This is usually the part where I talk about the main character to give a small introduction to the book. Something I won't be able to do with this story. There are too many characters to call one of them 'the main one'.

So let us, then, talk about the book.

It has a long and slow beginning, now, that's not a bad thing. Not even remotely. Mr. Sullivan is setting the story, and it does so wonderfully. He introduces each player in an unconventional manner. Giving you, not only a brief back story, but the struggle each one of them is going through. Yes, even the despicable antagonist have struggles. The author fleshes out each character in a unique way. He's not going to let you concentrate on one of them, he's telling you in the most interesting way possible, what 'created' each personality. Crafting real people, and a much more interesting read.

I have to say that making Toronto the target city in "The Marigold" is amazing. I've visited the city a few times. Seeing it through Sullivan's eyes changed everything. A collapsing city, the rampant corruption, the corporate intrigue, the need to keep building an already oversized metropolis...and the Wet, and intriguing proposition in on itself...and don't get me started on the social commentary: it's spot on!

Sullivan creates an enthralling world in those initial chapters, so, slow beginning or not, I devoured them. IMHO, this book is one of the rare great examples of 'there's no such thing as too much information.' At first, I was thinking, "come on, man, get to the meaty part!" As pages flew, I discovered that there was rich meat everywhere. I can't stress this enough: without that first part, the second one could've collapsed.

Oh! And I loved each and every character, yes, even the bad guys.

At some point in the story, it takes a while, the main antagonist comes into play. Yes, a long road to travel, but a necessary one, specially for the Wet, and the horrors it brings, to feel completely plausible.

If you're looking for your next great read. Look no further. "The Marigold" is waiting for you, at the sound of a click.

Succession HBO show meets horror, loved this book!

Love the writing, love the awful characters and I love the setting.

Plus if you are a fan of body horror this is the book for you, gread entry into the horror genre.

5 stars!

The Marigold follows a wealthy family as they struggle with the building of their latest condo supertower. This book features family drama, environmental breakdown and catastrophe, and a touch of sci-fi horror. If it sounds interesting and complex, it is! But perhaps overly complex. This book can be hard to follow at times, and sometimes the characters blend together. However, the characters (and writing) are extremely well-developed. I'd recommend this one for fans of eco-fiction in particular.

I was excited to read an ARC of this book as I have been in the mood for sci-fi/dystopian reads lately. I enjoyed the premise of this, (in short, the city is eating itself) but I did feel like something was missing. For me, there were two many characters and storylines that I don't feel were wrapped up well.

I'm going to have to be convinced on this, I think.

I received this NetGalley e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It was a good book, don't get me wrong. Well-written, horrifying, and extremely disconcerting, as it should be. But... I guess this genre isn't for me. There are far too many characters for me to care about, and I often felt myself wonder who exactly was speaking, but not feeling motivated enough to learn who is who. I felt like I was skimming for a large part of it too, getting pretty bored with the plot and characters. I think the premise was what really got me through the book.

If you do like sci-fi, I'd suggest giving this book a go. It was just not really for me.

The Marigold is reminiscent of “The Blob”, with the wet being a monster of our own making. This book is a solid 3.5 ⭐️'s, and has a lot packed into it. It took some time to get used to the writing and jumping back and forth between the main characters and victims.

Great satire and vivid writing - the housing issues highlighted are as relevant here in the UK as in Toronto where the story is set. Despite that, I found it hard to immerse myself in the novel. I think it's because of the large number of characters and the fact that the plot developed slowly. Still, a clever concept and some lovely observations.

This book was so weird? but in a good way. I really enjoyed the writing style because I feel that there aren't that my authors who can write well within the sci-fi genre but Sullivan's writing was a treat to read! can't wait to buy the physical copy soon

There's a lot to recommend about this book beyond the striking cover art. The Marigold is an expertly written novel that's equal parts Cronenberg horror and Ambergris fungal-punk. It's also a futuristic social satire, and a sprawling portrait of a city coming apart at the seams. The writing is smart, with jazzy hyper-detailed sentences at times which almost read like Thomas Pynchon without the whimsy.

It was quite challenging in places due to the structure of the book, with a huge roster of characters dipping in and out of frame, and some that only appear very briefly. I was hoping Motown the ex-hockey player would feature more. The story jumps from character to character, and it is tough to get a handle on the underlying story as a result. This book won't be for everyone, but might become a cult classic in time.

Did it all make sense? Not really... does it matter? No.

I loved this book. The feel of a "near-future" Toronto was fantastic. I have a feeling a lot of people will be put off by the numerous viewpoints this book uses, but honestly, I felt like it gave such a broader view of the city, what was going on, and the overall sense of bleakness and the state of humanity.

There were a few spots I had to push to keep going. But this is still probably my favourite book of 2022 so far.

There’s something insidious about this novel, the way it invites you in and brings you to deeper and deeper depths until you realize you’re trapped here, and that was the plan all along.

It is very reminiscent of Kim Stanley Robinson’s "New York 2140." …It takes place in a dystopian future shaped by unchecked capitalism and greed and the climate apocalypse those will inevitably bring about. It centers mostly on one large tower, with each chapter following a different of one of a handful of characters, all seemingly unrelated and yet connected by the darkened lifeblood of the world they live in, pauper and owner alike all wrapped in the same web, and sure enough the seemingly unrelated characters cross paths and their disparate stories become part of something bigger. There is an attitude of gloom, or defeat, that pervades all but the most delusional characters, yet some characters are still willing to look for happiness within the broken situation they find themselves in. The story starts out feeling disjointed, as we are still trying to find the contours of the world we are thrust into and since every chapter jumps to a different POV/narrative it takes a while for us to piece everything together. That description works identically for both novels, and so it was mind blowing not to se Robinson listed as an influence in the acknowledgments, everything from structure to story to theme seem really, really similar. But with that said, Sullivan adds an additional supernatural/horror element, and in so doing offers an even more scathing social critique, if possible. Having this weird, unexplained/unexplainable element in the story works really well.

All of that said, I still really enjoyed this novel. As I mentioned in my opening line, it draws you deep in to its storytelling, and even though I immediately felt it paralleling Robinson’s novel it still felt unique and engaging. The characters were all interesting, and while jumping between a half dozen different “primary” characters did force them to have less fleshed out identities than if the focus had been tighter they didn’t feel like stock characters or cardboard cutouts. They felt lived-in and real, each unique but all sharing a sense of weariness that kind of pervaded the story. The writing itself was really good, with none of the dialogue or exposition feeling forced and the pacing well-executed. When a story is as sprawling as this, with this many characters and this many separate threads slowly being woven into something else, it is easy for the story to feel drawn out or rambling, but that didn’t happen here. Even though I sometimes wanted to spend more time with one character or another the ebb and flow between stories and events felt natural and compelling. Plus, the decision to have these intermittent side-stories, short vignettes that focused on a resident in a single suite in the building and didn’t include any of our cast of main characters but were all one-and-done stories, just more human grist for the inevitable whole that is a doomed society facing its own destruction and misunderstanding its death knell to be a call for personal action. These little stories did break up the main arc of the narrative, which is already a generous way to describe the plot, but they really served to open up the world in a way that made the story more human, and made the consequences of actions more immediately understandable. As for the story itself, well, it isn’t exactly one of hope and heroism. I appreciated it, the combination of the supernatural with the made-made destruction to highlight the inevitability of our own demise. While there is a narrative and we do see some characters grow and change really it is a story about a place, a mindset, a community, and our individual characters are really just showing us snapshots to emphasis the whole. If you like for your stories to have a more linear narrative and to have a strong focus on the growing and changing inner lives of their characters then this will likely feel plodding an uninteresting to you. If you are more willing to dig into the feel of a story, and to let the narrative play a supporting role, then there is a lot to enjoy in this timely reflection of what a potential future might look like.

I want to thank NetGalley and ECW Press, who provided a complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderfully terrifying look life in tight places, skyrise life, but at next-level heights. I was truly on the edge of my seat.

There were a lot of interesting takes in this book - social commentary, Toronto as body horror, depth and atmosphere.
But there were so many characters and point of views that I found myself not really caring for any of them, and the plot was stretched thin across all of them, so I ended up skipping a lot of the book as I was losing interest (usually I'm a patient reader), and finding myself unmoved by the ending, even though I liked the raccoons ;)

I want to thank NetGalley and ECW Press for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For me, the strongest element of this book was the bodyhorror. The style of writing suited it well- not overdone, not undercooked, just right for the tone. Without giving too much away, think Ghibli-style demon ick but make it toxic mould. It was right up my flooded alley. Or, it resides in the penthouse suite of my decaying tower, if you prefer.
I found the Cathy, Soda and Henrietta perspectives the most interesting, and would have preferred a bit less time spent with the other characters. Overall I think if there were one less character for readers to follow it would have flowed even better and would have given the others a bit more time and depth, but all their threads were neatly interwoven by the end and didn't leave things confused.
Vignettes of various occupants of The Marigold and chapters marked with suite numbers was a nice touch.
The social commentary (which is the heart of book, really) was on point; not hammered into the reader but always present and consistent, and the eco-thriller vibe kept things low-level tense. There was a Hummingbird Salamander feel to it at times which I enjoyed.
3.8 stars rounded up for originality and intention. Also an excellent cover!

This was a very cool and considered idea for a story, many thanks to ECW Press for offering this one to me and Netgalley for providing access!

In a near-future Toronto buffeted by environmental chaos and unfettered development, an unsettling new lifeform begins to grow beneath the surface, feeding off the past.

The Marigold, a gleaming Toronto condo tower, sits a half-empty promise: a stack of scuffed rental suites and undelivered amenities that crumbles around its residents as a mysterious sludge spreads slowly through it. Public health inspector Cathy Jin investigates this toxic mold as it infests the city’s infrastructure, rotting it from within, while Sam “Soda” Dalipagic stumbles onto a dangerous cache of data while cruising the streets in his Camry, waiting for his next rideshare alert. On the outskirts of downtown, 13-year-old Henrietta Brakes chases a friend deep underground after he’s snatched into a sinkhole by a creature from below.

I was initially intrigued that this was set in near future Toronto and I loved the idea of this condo tower. However, I'm not much for sci-fi which is probably why this book didn't really do it for me. I also don't love the multiple story lines I felt like it got really chaotic and confusing for me personally. It was a cool idea but I just didn't really think that it was something that interested me.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with a free digital copy.