I took a chance on this book and I’m so glad I did. The writing, the world, the story, everything was so well done.

4 Stars!

Flipside by Leumas Llewtnac was intriguing. I was not quite sure what I was going to find when I started the story, but its promise of a science fiction/horror story peaked my interest. It was a journey into the unknown as I did not know the author at all, but I was looking forward to what the story had in store.



Everything changed on the day the meteors first fell. It was not the meteors that changed the world, though, but the strange passengers they brought with them. The squid quickly began to take over the world, killing everyone they could get their tentacles on and using the dead bodies to help them. The only thing that was saving mankind from total extinction is the squid’s inability to survive in light. The squid ruled the dark, but even the dimmest of lights could be used against them. Life adapts, however, and so do the squid. Now they have a new warrior, the greatest squid warrior ever, who is poised to lead them out of the shadows.



Burke and Arvin, neighbors and friends, had been surviving in the changed world for years. One night, they are called into action to rescue Charlie as the squid launched an attack on her house and killed her father. Taking Charlie in has given the friends a bit a new breath of life as they find a new purpose to carry forward. They have developed a begrudging acceptance, if not contentment, with the new world. But the time has come for the squid to launch their next offensive against mankind and they will not be denied. As the humans' last lines of defense begin to fall, the trio may have to do the unthinkable to survive. They may have to find their way to the Flipside. The biggest problem with that is that no one knows if the Flipside is even real.



Flipside was not at all what I expected when I started the novel. Llewtnac crafts a unique world that is heavy on horror, especially in the atmosphere of the novel, but has a lot of science fiction blended in as well. The story is bleak and brooding with a darkness that is almost a character in itself. I would almost go as far as to say that the atmosphere is the strongest character in the novel as it works its way into every aspect of the tale. The human characters were not all that strong and the squids were much more interesting than the people. While they are pure evil on the surface, there is a depth to them that makes them somewhat sympathetic so that I found myself sympathizing with them as much as I did with the people. This is a story of survival for both species, and it almost felt as if the squids were just as desperate as the people. They may have arrived on Earth with the goal of conquering the world, but the main squids were just as strong of characters as the humans, and they were soldiers in a war that may not have been of their own making. It was a bit of a strange, awkward feeling at times, but I almost felt sorry for the squids at different times in the story.



This novel is just a very strong story that kept me glued to the pages from the beginning to the end. Llewtnac has a unique voice and vision in the story, and it was unlike anything I had ever read before. There were times when I was a little confused about what was going on, and I am still not sure what the Flipside is, so a little more story development would have been nice (although I also have the feeling that there is more story to be told, so maybe there is a second novel in store). Flipside is a strong horror/science fiction novel that is driven by the story more so than the character. It takes the reader into a bleak world that lacks hope for both the people and the squids and which gets steadily darker as the story progresses. It is sometimes shocking and sometimes depressing, but it is always interesting and kept me turning the pages to see what was coming next. This novel is highly recommended for those who are not too weak of heart and left me wondering what Llewtnac will have in store for us next.



I would like to thank BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for this review copy. Flipside is available now.

Rating: 2.8/5

Review: This was fairly well written. An interesting story coupled with good characters and strange aliens. So why did I lose interest midway through the novel? Perhaps because of the centric nature of the world building. In other words, nobody goes anywhere and hence there is no real movement outside of their town. The story line behaves in much the same way, with events repeating with minor twists over and over.

I liked the idea of the squids that I think were derivations of the panspermia model taken to a new level. Also not a fan of writers that kill off beloved characters. I think writers trying to be poignant while fulfilling some story line credo, do so at the readers expense.

I confess this book hit me out of nowhere: I'd never heard of it when it came out, and it proved to be a nice surprise once I realized how good it is! The synopsis was genuinely intriguing, the writing has merit, and there's a solid story here, unlike much of what passes as post=apocalyptic in the market. The story is original, the dialogue maybe not so great, nor the systematic aspects of the story (perhaps there'll be more detailed revelations in other books?), but the author has a very fertile imagination and the tale is riveting. Recommended!