An interesting mix of dystopian society, sci-fi and a small hint of The Scarlet Letter. (Yeah, that revelation surprised me, too! Maybe it wasn't intended, but when Tula was initially shunned, it reminded me of the Nathaniel Hawthorne classic.)

A vaguely defined event called the Botanicaust (botanical holocaust?), occurred centuries ago to eradicate intrusive and uncontrollable weeds. Unfortunately, the purposeful destruction also destroyed edible crops. Centuries later, four remaining groups of people have managed to survive. This review is spoiler-free and attempts to review the book as a whole and the performance of the audio book narrator, but not a review of the plot/story lines.

First are the "greenies" or Halvainiens, a scientifically oriented group who have been modified or converted to create energy using the process of photosynthesis for survival, recognizably identified by their green colored skin. The Fosselites, primarily subterranean dwellers, are another scientific oriented group who are genetically modified, but not genetically selective, for longevity (tho' not without consequences). The cannibals, the seemingly least advanced group, eat other humans in order to survive. They are not by definition indiscriminately violent as many in this group value those with "the knowing", those who have skills to help others. Finally, there is the Old Order, also known as the Hold-outs. This is the theological group of humans (other reviewers liken this group to the Amish) who have continued to rely on God's word and their faith in God, not in human/scientific changes to God's gift to us -- our human form and shape -- for salvation and everlasting life.

Interestingly, it is the Halvainien group that is the least selfish as they are the only group, as of yet, that actively seeks to share their knowledge and science to convert or save any and all people they find or rescue outside of their Protectorate. Neither the cannibals, the Fosselites nor members of the Old Order allow for the open acceptance of strangers into their groups. The Halvainiens make an effort to help strangers survive in a now inhospitable world; there is some discrimination as the Halvainiens require people to agree to be converted, but education and communication efforts are made to enlighten outsiders to the benefits of the Halvainien conversion. Don't misunderstand, not all individual members of the Halvainiens are philanthropic, but as a law of the society, they attempt to help all strangers. Likewise, there are few in each of the other groups that are indeed open to outsiders. Surprisingly, though, the theological group, the Hold-outs or Old Order, are least open to accepting and assisting non-members.

As you can imagine, these four groups do not survive without periodic interaction and conflict. In this first book, in a series currently having a book two and two novellas, the author, Tam Linsey, has brought these groups together through the main characters, Tula, a female Halvainien, Levi, a man of the Old Order, and young twin cannibal girls Tula and Levi have loosely adopted in order to care for them.

Cautions and Disclaimers

If you are an avid reader of sci-fi and wish to have your sci-fi well-explained, logically developed and detailed, this will probably not satisfy your need for believability. I thoroughly enjoy dystopian society books and generally do not gravitate to the sci-fi genre. The vague history gleaned from sparse sentences in this narrative and minimal descriptions leading to this post-botanical holocaust situation didn't distract from my enjoyment of this book, though when it came time to write this review and thus describe the state of this world, I realized the author was very ambiguous, possibly disappointingly so, with her history.

As with several other dystopian society series, this book may take a bit of extra effort to "get into". The author doesn't package this new world concisely in a prologue or give the reader the history in the early chapters. Instead, she has you jump right into the story and eventually reveals the details and nuances of this world. Stick with it and eventually you'll grasp the dynamics of the four groups and soon distinguish the good guys from the bad guys in each society.

If you have concerns about the group of cannibals and the author's handling of their group's means of survival, do not be concerned -- the author has tastefully (no pun intended) handled their method of survival without adding to your imagination's worst ideas. Your imaginations are most likely more yucky than then author's descriptions.

This can be read as a stand-alone book, but not all of the story lines and areas of conflict between the different societies are resolved. Our hero and heroine have an unfinished relationship and the agreement between the societies are not entirely settled peaceably by the book's final page. While I wouldn't describe this as having a cliffhanger ending, resolution is not herein complete. As I have not yet read the second book, Doomseeds, I do not know whether this will ultimately conclude with it or with a third installment.

I listened to this book as a favor to the narrator after having listened to two other books she narrated by two other authors. Meghan Kelly does a good job narrating this book, giving life and emotion to the major and minor characters in Ms Linsey's book. Her voice is easy to listen to and her distinctive voices for the different characters are well performed. This performance is 10 hours in length and certainly did not feel this long -- the story and the narration made time pass quickly.

I also volunteered to review this audio book through Audiobook Jukebox. Thank you Meghan for allowing me to listen to this book.

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I find myself troubled.It has nothing; well thats not true it has everything to do with this story. And its all me. Its a very interesting kind of apocalypse.I became attached to Tula and to Levi. I found the concept of the "Leaf people", Cannibals, The Fossils,and The Holdouts fascinating. Someone told me the other day, that our society it too big, that we are truly tribal at heart. Meaning, we are meant to live in smaller groups. I confess to agreeing with that. And this story, puts a kind of emphasis on this.The landscape is tragic, but teeming with life. I wish we could have learned more about it. We learned some, but I hunger for more.I am not sure I liked the direction the story went, not to be meant in a bad way, but that I am genuinely concerned for some of the groups of people. Its not good for them...or is it.

The inner struggle for me is the whole...God thing. And that struggle is my own and no reflection upon this story. It was/is an important part of this story. And I most certainly look forward to more of this world and hope that the characters I care about will come out ok in the end. Yes optimism in the apocalypse. ( )

I find myself troubled.It has nothing; well thats not true it has everything to do with this story. And its all me. Its a very interesting kind of apocalypse.I became attached to Tula and to Levi. I found the concept of the "Leaf people", Cannibals, The Fossils,and The Holdouts fascinating. Someone told me the other day, that our society it too big, that we are truly tribal at heart. Meaning, we are meant to live in smaller groups. I confess to agreeing with that. And this story, puts a kind of emphasis on this.The landscape is tragic, but teeming with life. I wish we could have learned more about it. We learned some, but I hunger for more.I am not sure I liked the direction the story went, not to be meant in a bad way, but that I am genuinely concerned for some of the groups of people. Its not good for them...or is it.

The inner struggle for me is the whole...God thing. And that struggle is my own and no reflection upon this story. It was/is an important part of this story. And I most certainly look forward to more of this world and hope that the characters I care about will come out ok in the end. Yes optimism in the apocalypse. ( )

ABR's full Botanicaust audiobook review can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

Botanicaust what a title, dredging up so many ideas in my head. A botanic holocaust? What could that entail? So many questions running around in my head.

Tam Linsey set out to create a unique world where the Earth was decimated by plants, of all things. Destroying anything resembling a society that I am familiar with. This, I am assuming, is set in the far future, after the devastation and humans have reconstructed.

Leaving three distinct species of humans. Plantfolk or Halvainiens. People that have undergone genetic cleansing and selection and manipulation. To turn them into plant-like humans. Sustaining themselves largely by photosynthesis.

There are the Fossilites, an immortal race of humans that are plagued by not genetically selecting. Leaving them with a majority of the population having Downs Syndrome. Living deep inside mountains and now they can hardly leave.

Lastly the cannibals, these are what the previous two call them. but really they are the Old Order. Trying to live in the wastelands.

We have Tula a plant person who's job it is to convert cannibals into plant people. Starts to develop feeling for Levi a cannibal and helps him escape into the wasteland. This is where Tula's life get turned upside down.

Botanicaust had more religious references than I normally hear. This didn't really bother me until the council meeting near the end. It fit into the story line, yet wasn't for me.

All in all Botanicaust is a well thought out and unique story of love, betrayal, racism, adventure and survival. A fun listen that leaves many questions unanswered, to be answered in future installments. I am interested to find out where Linsey will take these characters and look forward to learning more about this world.

At first Meghan Kelly reminded me of Emma Galvin's, soft spoken, kind of raspy, imperfect voice. She gave very little injection of anything as the narrator. However where she really shined was with the characterizations. Fluctuating her tone and volume to portray the vast array of ages, sexes, and races.

After listening to this whole story I am now sold on Kelly's skill and look forward to hearing more from her.

Audiobook submitted for review by the author. ( )

Botanicaust by Tam Linsy- A highly imaginative book. It seems to be post-Apocalypse by several years. “Zombies” have immerged more out of necessity than from a war or mad scientist viral exposure. They are simply human beings with cannibalistic behaviour. So, what make this so different? The cannibals can be seen as a new race evolved over time out of necessity to survive.

The same can be said for 2 other surviving groups or races. One group is a religious sect whose decisions are based on their faith. Basically, they want to live as humanly and humanely as possible. They strive to live off the devastated land. Past farmlands devoid of edible vegetation but instead overrun with weeds.

Speaking of plants brings me to the third group of people who are Green through some sort of genetic technology or photosynthesis. They believe all of the planet’s survivors should be green. They believe their way is the only way. However, it is not easy being green.-

Of course this only causes great conflict throughout the 3 groups. Although the Green ppl and the Religious Sect are both on the cannibal menu and agree something needs to be done, they cannot agree on solutions.

This is just a bit of the foundation of the story without reviewing too much. This is a great read for the Sci-Fi enthusiast and possibly for the Dystopia lovers as well. ( )