Botanicaust by Tam Linsey

Retro Review

Botanicaust by Tam Linsey
Post-Apocalyse, 348 Pages
BUY 

The only crop left ... is human.

After genetically altered weeds devastate Earth's croplands, Dr. Tula Macoby believes photosynthetic skin can save the human race. Her people single-mindedly embark on a mission to convert the cannibals roaming what's left of Earth. But when Levi, a peaceful stranger, refuses alteration, Tula doesn't think the only options should be conversion or death.

Levi Kraybill, a devout member of the Old Order, left his Holdout farmland to seek a cure for his terminally ill son. Genetic manipulation is a sin, but Levi will do almost anything for the life of his child. When he's captured, he's sure he's damned, and his only escape will be death.

Tula's superiors schedule Levi's euthanization, and she risks everything to set the innocent man free. Now she and Levi are outlaws with her people, and she's an abomination with his. Can they find sanctuary in a cannibal wasteland?

I read Botanicaust in its audiobook version and, to be honest, it took all of my concentration to get into it in the very beginning because the concepts described in this new world were so overwhelmingly foreign for me. I’m used to the more horrific side of the apocalypse but this one is pretty firmly steeped in the realm of science fiction.

An event coined the “Botanicaust” happened which basically wiped out all edible crops. Yeah. That’s no good. The survivors have morphed into a few different groups of people, all with some major flaws, who must take drastic measures in order to survive. I'm only going to concern myself with two of them. I'll leave the rest as a surprise for you, if you choose to read this series. There are cannibals who hunt and eat people and another group of green plant-like people who use science to “convert” the, eh, shall we say sort of agreeable cannibals into more green people (green people no longer need to eat flesh to survive).

Tula is one of the greenies and her job as a psychologist is to convince the non-green people to stop eating people “Training the carnivore out of the cannibal was not easy!” and sign the conversion release form in a very short window of time. Without it, they face euthanasia. So pretty much, you agree to go through this incredibly painful transformation or you die. Sucks for you! Tula is compassionate and her job is difficult seeing as there is also a language barrier between herself and her patients and she has a superior who is hell-bent on making her life miserable. Tula’s most recent patient is Levi. Levi is not a cannibal but a man who traveled outside the boundaries of his safe haven to save the life of his dying child. When Levi refuses to sign the release, Tula takes drastic measures, puts her own life in danger and uncovers some disturbingly devious secrets.

I’m not going give away any more of the plot, there’s a lot of it, I'm lazy and you should discover it for yourself. It gets twisty and turny, there is betrayal, a little sex, characters you grow to care about and lots of action. Once I found my footing, I enjoyed the uniqueness of the world and was anxious to see how it would all come to a close considering it’s part one of a series. Fortunately for me, it managed to leave room open for sequels but didn’t end on a huge, annoying cliff-hanger that left my head exploding in frustration.

If you like audiobooks, this one has a quiet, pleasant voiced narrator who doesn’t over-act or simply “read” the text and she does a great job with all of the varied characters.

*I received a copy of this audiobook from the author. Hope she doesn't regret it!