This is not an easy listen. I suppose the out-of-balance, abnormal-is-normal quality could be the product of a skilled writer. The protagonist endures hallucinations which make no sense to her and she feels like she has slipped through to an alternate dimension. The reader gets the same sense of vertigo and reality distortion as she does l. All questions and very few answers, and those provided ring so false they cannot be trusted.
Flora struggles to keep her wits even though she is given psychoactive “elixirs of the Gods”. She endures cruel, sadistic rituals and has essentially been abducted and held prisoner. Her only choices are a toss up between which is the worst.
As soon as she is out of one trial, she is pushed into another that is more harrowing than all before. People around her act strange and respond with the same automatic script. It seems everyone is in on the abuse of this pitiful, sweet young girl who loves and only wants to heal and share in nature’s beauty and goodness.
This isn’t trifling. It is evocative and could be triggering for sensitive souls and survivors.