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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
As a relatively new first-time mom from London with a reasonable amount of climate anxiety, this hit hard. I really enjoy depictions of dystopia and societal crisis that are quiet and understated and this book delivered on that - the writing style mirrors this too, it’s sparse but poetic.
I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.
As London is flooding, an unnamed woman gives birth to a baby boy she names Z. They move from place to place in search of food and safety, as the world becomes entirely different from the world of today due to the environmental crises. At the same time, the baby has never known anything different, and he thrives against all odds.
Have you ever read an apocalyptic or dystopian novel and wondered what it would be like to be a normal person in that world? That is this book. There is no hero to save them from the circumstances they must endure; it is just the reality of the new world. This story gives few details to make the characters more relatable to any reader. However, for me, this also made it hard to connect to the characters. This novella was a quick read, but I wish it had been longer with more plot to the story.
As London is flooding, an unnamed woman gives birth to a baby boy she names Z. They move from place to place in search of food and safety, as the world becomes entirely different from the world of today due to the environmental crises. At the same time, the baby has never known anything different, and he thrives against all odds.
Have you ever read an apocalyptic or dystopian novel and wondered what it would be like to be a normal person in that world? That is this book. There is no hero to save them from the circumstances they must endure; it is just the reality of the new world. This story gives few details to make the characters more relatable to any reader. However, for me, this also made it hard to connect to the characters. This novella was a quick read, but I wish it had been longer with more plot to the story.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
No
The comparison to Station Eleven is what made me pick this up, and it is disingenuous at best. This is a story of motherhood with postapocalypse pinned to its jumper like a prefect badge, asking to be let into a club where it doesn't really sit. Every trapping of genre could be shed from this and the gaps filled without really feeling the loss. And really it is poetry rather than novel, and there is nothing wrong with that but it is not for me. People are letters holding up the shape of metaphors rather than any real semblance of character, the paragraphs short, sometimes just one sentence to another so every thought is fragmented. It leaves very little to really grasp on to here, so while the language is beautiful I find myself already forgetting what has passed.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I enjoyed the poetic, lyrical style although I know it was a turn off for some people. Overall I thought it was a lovely little book.
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
reflective
fast-paced
I never thought a survival narrative could give me baby fever but here we are.
going back to read this author's debut, after reading her second novel, I found a lot of familiar and similar themes and prose.
I love the way this author's writing is both concise and to the point as well as lyrical and haunting. like she did in the Harpy, she incorprates italicized sections from myths that somehow tie in to the story. This one is environemental post-apocalptic tale and a story of motherhood. we follow a new mother while the world collapses around her because of floods, and she is forced to leave her life in london and flee with her child and husband.
It's a story of bravery, about how this woman managed to stay sane for the sake of her child, a story of hope and love. it almost felt like poetry. I just felt that it was too short for me to be engrossed, but I felt deep sadness for them by the end of the novel.
I love the way this author's writing is both concise and to the point as well as lyrical and haunting. like she did in the Harpy, she incorprates italicized sections from myths that somehow tie in to the story. This one is environemental post-apocalptic tale and a story of motherhood. we follow a new mother while the world collapses around her because of floods, and she is forced to leave her life in london and flee with her child and husband.
It's a story of bravery, about how this woman managed to stay sane for the sake of her child, a story of hope and love. it almost felt like poetry. I just felt that it was too short for me to be engrossed, but I felt deep sadness for them by the end of the novel.