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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed this dystopian climate fiction. I appreciate the author's optimism of the future but believe this is best read alongside of The Heat Will Kill You First and The Great Displacement.
I enjoy cli-fi, dystopian type novels and this one felt poignant and fresh. I liked the premise a lot: saying what we all need to hear now, disguised as a warning from the far future.
Unfortunately, this didn’t captivate me. I didn’t really care for most of the characters. I found Kristina to be downright annoying and unlikeable. I understood her perspective toward the end, but still didn’t like her. Larch seems to be the most well-developed character. There are moments Emi is likeable, but overall, I don’t care about her while reading.
I liked the two timelines, but the previous timeline became a bit of a slog. I think we needed less of it.
The writing is a bit odd and had me re-reading some areas. A total lack of quotation marks, so it’s not clear at first what’s being said versus thought. The way the narrating character says they are speaking wasn’t clear or consistent. It was also written in fragments. At times, this worked ok, and others it felt confusing.
Overall, the book’s premise is wonderful, there are some super excellent sentences, but, it missed the mark for me.
Unfortunately, this didn’t captivate me. I didn’t really care for most of the characters. I found Kristina to be downright annoying and unlikeable. I understood her perspective toward the end, but still didn’t like her. Larch seems to be the most well-developed character. There are moments Emi is likeable, but overall, I don’t care about her while reading.
I liked the two timelines, but the previous timeline became a bit of a slog. I think we needed less of it.
The writing is a bit odd and had me re-reading some areas. A total lack of quotation marks, so it’s not clear at first what’s being said versus thought. The way the narrating character says they are speaking wasn’t clear or consistent. It was also written in fragments. At times, this worked ok, and others it felt confusing.
Overall, the book’s premise is wonderful, there are some super excellent sentences, but, it missed the mark for me.
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An effort to imagine how we got through the climate crisis to a livable future, but where memory fades quickly and a sinister capitalism is ready to sneak back in if not put down by the people who won't forget.
I really appreciated the way this story wove the parents very different perspectives on what it was like to work through the climate crisis (one has all the privilege and experiences of a cis white man from the north east US, one is an immigrant woman from the south west) and finds a very believable path to their relationship, and also doesn't rose tint the limitations therein.
I really appreciated the way this story wove the parents very different perspectives on what it was like to work through the climate crisis (one has all the privilege and experiences of a cis white man from the north east US, one is an immigrant woman from the south west) and finds a very believable path to their relationship, and also doesn't rose tint the limitations therein.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a fantastic look at a potential outcome for our future which actually gave me hope. It was well-researched, and gave me a lot of inspiration to see how concepts like cooperatives and mutual aid (which work in small pockets now) could actually become normal systems in the future. This is what we need more of in the world: belief that there can be something different, and that it can work.
I really enjoyed the duality of Larch and Kristina; it felt really accurate of the polarization that many people fighting for change face nowadays as well. It clearly showed that we can align on so much, but still have completely different ideas on what's best for the future, and sometimes there is no solution. That felt very realistic and appropriate in today's day and age.
The format was unique withparts of Emi's final project thrown in throughout . The non-linear storytelling was nice. I 100% enjoyed everything that took place in the past way more than I enjoyed anything in the present.
I do not like coming-of-age themes and young adult books in general, so everything related to that is where this book lost a star from me. I didn't relate much to the teenaged main character, I felt like the writing was a bit simplistic, and I wish it wasn't so repetitive (with all the fights happening between everyone).
I liked it more than Ministry for the Future, but less than Station Eleven. I can see where the author drew inspiration from other books in the genre, including Parable of the Sower. Overall, I enjoyed it for what it is, the worldbuilding, and what it says about what we're capable of, rather than how it was written or the characters/plot themselves.
And a note for all future authors: please use quotation marks :')
I really enjoyed the duality of Larch and Kristina; it felt really accurate of the polarization that many people fighting for change face nowadays as well. It clearly showed that we can align on so much, but still have completely different ideas on what's best for the future, and sometimes there is no solution. That felt very realistic and appropriate in today's day and age.
The format was unique with
I do not like coming-of-age themes and young adult books in general, so everything related to that is where this book lost a star from me. I didn't relate much to the teenaged main character, I felt like the writing was a bit simplistic, and I wish it wasn't so repetitive (with all the fights happening between everyone).
I liked it more than Ministry for the Future, but less than Station Eleven. I can see where the author drew inspiration from other books in the genre, including Parable of the Sower. Overall, I enjoyed it for what it is, the worldbuilding, and what it says about what we're capable of, rather than how it was written or the characters/plot themselves.
And a note for all future authors: please use quotation marks :')
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Some more or less graphic depictions of the atrocities of the world ending, from brutality against people to death from natural disasters (fire, drowning).
The concept is amazing, the execution not so much. It read like a YA novel, which is fine, just not what I was expecting or looking for.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
I was totally gripped by this, which I wasn’t expecting. I wanted more after it ended. It was tense pretty much the whole time, because I was full of emotions about the climate crisis. But it was also full of magic in some way, by making the future the author imagines (which so many people are afraid to imagine, good or bad) feel possible and vividly real. Which any good sci-fi book does, but I don’t often get that from thinking about climate change. This book is full of infinite hope for human nature, and I have very complicated feelings about that.
One thing I was really irked by was the ED representation. It felt like a bit of a plot device or character quirk, and I don’t think it was handled with the gravity it deserved? But I’m not sure
One thing I was really irked by was the ED representation. It felt like a bit of a plot device or character quirk, and I don’t think it was handled with the gravity it deserved? But I’m not sure
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
in the best tradition of fiction - or at least speculative fiction - this book succeeds on the grand scale and the intimate one. it grapples with really really big questions like what would you do at the end of the world, or what is the value of life, or when is enough enough? and it also digs poignantly into the life of a single family, into a marriage onto parenthood, into a teenager trying to discover and experience life. tense and hopeful (yes AND no really), epic and small, Googins novel success in so many facets.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes