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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
adventurous
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a good, but very uneven book. The main thrust of its core idea- a post-climate-collapse utopia, which is dealing with the aftereffects of the reality that preceded it, is one I really like to explore and imagine. I also like the archetypes that the main characters represent, but how it all meshes together, along with the plot, didn't really satisfy me. I will admit enjoying the first 60% a lot, but the ending felt a bit contrived: an attempt to resolve the core tension through metaphor that doesn't quite land for me.
I enjoyed it well enough, but it isn't a must-read, for me.
I enjoyed it well enough, but it isn't a must-read, for me.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I haven’t read a book like this in a long time, and it was interesting to have a speculative take on the climate crisis given the data we have currently. I was drawn so close to it in the first half, but the payoff at the end of the book wasn’t as satisfying.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
Fifteen year old Emi Vargas was born after the climate crisis ended, the daughter of two activists who fought against wildfires and rising sea levels during the Great Transition. Living in Nuuk, Greenland, a near utopian city of seawalls, raingardens, and geothermal plants, it's easy to believe that the climate crisis is over. But on the sixteenth anniversary of Day Zero (the day the world reached net-zero emissions), the public assassination of high profile climate criminals coincides with the disappearance of Emi's mother, Kristina. As Emi and her father search for Kristina, they begin to unearth a conspiracy that could endanger the both of them.
This harrowing vision of the future, imagining the effects of climate change and the world's belated response to it, is both a timely story and a call to action. This world is believable, the characters relatable, and the story thought provoking. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and recommend it.
The prose is stylized, with descriptions often consisting of brief sentences and fragments; this along with the lack of quotation marks gives it a poetic, if sometimes choppy, feel. The story moves slowly and jumps between the past and present so the disappearance of Kristina and the subsequent search for her are often on the back burner. I didn't mind the meandering myself, but if you want a fast paced book this isn't it.
The point of view alternates between Emi and her father, Larch, providing a look at their world from different generations. Emi struggles with her mother's expectations of her and the idea that she is lucky to have been born after Day Zero. While Kristina doesn't have her own POV chapters, we get to know her through interviews for Emi's school project about the Great Transition.
Larch's narrative includes recollections of his childhood and the time before Day Zero. The present is written in present tense while the past is written in past tense so it's simple to differentiate between them. His chapters detail how climate change affected regular people, a heartbreaking look at how much was lost, and champions solidarity of the people and the work of volunteers. (And as someone who lives in a fire prone area, his chapters felt especially close to home to me.)
Trigger Warning: Emi has an eating disorder (food aversion)
Thank you to the publishers for the advance copy.
This harrowing vision of the future, imagining the effects of climate change and the world's belated response to it, is both a timely story and a call to action. This world is believable, the characters relatable, and the story thought provoking. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and recommend it.
The prose is stylized, with descriptions often consisting of brief sentences and fragments; this along with the lack of quotation marks gives it a poetic, if sometimes choppy, feel. The story moves slowly and jumps between the past and present so the disappearance of Kristina and the subsequent search for her are often on the back burner. I didn't mind the meandering myself, but if you want a fast paced book this isn't it.
The point of view alternates between Emi and her father, Larch, providing a look at their world from different generations. Emi struggles with her mother's expectations of her and the idea that she is lucky to have been born after Day Zero. While Kristina doesn't have her own POV chapters, we get to know her through interviews for Emi's school project about the Great Transition.
Larch's narrative includes recollections of his childhood and the time before Day Zero. The present is written in present tense while the past is written in past tense so it's simple to differentiate between them. His chapters detail how climate change affected regular people, a heartbreaking look at how much was lost, and champions solidarity of the people and the work of volunteers. (And as someone who lives in a fire prone area, his chapters felt especially close to home to me.)
Trigger Warning: Emi has an eating disorder (food aversion)
Thank you to the publishers for the advance copy.
After a world ravaged by the deadly impacts of climate change is rebuilt, plenty of challenges remain to secure and maintain a viable future in The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Facing a drastic change to life on earth as a result of climate change, including rampant wildfires, rising water levels, high volumes of migration to more inhabitable areas, and an increasing divide between social and economic classes, exacerbated by the actions of the destroying classes or climate criminals, those who opted to pursue wealth and their own comfort over the wellbeing of others and the planet, workers banded together during what became known as the Crisis to rebuild society for all, later referred to as The Great Transition. Two notable figures from the Transition are Larch and Kristina, the parents of music loving, fifteen-year-old Emi, who was born post-Transition into a world in a far better state than generations past though she is aware of what life was like before through persistent reminders from her mother’s constant lessons, volunteering, and deployments, as well as interviews with her parents for her school history project about the Transition. When Katrina goes missing just as massive events that cause ripples of political upheaval take place Larch and Emi leave the relative safety of their home in search of her, learning along the way that Kristina has kept a major and revolutionary part of her life secret, which dictates the possibilities for the family’s future amidst the larger fight for the planet’s survival.
Told through the perspectives of Emi in the current day throughout the search for her mother, Larch’s current concerns as well as reflections upon his experiences during The Great Transition, and Emi’s school project comprised of interviews with the highly opinionated Kristina about her experience during The Great Transition, the story of one family’s intimate crisis unfolds against a backdrop of a broader and more dire crisis in a politicized fight for the future of society and the planet. The story is ambitious in scope with all it attempts to address in relation to personal and political issues, which are quite relevant concerns for contemporary audiences while the story takes place in the not-so-distant future, noting the value of collaboration when making steps toward actionable change. Incorporated throughout the text are references to music, nostalgic and contemporary, and Dungeons & Dragons makes an appearance toward the end, highlighting a teenage frame of mind that’d be familiar to see in the characters, who are decently developed, while simultaneously demonstrating how the lives of these teenagers, at various points in time, have been disrupted and parts of their youthful innocence lost while participating both actively and passively in a fight for a [better] future for themselves and those who might come after.
*I received a copy of this book via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Facing a drastic change to life on earth as a result of climate change, including rampant wildfires, rising water levels, high volumes of migration to more inhabitable areas, and an increasing divide between social and economic classes, exacerbated by the actions of the destroying classes or climate criminals, those who opted to pursue wealth and their own comfort over the wellbeing of others and the planet, workers banded together during what became known as the Crisis to rebuild society for all, later referred to as The Great Transition. Two notable figures from the Transition are Larch and Kristina, the parents of music loving, fifteen-year-old Emi, who was born post-Transition into a world in a far better state than generations past though she is aware of what life was like before through persistent reminders from her mother’s constant lessons, volunteering, and deployments, as well as interviews with her parents for her school history project about the Transition. When Katrina goes missing just as massive events that cause ripples of political upheaval take place Larch and Emi leave the relative safety of their home in search of her, learning along the way that Kristina has kept a major and revolutionary part of her life secret, which dictates the possibilities for the family’s future amidst the larger fight for the planet’s survival.
Told through the perspectives of Emi in the current day throughout the search for her mother, Larch’s current concerns as well as reflections upon his experiences during The Great Transition, and Emi’s school project comprised of interviews with the highly opinionated Kristina about her experience during The Great Transition, the story of one family’s intimate crisis unfolds against a backdrop of a broader and more dire crisis in a politicized fight for the future of society and the planet. The story is ambitious in scope with all it attempts to address in relation to personal and political issues, which are quite relevant concerns for contemporary audiences while the story takes place in the not-so-distant future, noting the value of collaboration when making steps toward actionable change. Incorporated throughout the text are references to music, nostalgic and contemporary, and Dungeons & Dragons makes an appearance toward the end, highlighting a teenage frame of mind that’d be familiar to see in the characters, who are decently developed, while simultaneously demonstrating how the lives of these teenagers, at various points in time, have been disrupted and parts of their youthful innocence lost while participating both actively and passively in a fight for a [better] future for themselves and those who might come after.
*I received a copy of this book via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I took a long time to finish this book but not because of its quality—I just went through a reading slump.
This book is fantastic. Fully realized with spectacular world building. I was worried that a climate fiction novel would be all doom and gloom, but Nick Fuller Googins creates such a rich story filled with hope, despair, and reassurance of the resilience we humans have. While characters narrate from their perspectives throughout, Googins has his own subtle voice shining through that is not trying to sway the reader in one direction or another, and to me, that is the most challenging yet brilliant aspect of this.
I would have given this a slightly higher score, but I think we got 3 endings there in the last 20-30 pages, and I especially do not think we needed the epilogue.
This book is fantastic. Fully realized with spectacular world building. I was worried that a climate fiction novel would be all doom and gloom, but Nick Fuller Googins creates such a rich story filled with hope, despair, and reassurance of the resilience we humans have. While characters narrate from their perspectives throughout, Googins has his own subtle voice shining through that is not trying to sway the reader in one direction or another, and to me, that is the most challenging yet brilliant aspect of this.
I would have given this a slightly higher score, but I think we got 3 endings there in the last 20-30 pages, and I especially do not think we needed the epilogue.