Reviews

Walk the Vanished Earth by Erin Swan

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ghostbird108's review

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3.0

it was fine, but now i honestly can't remember too much of it so i'd say it's not particularly catching

lisas_bookshelf's review

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lmniday's review

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adventurous challenging dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

With a cover this pretty and a concept this interesting, I really wanted to like it more. Not actively bad enough to be a 2 star, but also not nearly good enough to be a 4 or 5 star. I would describe a lot of this book as "conservative wokeness." It's definitely true that this book was aware of the dangers of climate change, but the characters seemed to be more of a parody of liberal ideologies than a legitimate embodiment. Making some of your characters queer doesn't offset the themes that they represent. Still, obviously, it wasn't all bad. Ignoring the consistently contradictory political ambitions, this was a unique story told in an interesting order. I appreciated that besides Moon running the throughline, the other stories were mostly told in chronological order, with each one portraying a danger that can lead to a downfall of society. This book is certainly a one-of-a-kind experience, and as far as cli-fi is concerned, this one is a standout. I just wish it stood out as more than that.

the_reading_machine's review

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challenging inspiring mysterious reflective

3.5

randyrasa's review

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4.0

This book reminded me quite a lot of [b:Thrust|59089701|Thrust|Lidia Yuknavitch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1637602298l/59089701._SY75_.jpg|93175111] by Lidia Yuknavitch. Like Thrust, it's perspective moves across time, skipping between characters, and there is a dream-like quality to both the book's construction and its prose. The result, for me, wasn't quite as rapturous and mind-blowing, but it was still quite enjoyable and thought-provoking. Recommended.