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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
I read this in Danish, which is something I never do despite it being my first language. Because of this, I honestly had a pretty hard time picturing everything the way I do when I read in English, presumably because of a simple lack of practice. This is also why it took me much longer than expected to finish the book. For this reason I don't think it's particularly fair to give the book a rating, but here are my feelings on it in short:
The book is a fair commentary on how the rich, the West and the generally privileged stay 'alive', in a broad metaphorical sense, at the expense of the working class, colonised countries, marginalised groups etc. It paints a picture of 'us vs them', where the 'us' organise and create a community to survive even though it means 'they' will die a painful death (in the context of the climate crisis it is further understood that it's the 'us' - the wealthy - who are the cause of the disaster in the first place). I think it painted an interesting picture of the baseline instinct of survival instilled in us and how unfair it is that a handful of people get such an upperhand over the majority.
(In all honesty, though, my thoughts above were mostly formed when reading the afterword. Without it, I don't reckon I would've enjoyed the book as much).
The book is a fair commentary on how the rich, the West and the generally privileged stay 'alive', in a broad metaphorical sense, at the expense of the working class, colonised countries, marginalised groups etc. It paints a picture of 'us vs them', where the 'us' organise and create a community to survive even though it means 'they' will die a painful death (in the context of the climate crisis it is further understood that it's the 'us' - the wealthy - who are the cause of the disaster in the first place). I think it painted an interesting picture of the baseline instinct of survival instilled in us and how unfair it is that a handful of people get such an upperhand over the majority.
(In all honesty, though, my thoughts above were mostly formed when reading the afterword. Without it, I don't reckon I would've enjoyed the book as much).
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
An interesting little volume of speculative fiction! Holm manages to introduce compelling questions of class and culpability in the apocalypse in few pages, leading to a rare case where I think an extremely short book is effective as the characters passiveness would grate with more time. I didn't love the treatment of women in the text but understand why the book was written the way it was. Overall, I think it is worth the (relatively small) time-investment it takes to read it; I'm surprised it is not more talked about by speculative fiction fans.
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Suicide, Classism
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
This one is very difficult to explain. Parts of it are vivid and atmospheric, parts feel like pieces are missing. Overall an interesting read that I’m happy I read, but probably not one I intend on revisiting.
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
funny
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood
Minor: Sexual assault, Vomit