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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
When the world ends not with a devastating disease, natural catastrophe, but with an unexplained and painfully slow process what would you do? Julia was eleven when the Slowing began. On a normal Saturday morning, sunrise did not arrive when expected. It took hours for scientists to realize what was happening. By the end of the week, a day was no longer twenty-four hours, but twenty-five and counting. Over the next months and years, a day grew into over sixty plus hours long.
The devastation was slow, unstoppable, and world-ending, but life had to go on. Told by adult Julia through her memories of that time, we follow through a tween's perspective and focus as the days get longer, too much sunlight begins to cause disease and dementia, the birds die-off, plants begin to die in slow jumps and starts, and people come to grips with a new reality of the world most likely becoming the next Mars.
The devastation was slow, unstoppable, and world-ending, but life had to go on. Told by adult Julia through her memories of that time, we follow through a tween's perspective and focus as the days get longer, too much sunlight begins to cause disease and dementia, the birds die-off, plants begin to die in slow jumps and starts, and people come to grips with a new reality of the world most likely becoming the next Mars.
Different than a lot of the books I have read and really enjoyed it
I loved it up until the end, which left me disappointed enough not to give it another star. Julia was spot on as a 12 year-old navigating what seems to be the end of the world. I did manage to devour it quickly.
There is something about summertime and reading that just go so perfectly hand-in-hand for me. Maybe it is the lower-income summer reading programs I used to be enrolled in when I was a kid to encourage summer reading and continued education or having enough free time to actually read whatever I wanted without fear of homework or class discussion. Or maybe, it's just the slow movement of time in summer that makes it perfect for reading. Whatever it is, this book is perfect summer reading material!
This book is actually not as fun and uplifting as I kinda made it seem or as the title and cover seem. The story follows Julia, a kid in the middle of her life and the catastrophic ending or near-ending of the earth as we know it. The earth's rotation has slowed and continues to slow. By the end of the book, a day and a night on earth is 72 hours long and seems to continue lengthening. This book details the changes to the earth as well as the changes to society as The Slowing progresses.
First of all, I love a good dystopia or apocalyptic story, especially one that is scientifically backed and plausible. When I read the back information of this book, I fell in love with the premise of this book and it did not fail me while reading it. I loved the author's fluidity with writing the subject and how believable it is; there was never a point where I was lost or didn't believe the story. I read this a lot while sitting outside, so I found myself looking at the sun and thinking about how long the day was going to be and forgetting that I was just reading a book and that is wasn't real! This book really made me think about the non-existence of concrete time as we know it and how fleeting it all is. I honestly have no idea how our world would react if time became skewed or the earth slowed down. Or, even if time shifted and increased a few hours or even a few minutes. Who knows, but this book made me think about it.
Along with the subjects, I really really loved the slow progression of this book and how it reads day by day. Normally, I like things to be a bit more fast-paced, but the progression of this book made me want to read it more and more. I feel like day-by-day is how you would take something as scary as what is happening in this book. I liked how it is paced and how each entry or chapter is something significant versus just telling a story to tell one. It seems well planned and pieced perfectly.
I wasn't too sure about the characters when I started reading this book, but they really great on me. Julia, at first, really annoyed me but I had to realize that she is just a kid and going through some extreme things. I liked reading her story and perspective. It is interesting to see the story through the eyes of a kid going through some of the most formative years of her life while trying to negotiate the state of the earth, the possibilities of the future while juggling familial affairs after seeing her father in the yard of the neighbor. I felt so bad for Julia at so many points because she goes through some difficult things, but also the plot point with Seth was so touching and felt so familiar. It is the stories like this one, that remind you of your own childhood and adolescence. These sorts of stories stick with you.
The last chapter of this book was perfect. One part of me waited for and wanted the end-of-the-world type ending but the other part of me loved the very hopeful ending, although it was quite open-ended. I appreciated that is was open-ended because everything comes to an end regardless of how hard we try to not let it. It makes me hopeful for how well humans and society could adapt to those moments that may come. I highly recommend this book not just for a good story, but also because of the messages it has embedded deep within the story. I loved reading this book and look forward to seeing what else this author has written! 5 stars all around!
This book is actually not as fun and uplifting as I kinda made it seem or as the title and cover seem. The story follows Julia, a kid in the middle of her life and the catastrophic ending or near-ending of the earth as we know it. The earth's rotation has slowed and continues to slow. By the end of the book, a day and a night on earth is 72 hours long and seems to continue lengthening. This book details the changes to the earth as well as the changes to society as The Slowing progresses.
First of all, I love a good dystopia or apocalyptic story, especially one that is scientifically backed and plausible. When I read the back information of this book, I fell in love with the premise of this book and it did not fail me while reading it. I loved the author's fluidity with writing the subject and how believable it is; there was never a point where I was lost or didn't believe the story. I read this a lot while sitting outside, so I found myself looking at the sun and thinking about how long the day was going to be and forgetting that I was just reading a book and that is wasn't real! This book really made me think about the non-existence of concrete time as we know it and how fleeting it all is. I honestly have no idea how our world would react if time became skewed or the earth slowed down. Or, even if time shifted and increased a few hours or even a few minutes. Who knows, but this book made me think about it.
Along with the subjects, I really really loved the slow progression of this book and how it reads day by day. Normally, I like things to be a bit more fast-paced, but the progression of this book made me want to read it more and more. I feel like day-by-day is how you would take something as scary as what is happening in this book. I liked how it is paced and how each entry or chapter is something significant versus just telling a story to tell one. It seems well planned and pieced perfectly.
I wasn't too sure about the characters when I started reading this book, but they really great on me. Julia, at first, really annoyed me but I had to realize that she is just a kid and going through some extreme things. I liked reading her story and perspective. It is interesting to see the story through the eyes of a kid going through some of the most formative years of her life while trying to negotiate the state of the earth, the possibilities of the future while juggling familial affairs after seeing her father in the yard of the neighbor. I felt so bad for Julia at so many points because she goes through some difficult things, but also the plot point with Seth was so touching and felt so familiar. It is the stories like this one, that remind you of your own childhood and adolescence. These sorts of stories stick with you.
The last chapter of this book was perfect. One part of me waited for and wanted the end-of-the-world type ending but the other part of me loved the very hopeful ending, although it was quite open-ended. I appreciated that is was open-ended because everything comes to an end regardless of how hard we try to not let it. It makes me hopeful for how well humans and society could adapt to those moments that may come. I highly recommend this book not just for a good story, but also because of the messages it has embedded deep within the story. I loved reading this book and look forward to seeing what else this author has written! 5 stars all around!
This was a really quick read--not too long to begin with, and once you start you don't want to put it down. While it seemed like the plot was just one sad event after another, it didn't leave me feeling too melancholy. I thought the premise was really fascinating and that the author developed it very realistically. My only caveat is that I would not recommend reading this during a summer of record heat...freaked me out a bit.
Extra intressant att läsa nu under coronapandemin. Trots att det är helt olika scenarion finns ändå en del paralleller och saker som går att relatera till. Bra bok!
I did enjoy the book because I was looking for a light read, but I kept wanting more. I wanted more science fiction and less YA fiction. But it is an interesting concept and I was happy for a quick and easy read.
I just completed this book and apparently didn't even realize I had read and completed it before. I changed my rating from 3 to 2 stars. I felt the story was very inconsistent. The concept of the slowing is interesting. Maybe if I consider this is told through the eyes of a 12 year old, I could better understand the writing style. The final chapter, Julia says she is now 23 - after all the deterioration in the one year or so span of the rest of the book - it's hardly believable survival of humans could have been that long. I was disappointed.
Beautifully written but sort of derivative. Dystopian novel with teenage love affair. Did get somewhat engaged with the story though.
I think it has a cool premise, but I thought it was redundant and predictable in the end.