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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
A solid 3.5 stars.
Wanda is born in the middle of a hurricane that devastates both her town and her immediate family. We follow her over several decades as she studies the environment, encounters trauma, and learns what it means to survive. She's precocious but only in the way that is demanded by her rapidly changing environment, not the unrealistic, annoying way writers often go for.
Hands down the best character in this book is Phyllis, a neighbor who ends up serving as a mentor to Wanda. The story is about climate change, resilience, and trust. The storytelling is excellent, though I would have liked it if each section stuck to a single historical period rather than moving back and forth on the timeline.
Despite being a medium-paced novel, this took me a while. The scenes aren't gruesome, but they are horrific. Like all climate fiction, anxiety about our current times made this book sometimes difficult to pick up. I still recommend it, if you're ready for being upset.
As an aside, I see the label "fantasy" and would like to make it clear this is not a fantasy. There is an element of magical realism and the story is set in a near future, but this is very much supposed to be reflective of our world, not a fantastical one.
Wanda is born in the middle of a hurricane that devastates both her town and her immediate family. We follow her over several decades as she studies the environment, encounters trauma, and learns what it means to survive. She's precocious but only in the way that is demanded by her rapidly changing environment, not the unrealistic, annoying way writers often go for.
Hands down the best character in this book is Phyllis, a neighbor who ends up serving as a mentor to Wanda. The story is about climate change, resilience, and trust. The storytelling is excellent, though I would have liked it if each section stuck to a single historical period rather than moving back and forth on the timeline.
Despite being a medium-paced novel, this took me a while. The scenes aren't gruesome, but they are horrific. Like all climate fiction, anxiety about our current times made this book sometimes difficult to pick up. I still recommend it, if you're ready for being upset.
As an aside, I see the label "fantasy" and would like to make it clear this is not a fantasy. There is an element of magical realism and the story is set in a near future, but this is very much supposed to be reflective of our world, not a fantastical one.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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:
Complicated
The fervor is flooding out of me after reading this book. There was so much goodness here.
The sense of place that lily brooks-dalton brought to the story was so visceral I could almost taste it. The feelings of both hopelessness and hope told through this one “family” story were immense in depth and breadth and amazing to experience. I loved and hated these characters at different points in the story like a roller coaster of cacophonous emotion.
The story, the characters, the outcomes are fierce but quiet, unforgiving and yearning, tragic and gripping. This novel is unforgettable.
The sense of place that lily brooks-dalton brought to the story was so visceral I could almost taste it. The feelings of both hopelessness and hope told through this one “family” story were immense in depth and breadth and amazing to experience. I loved and hated these characters at different points in the story like a roller coaster of cacophonous emotion.
The story, the characters, the outcomes are fierce but quiet, unforgiving and yearning, tragic and gripping. This novel is unforgettable.
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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
This is literary but very readable. I guess it's only literary in the way that a lot more people die than I expected. 🤣
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5 - starts off incredibly sad and you think surely it can’t get more sad, well… it does. (And doesn’t?) Classic man v nature where nature is its own beautifully written character. The writing is tremendous but only if you’re ready to have your heart ripped out at regular intervals. TW: child loss.
A lovely and meditative tale that charts the dissolution of Florida's climate, infrastructure and services due to the increasingly violent effects of climate change. Wanda, named by her mother after the hurricane that was raging while she was delivering her baby, grows up in a Florida that is falling apart. Wanda is never comfortable in the life made for her by her linesman father Kirby and older brother Lucas. Instead, Wanda learns how to survive the environmental changes from a caring, survivalist older woman and neighbour.
Together, they note the changes they experience: the destruction of infrastructure, the fleeing people, the shuttering of hopes for a Florida long neglected by its politicians, flooding towns and cities, burgeoning wildlife, and silence broken by the sounds of animals, and rain, in the incredible, killing heat.
Even while Lily Brooks-Dalton charts the loss of the things created by humans, she shows how nature persists, and constantly changes, and there is both harshness and beauty in the process.
Together, they note the changes they experience: the destruction of infrastructure, the fleeing people, the shuttering of hopes for a Florida long neglected by its politicians, flooding towns and cities, burgeoning wildlife, and silence broken by the sounds of animals, and rain, in the incredible, killing heat.
Even while Lily Brooks-Dalton charts the loss of the things created by humans, she shows how nature persists, and constantly changes, and there is both harshness and beauty in the process.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced