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A review by alannajane
The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
4.5
Solid 4.5 stars.
Very well-narrated audiobook.
Step aboard this train ride, for a both tender and creepy journey through the changes that have been shut out of dignified society! This book starts with a bit of a chug-chug-chug, but then really gets rolling at a good medium-paced clip. The characters aboard the train are varied, and many have hidden agendas and/or identities. Certainly, they have all signed up for an adventure. Those who continue to peer out of the windows (against advisement) may even fall prey to "the wastelands sickness", at a cost of their own sanity. The crew do their best to maintain brave faces, despite knowing that unfathomable changes are taking place outside. Plus, they are being constantly scrutinized by the train company's two profit-maximizing representatives.
Great world-building and great writing are hallmarks of this wonderful book. The creepiness level (and persistently waning normalcy) of this book is super reminiscent of something T. Kingfisher would have created - making it an absolute delight. And, it is all brought to life so well by the narrator of the audiobook.
I have one qualm. Geographically, I may understand why the author chose to set this story where it is (and I knew from the synopsis where it takes place) .... That said, I honestly believe that we need to stop romanticizng Russia in our stories. Given the vast world-building and imaginative writing that this book incorporates, surely it wouldn't have been much more work to set this adventure somewhere else? Given Russia's ongoing oppressive, colonizing violence against Ukraine - plus the tens of thousands of Ukrainian children who have been kidnapped in the last two years from war-torn areas and forced to repress their heritage/culture and language in Russian foster families - we need to STOP glamorizing their existence!! I am still giving this book 4.5 stars because it deserves it, BUT setting any new book or story within this evil empire is an insult to the resistance of all Ukrainian people everywhere.
Huge gratitude to Netgalley and the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for an AudioARC of this book, in exchange for my (too) honest review.
Very well-narrated audiobook.
Step aboard this train ride, for a both tender and creepy journey through the changes that have been shut out of dignified society! This book starts with a bit of a chug-chug-chug, but then really gets rolling at a good medium-paced clip. The characters aboard the train are varied, and many have hidden agendas and/or identities. Certainly, they have all signed up for an adventure. Those who continue to peer out of the windows (against advisement) may even fall prey to "the wastelands sickness", at a cost of their own sanity. The crew do their best to maintain brave faces, despite knowing that unfathomable changes are taking place outside. Plus, they are being constantly scrutinized by the train company's two profit-maximizing representatives.
Great world-building and great writing are hallmarks of this wonderful book. The creepiness level (and persistently waning normalcy) of this book is super reminiscent of something T. Kingfisher would have created - making it an absolute delight. And, it is all brought to life so well by the narrator of the audiobook.
I have one qualm. Geographically, I may understand why the author chose to set this story where it is (and I knew from the synopsis where it takes place) .... That said, I honestly believe that we need to stop romanticizng Russia in our stories. Given the vast world-building and imaginative writing that this book incorporates, surely it wouldn't have been much more work to set this adventure somewhere else? Given Russia's ongoing oppressive, colonizing violence against Ukraine - plus the tens of thousands of Ukrainian children who have been kidnapped in the last two years from war-torn areas and forced to repress their heritage/culture and language in Russian foster families - we need to STOP glamorizing their existence!! I am still giving this book 4.5 stars because it deserves it, BUT setting any new book or story within this evil empire is an insult to the resistance of all Ukrainian people everywhere.
Huge gratitude to Netgalley and the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for an AudioARC of this book, in exchange for my (too) honest review.
Content Warnings
Set partially within the evil, oppressive, colonizing empire of Russia 🤮