A review by bookishplantmom
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I went into this book completely blind. All I knew about it was the title. So I was surprised to find that it was a collection of short stories about a pandemic. I was taken aback and genuinely unsure about continuing but after just a story or two I couldn’t stop. The collection presents a series of slice of life vignettes following a range of characters and moments through a global health crisis. This is incredibly beautifully written and gripping. It is grim and heart wrenching most of the time but also compelling. I thought the author wove together stories which became increasingly speculative in such a way that it took a moment to recall that this wasn’t real. The characters and the the world building were very convincing  and indeed I found myself lost in them fully believing that this may well be a future we face as a species. I thought the final slice of life story was a fantastic way of ending the book. This was a tour de force of writing. 
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