Scan barcode
A review by gingerellaj
After the Flood by Kassandra Montag
4.0
I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.
Dystopian fiction is fascinating but can often go one way or the other, executed well or less so, hit or miss: Montag's After The Flood was very much a hit for me. Roughly a century from present day, the world has been transformed following the Six Year Flood leaving large expanses of water with just mountaintops protruding where colonies have begun to form. After The Flood, set in the US, follows the story of mother-daughter pair Myra and Pearl as they attempt to navigate this new world in order to rescue Myra's first daughter Row, taken by her father. There are many trials and tribulations that Myra and Pearl must face on this journey, which Montag describes vividly and effectively conveys the urgency, panic and distress felt by them and those they become involved with. There were points where I actually didn't like Myra very much, (e.g. her getting pissed off at Daniel bleeding in the water after a shark bite! He can hardly help that.) but I think this is Montag successfully conveying how, when times are as desperate as they are in this story, people change as much as they need to in order to survive. I have read other reviews that said they weren't so keen on the investigation of this as a theme but those were the parts that made me really think: how would I behave and respond in a situation like this? The ending was quite sad but there was a positive element to it. Overall, a very well written and quite gripping dystopian piece, that may have a touch of Marmite about it. Either way, it was quite the page turner as I was keen to learn what happens to Myra and Pearl, who is very endearing, and whether or not they find Row.
Dystopian fiction is fascinating but can often go one way or the other, executed well or less so, hit or miss: Montag's After The Flood was very much a hit for me. Roughly a century from present day, the world has been transformed following the Six Year Flood leaving large expanses of water with just mountaintops protruding where colonies have begun to form. After The Flood, set in the US, follows the story of mother-daughter pair Myra and Pearl as they attempt to navigate this new world in order to rescue Myra's first daughter Row, taken by her father. There are many trials and tribulations that Myra and Pearl must face on this journey, which Montag describes vividly and effectively conveys the urgency, panic and distress felt by them and those they become involved with. There were points where I actually didn't like Myra very much, (e.g. her getting pissed off at Daniel bleeding in the water after a shark bite! He can hardly help that.) but I think this is Montag successfully conveying how, when times are as desperate as they are in this story, people change as much as they need to in order to survive. I have read other reviews that said they weren't so keen on the investigation of this as a theme but those were the parts that made me really think: how would I behave and respond in a situation like this? The ending was quite sad but there was a positive element to it. Overall, a very well written and quite gripping dystopian piece, that may have a touch of Marmite about it. Either way, it was quite the page turner as I was keen to learn what happens to Myra and Pearl, who is very endearing, and whether or not they find Row.