A review by heathcliff
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Positives: The world building is believable and one of the better ones that I've read in the "eco-fiction" genre. McConaghy is definitely skilled in slowly unravelling the narrative in a way that really grips you. The relationship between Franny and Niall was very compelling, and to me the heart of the novel.

What I didn't enjoy: The heavy-handedness with the plot at times. I don't know what it is about a lot of recently-written eco-fiction, but it the authors alway shoehorn the messages about climate change in a way that always feels clumsy and clunky. The argument between Basil and Franny about climate change felt very jarring, and unnecessary. McConaghy did enough with the world-building to make her point.

There were also just a lot of things going on in the novel, and I'm not sure if McConaghy really successfully tied all the elements together by the end of the novel. For one, I felt that the ending with Franny's father showing up to pick her up after she's released from prison the second time -- rather than some sort of resolution or closure on her relationship with her temporary shipmates -- felt very unsatisfying.

Where the novel really lands for me is showing the enduring spirit of life. Climate change may threaten wildlife, but the artic terns endure and fight to survive. The same endures in human nature -- in our curiosity and wonder, and, I guess, too in love. McConaghy does well to illustrate the duality of this -- that it can be a spirit which inspires, but can also be destructive; to ourselves, and to the planet.

I also liked that McConaghy treated the argument of conservation vs. livelihoods in a nuanced way. It is easy for scholars and climate scientists like Niall who are privileged and wealthy to point fingers at fishermen and seamen who do what they do for a living. But it is not easy for the latter group to just "transition" into the new normal. It is easy to blame the fishermen for climate change and judge them for their actions, but are they really the ones to blame for the destruction of the planet?