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A review by vivaciously
The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks
4.0
A mix of Snowpiercer and Annihilation for the upper middle-grade, younger YA set.
Engrossing and well-written. Would have a higher rating except ending was a huge letdown and I expected this to be written for adults.
Weiwei is very reminiscent of Lyra of Pullman's His Dark Materials. Weiwei is 16, but everything about her feels years younger. Had the author made her 12-14, it would have been more believable.
My bigger complaint is the constant deux ex machina to resolve very conflict including removing all of the antagonists. It was one thing for the captain to help Weiwei with Grey. But every subsequent confrontation was fixed by Elena and the wasteland or, for Marya, the cartographer and professor - and wasteland's magic skywriting which made this feel even more like a middle grade book where the revelation a company is crooked would make a believable happy ending.
The ending has strong The Girl with All the Gifts vibes: fungus spreading around the world because a young girl decided to let it.
Engrossing and well-written. Would have a higher rating except ending was a huge letdown and I expected this to be written for adults.
Weiwei is very reminiscent of Lyra of Pullman's His Dark Materials. Weiwei is 16, but everything about her feels years younger. Had the author made her 12-14, it would have been more believable.
My bigger complaint is
The ending has strong The Girl with All the Gifts vibes: fungus spreading around the world because a young girl decided to let it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail