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A review by downsophialane
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
4.5
I had no idea what this book was about going in - I don't think I even realised it was apocalyptic when I opened it last night - but it grabbed me immediately and I ended up finishing it in two sittings.
New Yorker Daisy is sent to live with her cousins in the English countryside days before the outbreak of World War III. What transpires is a slow apocalypse, as the cousins deal with the short-term consequences, such as the lack of electricity and feeding themselves in the absence of their travelling aunt, and long-term consequences, i.e. the occupation of their house by the army and their subsequent separation.
The elephant in the room is this: the narrator does fall in love with and have an underage sexual relationship with her cousin. It's bizarre the extent to which the novel allows you to take this in stride? The beats of this novel aren't the beats of a romance, for sure, but I also appreciated the light touch of the ending. Rosoff restricts the urge to overdramatise for the sake of a blockbuster ending, and I thought it worked well.
The style is a voicey stream-of-consciousness which may not to be to everyone's taste, but which contributes to the fast pace and, in my opinion, the compulsive readability. I've just never really read anything like this before, and I think I'll be thinking about it for a long time.
New Yorker Daisy is sent to live with her cousins in the English countryside days before the outbreak of World War III. What transpires is a slow apocalypse, as the cousins deal with the short-term consequences, such as the lack of electricity and feeding themselves in the absence of their travelling aunt, and long-term consequences, i.e. the occupation of their house by the army and their subsequent separation.
The elephant in the room is this: the narrator does fall in love with and have an underage sexual relationship with her cousin. It's bizarre the extent to which the novel allows you to take this in stride? The beats of this novel aren't the beats of a romance, for sure, but I also appreciated the light touch of the ending. Rosoff restricts the urge to overdramatise for the sake of a blockbuster ending, and I thought it worked well.
The style is a voicey stream-of-consciousness which may not to be to everyone's taste, but which contributes to the fast pace and, in my opinion, the compulsive readability. I've just never really read anything like this before, and I think I'll be thinking about it for a long time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, War, Eating disorder, Self harm, Incest, Violence, Blood, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Medical content