ballgownsandbooks's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
3.75
It took me a while to get into this book, but by the end I was crying on public transport, so safe to say I was emotionally invested!
I think I was thrown by the tone at first: I wasn’t expecting the world to feel so much like a generic dystopian of the early 2010s - à la The Hunger Games, Divergent, etc. - and yet so imminently and terrifyingly realistic at the same time. And yet this book is so much more - and so much more important.
I also struggled with the characters at first, particularly Pearl and Clover. I felt for their predicament and I did understand and appreciate both of their perspectives, but I still found them both quite annoying in the beginning. However, as their friendship with Nat developed and they began to rediscover the wonders around them, I really grew to love them by the end!
This is a cautionary tale, but also a beautiful a story of hope and resilience and innocence.
I think I was thrown by the tone at first: I wasn’t expecting the world to feel so much like a generic dystopian of the early 2010s - à la The Hunger Games, Divergent, etc. - and yet so imminently and terrifyingly realistic at the same time. And yet this book is so much more - and so much more important.
I also struggled with the characters at first, particularly Pearl and Clover. I felt for their predicament and I did understand and appreciate both of their perspectives, but I still found them both quite annoying in the beginning. However, as their friendship with Nat developed and they began to rediscover the wonders around them, I really grew to love them by the end!
This is a cautionary tale, but also a beautiful a story of hope and resilience and innocence.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism
Environmental collapse; family separation; incarceration
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