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kieranyes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The good is that the world building is really intriguing and original. Set in a mid-future scenario where pollution makes city air fatal, a small community attempt to survive in a state otherwise set aside for strictly managed nature conservation. This state is off limits; no people are generally allowed there and even microplastics and human bodies have to be retrieved or Rangers issue massive fines, kind of like an authoritarian Yellowstone. A small community is permitted to live there as part of a trial into populating the wilderness. Even the most rebellious characters appear to recognise their personal impact on the wilderness while they are there as important. This speculative future where conservation is a powerful bureacracy in an apparently futile attempt to offset environmental degradation was really interesting, but to be honest the ambiguous style doesn't really colour this in. We mostly pick up on this through the characters arguing about the rules of the study and references to how things have become less available. Characters never seriously discuss systemic drivers of why or how the world is, and don't seem to care about these even when their children become too sick or even die from air pollution.
The central tension is between a mother and her daughter, and an additional one between an academic and a thug. Ideas of returning to nature and reorganising society in hardship are pretty clear, through a complicated and at times strained mother-daughter bond. However, we don't really know what anyone looks like; for a book inspired by indigenous culture its pretty colourblind, I think in an attempt at universality. In the same way, all characters have the same or very similar kind of clunky and simple speech. This is why it reminded me of the Walking Dead, a show not known for poignant dialogue.
Its also just really bleak. I'm all down for a depressing read but this was kind of relentless.
Stacey Glemboski's audiobook narration was excellent.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
maddiebusick's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
mcchonchie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death and Miscarriage
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Minor: Violence
bookmaddie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Cook writes beautifully and imaginatively of the natural world, and I appreciated her note at the end of the real lands that inspired her fictional creations. The whole experiment is quite interesting to read about. Cook has written a really great group of characters, and she explores the tensions that arise when you're with a group of people for so long, and then when that is disrupted by new arrivals. Her social observations are spot on, and she has quite the skill for building up the tension, even in situations that might seem somewhat insignificant.
Agnes really annoyed me in the beginning, when the story is narrated by Bea (whose narration I enjoyed most). I really don't like children characters who never speak and act kind of oddly with no explanation, and Agnes fit the mold for the first quarter of the book. However, when we read from Agnes' point-of-view, I found her much more interesting. Her narration, from the perspective of a child, adds a lot of mystery to this story, as there is a lot she doesn't understand about the social mechanisms of the group. Even so, Agnes is very observant and often picked up on things that the adults ignored. While I grew to enjoy her narration a lot, I do wish there had been more explanation of some elements. I was especially curious to know what happened to Bea, and get a final glimpse from her perspective, as she is the one who started this whole story.
Still a great read, and one I'd definitely recommend for fans of nature writing, slight dystopian reads, or any of the books I mentioned earlier.
Graphic: Death and Miscarriage
Moderate: Animal death and Blood
Minor: Death of parent
peachani's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Excrement, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
babegladwaller's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, and Death of parent
just_one_more_paige's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Death of parent
katjoyphil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent
sarahs_shelf_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
There was one portion of the book were the passing got a little slow for me and I really wanted to know what was going to happen...but overall I think the pacing is done really well. It's medium to slow paced and the movement of seasons really dictates the pacing of the characters lives which I always find soothing (even though, as I said it is mostly a heartbreaking book). One thing I found super interesting is the use of maps in the story, I think that's something that has stuck with me the most after reading this book, and I hope to have discussions with people about it. And of course the mother-daughter relationship is at the forefront of this story. I don't have much to say about it except that it was amazingly well done and I marked so many passages about them.
Graphic: Death and Miscarriage
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
leekaufman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Miscarriage, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief