A review by blacksphinx
The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed

emotional reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This was described to me as litfic in a highly speculative setting and I agree. Our main character lives in Canada after the world's fascist governments all collapse under the weight of climate change and a wave of pandemics, culminating in a semi-sapient parasitical fungal infection that passes from parents to children. Our protagonist has received an acceptance letter to a university that is supposed to be safe inside a dome, but no one has ever seen it and there's doubts over if it exists. She angsts a lot about if its selfish to abandon her struggling community for this new opportunity, and how much she struggles with fear over her status as one of the infected.   

I have officially lost all my "pretentious" "artsy" cred because I found it excruciatingly slow. You spend the entire time in the mind of someone on the verge of having a panic attack and who dwells on things for a long time. I actually found myself wishing something would happen. I like slow-paced stories! I don't need to feel "connected" or like the characters are "relatable" to enjoy something! But I could not get into this, I was just begging for it to be over... which is hilarious considering it's a novella. 
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