A review by skrrtvonnegut
Drowning Practice by Mike Meginnis

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I really enjoyed the frame of this novel being that the end of the world was an inevitability and that what we are left with is seeing how people will deal with it, but ultimately it felt a little too narrowly-focused to be super effective for me. I think maybe showing a little bit more of the outside world, perhaps through the lens of David, rather than being so confined to Lyd and Mott's lives, we might feel the overall danger imposed on the two throughout. Instead, there are often long stretches of not much going on other than internal and personal conflict between mother and daughter. I will say, the book really sticks the landing and ties up how important being so narrow throughout was, because we can see a very personal experience with this whole thing in a way that we wouldn't had it been too broad.