This is a sobering book on many fronts. What happens when municipalities run out of money to keep basic services running? What happens to families when phones stop working? How do you survive in a world with no solid ground? Climate change is real and happening right now and when do these stop being hypothetical questions and start being things we need to grapple with?
It's also beautifully written and the characters seem real and like you should be able to ask them to come over for dinner. I'm particularly fond of the biology professor who takes Wanda in and shows her how to survive. There's a weird magical element to the story I was not a huge fan of, but it doesn't come up all that often and it doesn't detract from the main message of the book, which is that we better start preparing because bad things are going to happen soon.
4.5/5 stars
Lines of note:
The truth is, Kirby's happiest when he's fixing things. Sometimes she worries that this is the reason he married her. (page 10)
Ha. Don't we all have this worry?
Now that she's gone, he allows himself to believe she was good at everything. That they would be unconditionally happy if only she were still here. When she died, he was beginning to think he barely knew her. Now that he's lived with her ghost for ten years, he is an expert. (page 136)
I just thought this paragraph on grief was evocative and moving.
Nursing a dying creature isn't always the kind thing to do. (page 187)
Oh, how it hurts to think about when you need to give up on certain people, places, and things.
I've heard of this book, and the premise makes me very nervous (on a "completely unrelated" note, my husband are thinking of where we might possibly like to relocate to when my daughter goes to college.) I might read it anyway because it does sound really good.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was really scary and I don't live in Florida, although climate changes impacts all of us, of course. I can see why you might not want to dip into it, although I thought it was really quite good.
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