Karen Thompson Walker's The Age of Miracles
Now, this is the kind of book that is right up my alley--but also makes me think about stockpiling canned goods JUST IN CASE. Yes, it's a near-future dystopian-ish novel, but it's a literary one instead of YA, for a change of pace. The crisis here involved the earth's rotation slowing, so that each day gets a little bit longer--which maybe seems nice in theory, but causes all sorts of problems for the planet. Our protagonist is 11-year-old Julia, whose nice little life is thrown into disarray, and whose only fault as a narrator is the tendency to too often say "That was the last time I ever [ate pineapples/ate grapes/saw whoever]." It's a little over-dramatic. The rest of the book is fairly strong--the reactions to the planetary crisis seem pretty realistic, and I really wanted to know what would happen next (although all the things that happen are fairly small, I was still on the edge of my seat). The publisher is pushing this pretty hard, and with good reason. A-.
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An e-galley was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in June.
I just finished this - Mac lent it to me. I have decided that I didn't really like it. Too much endless foreshadowing - which you mention - and then it just ends slightly before the end of the world it seems. I will say that I couldn't put it down, though - and I was very stressed out about all of the animals dying.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I honestly hate when animals die in books--I feel like the author is being overly manipulative. THAT SAID, in an environmental-crisis dystopia, I think it's a little more realistic/warranted? Though still no fun at all to read.
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