Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghey

June 1, 2025

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghey

Following the death of his wife, Dominic Salt takes a job with the Tasmanian park service and with his three children, moves to an island near Antarctica. They live in the island's lighthouse, and Dom's main job is looking after the international seed bank stored on the island, and maintaining the research station. But climate change is causing the ocean to rise and it is gradually consuming the island. When the government decides to move the seed bank to a safer place, the research team departs, leaving Dom and his children to finish packing the seeds and close down the facilities before a ship comes to take them back to the mainland. But before they leave, during one of the worst storms they have ever witnessed, a mysterious woman washes up on shore, gravely injured but alive.

First, let me say that I realize that the majority of readers LOVED this book, while I am somewhat ambivalent. Whenever a book is subjected to a media storm of hype, I go into it with high expectations and am almost always disappointed. I read a lot of literary fiction and I expect excellent writing and really good characters, since that's what carries the story. This one was only middle of the road. The writing and nature descriptions are lovely, and the setting is unique and interesting, but I did not feel any connection with any of the characters. I guess the island and the weather were the two actual main characters. The plot isn't much of a plot at all, more of a non-mystery based on deliberate miscommunication. Climate change i8s an important topic but the author really beats it to death. No one has a happy ending, it's just all super tragic. Triggers include statutory rape, descriptions of animal abuse, mental illness, graphic sex, and violence in many forms. Just meh.

The research station at Macquarie Island, Antarctica

Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley

April 10, 2025

Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley

Dan scores a reservation at the exclusive La Fin du Monde restaurant and takes his wife Jane to celebrate their wedding anniversary. But his timing is off, since Jane has decided that she is going to ask for a divorce over dinner (also maybe not the best timing). Not to mention that climate change activists have chosen that night to bomb the restaurant.

Quirky and fun, with a long-term marriage that turns out to be a romance after all. Recommended for readers who enjoy off-beat fiction like Nothing to See Here or Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review. 

The Morningside by Tea Obreht

February 25, 2025

The Morningside by Tea Obreht

Set in Island City, the Morningside is a once elegant but now rundown apartment building where Silvia and her mother live after being evicted from their ancestral home and resettled in Island City. The building is only partially occupied since many residents fled the city. Silvia's mother wants to forget their past and where they originally came from, but Silvia's aunt fills her head with superstition and fears. Silvia lives a lonely life until a girl close to her age named Mila moves into the building, and the two girls become fascinated by the woman who lives in the penthouse.

Meh. A dystopian novel by the author of Inland and The Tiger's Wie that sounds like it might be set in a future Manhattan devastated by climate change and war. The author doesn't seem to know what story she wants to tell: first it's about evil spirits and folklore and discovering the true identity of the woman in the penthouse, then it changes to the plight of refugees and conspiracy, and then it switches to war crimes and government abuses. And then there are these damned birds that don't have anything to do with anything. If you want to read something that has similar themes but is a much better book, read Celeste Ng's Our Missing Hearts.

Post-apocalyptic New York

The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins

September 24, 2023

The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins

Emi lives in Nuuk, Greenland with her parents, who have been having marital difficulties for some time. Emi is SO tired of hearing how lucky she is to be born after the Great Transition, a time of major climate change, which her parents never stop reminding her about. During the global celebration of Day Zero, there are assassinations in several locations including Nuuk. Emi's mother is supposed to be in New York but has now vanished, and it appears she may have something to do with the killings. Emi and her father set out to find her, but who can they trust?

While I'm pretty much over climate change fiction, this was well-written. Except there is too much crying. With a dual timeline that moves from the present to 20 years ago, it was recommended as a read-alike for Station Eleven, which I loved. It also reminded me of Our Missing Hearts, where an activist mother goes missing and her son searches for her under politically dangerous conditions. 

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Nuuk, Greenland

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling

March 4, 2023

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling

Set in the far north of Canada, in a virtual ghost town called Dominion Lake, three different groups of people are following different agendas: a group of glamorous prostitutes, a female paramilitary unit stationed at an abandoned meteorological post called White Alice, and a warehouse full of men who are doing some kind of manual labor that has to do with mining. Why? That question is barely answered and not in any kind of satisfactory way.

Interesting premise but too many themes: mineral rights, global warming/climate change, ecology, indigenous peoples, patriarchy, privilege, etc. I didn't connect with or care about any of the characters, and the three narrative threads barely came together at the end. It felt like the author was trying to write something like Station Eleven (which I loved) where seemingly separate stories are inextricably linked. Overall disappointing.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

The frozen northern regions of Canada