Tom Larkin

Haunting, unsettling, beautiful. A quite staggering album that takes you on an absolute journey of emotions.

Far from perfect, but this is a captivating (sometimes uncomfortable) read that captures something of the times we live in. Something that most probably haven't truly confronted. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the writers style, especially in the early parts of the book before the story really starts to unfold. It does improve drastically in that respect, though there are quite a few mis-steps throughout. Having said that, it's a really clever premise that really makes you think 'what if...'. I like that in a book. It raises some big questions socially (race, class etc), psychologically (addiction to technology, crisis management), and politically (war, environmental disaster). And having lived through the pandemic, I think this helps it home that little bit more. The unspecified disaster that is unfolding seems that bit more possible than ever before. Uncomfortably so. There's hints of JG Ballard - taking a huge world-altering premise and making it feel unnervingly relevant to the world we live in. Ignore the people writing 'absolutely nothing happens'. Not only is this not true, it's missing the point. I think quite a few people will have a negative reaction to this book purely because they don't like how it makes them feel and what it makes them think about. Definitely not perfect, but 100% worth reading and giving your full attention.