This is the story of Lark, a young gay man surviving with his family in very dark future times. Climate change has ravaged the earth and as is par for the course with these things the worst of the worst are running things. When he and his family attempt to escape America on a boat for Ireland things go from bad to worse and he is left on his own. His mother‘s last words to him are that he must go on. And so he does. In Ireland he finds a dog, long thought eradicated, and the two companions survive together on their journey to find safety. along the way they face all manner of danger.
Oh my, I absolutely lost myself in this book. I wouldn’t consider myself an overly emotional person but this book made me feel like one. I’m not sure whether it was the bleakness of the environment, the resilience of Lark, the bald truth of humanity or the story of a man and his dog that hit me hardest… Who am I kidding? It was the dog of course! I know this is a dystopian and I totally get the comparisons to Station Eleven but this one also reminded me in a lot of ways of one of my favorites Dog Master by W. Bruce Cameron. I love the weaving of the survival aspects with the heavy expose on grief and the search for a glimmer of hope in the darkest of times. I feel like this one is an absolute masterpiece that will stick with me for a long time. Definitely one of my favorite reads of the year. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’m not going to lie at times this book is quite bleak, but you will feel so many emoticons reading it and be better for it in the end.
Thanks to Algonquin books for advanced access to this novel. All opinions above are my own.
What’s the last book you just loved?
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