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Posted 20 hours ago

Not Alone

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This story of a mother and child surviving in post apocalypse had an excellent premise. A microplastic storm has devastated the world and the microplastics are irretrievably on/in every surface and water supply forever. It was on the whole well written in particular the trauma post rape. There it stops though. To me the characters were challenging to care about. The child has to be the whiniest scared and poorly behaved kid in literature. The mother makes some very unbelievable decisions. Would any mother, having found a caring couple to carry on living with, decide to make a life threatening journey to scotland in the faint hope that the man she loves is still alive and she can find him. Or that she would not teach her child anything about how to survive in the new world apart from mask wearing and hand washing. I really find it beyond belief that a landcruiser smashed into barricades, houses and regularly submerged and filled with old polluted fuel could make it past the M25. Wanting to soften his understanding, Katie assures him, “You get to live every day, you only die once.”

Men are a constant threat. Harry, who has some limited world experience, thinks just about any living thing larger than an insect is a “nasty.” The nasties are especially threatening at night and in the dark. He is channeling all of Katie’s fears. Katie mistrusts everyone they meet, including a couple, Sue and Andy, who are kind and generous. Katie worries they are trying to steal Harry from her. She is clearly suffering from post-traumatic stress, both from the storm and from the assault, and their isolation has only made things worse. They started to find plastic dust in rivers, soils and even the air – and also in the vast oceans, millions of pieces per square metre, washed there like it was a great big watery garbage dump. All containing their own chemicals (poisons).” There are also moments where the narrative strays away from the literary toward the preachy. Far too late in the narrative we’re told, “They started to find plastic dust in rivers, soils and even the air—and also in the vast oceans, millions of pieces per square metre, all washed there like it was a great big watery garbage dump.” Sure, humanity did this to themselves, and maybe we should all change our ways before it’s too late. But in context it feels like a lecture rather than part of the story. Katie being bitchy to the nice people who help her and give her their food and take her to get supplies

Not Alone

Which brings me to her son, who is the most whiny, obnoxious, pathetic child you can imagine. Really, though, I blame the mother for how she raised him.

This was interesting in concept, and I enjoyed the dynamic between her and her partner. I wanted to know more about the microplastic storm, have it connect more firmly with what we're currently experiencing. And Katie was an overachiever, really trying to do her best to make a difference for the environment and climate. Intensely moving, genuinely gripping, plausible and absorbing; this is a stunning debut by a truly talented new writer." I appreciate that at first it felt like a love story of a mother's sacrifice for her sons survival and the bond they share,, but I also felt like it was also as much as a story about Katie making this journey to save herself as well. Difficult decisions are made throughout the book, and protection at all cost is the main goal for survival with these two and the cast of characters met along the way. An exhilarating debut novel, tracing the harrowing journey of a mother and son fighting for survival and a future in a world ravaged by environmental disaster •“ Not Alone kept me breathless with tension… [A] gripping adventure story.”—Emma Donoghue, New York Times bestselling author of Room and HavenNot Alone is the story of the harrowing journey of a mother and son, fighting for survival and a future, in a world ravaged by environmental disaster. ⁣ Intensely moving, genuinely gripping, plausible and absorbing; this is a stunningly debut by a truly talented new writer.” Katie not realizing her fiancee left an a car for her in his parking spot for five years and then just getting it going with a little trouble Katie has sheltered Harry from the truth. Other than what he sees in his storybooks, he knows nothing of what life was like ‘Before’. When they encounter bodies in cars and in buildings where they scavenge, she tells Harry they’re sleeping. But when Katie becomes so desperate for food that she kills and roasts a rabbit right in front of him, she finally explains what death is. I also appreciated that the book didn't get too preachy. There's a tendency for these types of books to get a little heavy handed in their message, but with the exception of Katie lamenting a few times "If we all only went vegan!", the author simply lets her story unfold.

Dust and mould cake the walls of the stairwell, crumbs of mud and dead vegetation littering the stairs. Particles drift in the air, blinking in and out of the muted light. Five years ago, a microplastic storm wiped out most of the population. No infrastructure. No safe havens. No goodbyes. Without any spoilers, I actually liked the ending. It was realistic and it was a punch to the gut. But yet, there were still tendrils of hope to make it an uplifting ending.

I just wish that there were more descriptions when it came to the breakdown in society. You're left to fill in the blanks with the bits of information that was given. If you’ve never in your life read an apocalyptic tale, *maybe* this will be fine for you. For me I found it insulting that anyone would ever waste and abuse my time in this manner. Katie has become expert at foraging food from surviving plants and trapping rabbits, foxes, sometimes a dog. Harry’s father was in London when a toxic storm hit England. It was such a massive storm and so filled poisonous microfibers that it wiped out life as we know it.

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