holy shit. HOLY SHITTTTT. add this to ur tbr immediately. IMMEDIATELY.

this book reminds me of station eleven but more adult (and not written by a zionist 🤐). ling ma i could kiss you.

i’ll be real — my expectations were low. i read bliss montage last year, and i was not a fan. but this? this book reminded me of why i love dystopias so much.

god was this story captivating. not only following candence through her life post-shen fever but her life leading up to it. 

now after living through a pandemic (kind of…), this book really rings true. like god the way ma described how corporations continued to exploit their workers whilst the world was crumbling…. Yeah. i especially loved that this plague doesn’t work in the classic sense of human-to-human infection, and doesn’t follow your stereotypical portrayal of those infected. especially in the last couple of chapters — i loved the portrayal there. 

candence was quite a plain character with few discernible traits, but i think it worked here. she was the perfect audience surrogate, with just enough individuality to be interesting yet vague enough so i really felt like i was there with her.

the concept of the plot itself was a bit boring imo, but once things started happening (iykyk) i was more and more intrigued. the nonlinear narrative added to this, as if i got too “bored” (i didn’t really i was loving seeing how the world works on a fundamental level), i’d be taken to a flashback of life pre-shen fever where i found candence’s life quite relatable. i hate the concept of a 9-5 too girlie i get you.

ugh i can’t even describe why i loved this book. it’s so good. i understand after this book why people sing ling ma’s praises, and i will join in (only for this book sorry she still lost me in bliss montage)