I’ll preface my review with this – I know this is a sequel to Fly By Night, but it can also be read as a standalone adventure of the characters, Mosca Mye and Eponymous Clent.
Olga Tokarzcuk was recently awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, so I was equally intrigued and intimidated by the prospect of this novel. Combining both a thrilling mystery and an interesting exploration of an eccentric older woman's psyche, it proved to be a rather controversial book in Tokarzcuk's native Poland, due to its discussions of animal rights, misogyny and mental health. There is a fairytale-esque feeling to the novel, with the description of snow-laden cottages in a barren Polish hinterland. At the outset, the protagonist, Janina, discovers her neighbour dead. But how did he die? When other residents of their small hamlet begin turning up dead, too, and the main suspects appear to be "non-human", it just gets weirder and more fascinating! If you want to read about William Blake, existentialism, murder, horoscopes, mushroom picking societies, unreliable narrators, old ladies, and deer...well....this might be the book for you!
As a debut I think this book had a lot of potential and I really enjoyed it! It wasn't quite what I was expecting from the blurb and was quite surprised but enjoyed it a lot more for what it was. Rather than a hard hitting plot driven dystopian apocalypse book, it was more a slice of life character study that happened to be set it the apocalypse. Once I realised that and stared leaning into more of the whimsy rather than expecting hyperrealism I was able to relax into and treat it more like a cozy fantasy read that I thoroughly enjoyed over a Saturday afternoon with a mug of hot chocolate. I think sometimes dystopian novels can be too bleak and depressing and focused on heroes and solving the apocalypse (yes I know dystopian means end of the world societal collapse and thus it is inherently depressing but sue me, I like to be contrary and I like my books contrarian). It was really different and unique to read about someone just hunkering down and surviving while indulging in what she loves. Just reading books and meeting other survivors, and yes also falling in love which I admit was cute. Overall I had a great experience with the book and as long as you don't go in expecting full on the last of us or the walking dead vibes than I think you will too.
Aishah
I really enjoyed this funny, well observed romp of a book.
Newly married Rosie is dienchanted with her life in New York, and following extensive Instagram scrolling becomes obsessed with living a rural life. Her husband, desperate to appease her, pays well over the asking price for a fixer-upper in a perilous state of disrepair, then promptly loses his job in tech. They are forced to rent an outbuilding to a queer, polyamorous couple, one of whom Rosie becomes increasingly enamoured of.
The social dynamics were so well observed in this book. It's funny and excruciatingly awkward, and points a gentle finger at the absurdities of lives lived on social media.
Marianne
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