If you are looking for a post-apocalyptic adventure, this might not be for you. The present day setting follows characters navigating a post-apocalyptic Great Lakes after several years after a devastating pandemic. The post-pandemic and during-pandemic world is incredibly compelling, but most of the book bounces between the lives of a few characters pre-pandemic.  

A lot of the past sections focus on things related to not being happy with where your life is going/has gone. I would not recommend reading this book if you’re in a stage like that in your life. With the way St. John Mandel writes, it can feel quite heavy and depressing sitting in those feelings. 

 

If you are thinking about reading this after watching the show, I highly recommend reading. The show changes quite a few things and the book is a similar but much different and worthwhile experience. The book also handles

Frank’s death

in a less ableist way and I thought the show does Jeevan and Miranda’s characters a bit dirty.

 
St. John Mandel writes in a way that I haven’t experienced before. Partially through using 3rd person omniscient, she does an incredibly good job of capturing a really melancholic, distant feeling that was intense to sit with but also so engaging. I also absolutely loved the non-chronological skips in and out of different characters’ lives.   

 

The present day characters aren’t particularly developed as the present day is more about the collective experience of a post-pandemic world which I didn’t mind. This is where I’d recommend readers watch the show because it was cool seeing a different take on the story with more focus on present day.

 

My biggest issue was the ending. I liked it as a concept but it was really rushed and read more like a brief summary of events which made for an unsatisfying conclusion after the slower build.