Great story!

I really enjoyed this book. I felt it was written and read beautifully. Such a great story and refreshing to read something a bit different. Highly recommend.

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Kind of sad little story

With the news at the moment, this book has me feeling a little bit nervous that our world as we know it could suddenly come to an end. Makes me want to dig a shelter in my back garden

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Beautifully written moving first novel.

Totally gripped, insightful story I hope Kate writes more can't wait for her next novel

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Nice story

A nice story which has a feeling of hope throughout ,it’s an enjoyable easy listen

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Listened over two days

Loved this story
So different and beautifully written; covering all our different relationships, as well as posing the question, ‘Could we all benefit from living a simpler life?’

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Finished it, but found myself irritated through a lot of it…

If you take this as a surrealist post-apocalyptic fable or something and can forgive or ignore massive holes in logic about the world and the consequences of the apocalyptic events, then perhaps it might work for you. I just found that, for me, there were too many times I had to remind myself to try view it like this, to try to ignore lack of logic, odd decisions or comments by the characters, and silly incongruities. I also found the characters egocentric and shallow to the point of being unrelatable and annoying. Flaws are one thing (character progression is generally to be encouraged!), but there wasn’t enough balance here to make these characters feel truly believable or to give me any reason to care about them. I finished it to see what happened and not waste my credit, so three stars for at least interesting me that far.

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Somewhat better than many apocalypse tales

An interesting idea both in terms of a different take on the theme of world apocalypse and the way in which the story unfolds. The book’s narrator is Ruth and she describes in simple (and sometimes profound detail) how she came to be on a beach in New Zealand with Nick when a nuclear war devastated the northern hemisphere. Not only do the couple use a novel way of avoiding the worst effects of the nuclear fall out but together they pool their skills and learn how to survive and then teach 2 daughters to survive.Each of the chapters describing their survival are bookended by a chapter describing the narrator’s life in London and how she eventually came to be on a beach in the North Island. I must admit to staying the course of the book because of being intrigued by apocalypse stories..although there is only so much to be told about getting back to basics. Making do with almost 100% of what we take for granted, and a life close to that of subsistence farmers and fishers where the whole of life is consumed with meeting essential needs is far from great literature and Kate Sawyer probably chose well to keep her account and the narrator’s reflections unembellished. Nevertheless the journeys in the book bind well together. We empathise with a young woman from a secure loving family going through ultimately unhappy relationships with boyfriends but satisfying and joyful female friendships and the decision to follow her childhood interests in whales and their conservation and go on that final 4 hour walk with her to the beach. Ruth becomes increasingly aware of the tragedy that is befalling all those she loves and her response is powerfully visceral. The redemptive ending feels apt. At times the writing is clunky and irritating, the narrative predictable and the characters 2 dimensional but maybe that’s the nature of surviving an apocalypse with much of what you know blown away.

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Stunning ❤️

This was an amazing book. The storytelling is truly beautiful. For a post-apocalyptic book there is no gore, but just a beautiful story entwined with nature. I have read many of the genre, but this is definitely one of my favourites.

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Thought provoking and different

I really enjoyed this audio book. It’s different to the other books l’ve listened to and makes you think what if?!

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Captivating, beautiful, funny, inspiring!

Simply wonderful writing. Loved the double time lines and perspective of time. Highly recommended

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