The Lightest Object in the Universe by Kimi Eisele
Publication date: July 9, 2009
Pages: 325 pages
Genre: Speculative/post-apocalyptic fiction
Rating: 4/5 stars ✰✰✰✰
Strengths: Characters
Weaknesses: Could have been deeper, but then wouldn't have been as hopeful ;)
After the flu has ravaged the nation and everything has given up, the power goes out once and for all. No phones, no internet, no lights, no video games. Just dark, oh, and radio!
Carson finds himself in New York with no reason to stay there, and Beatrix makes her way home to the west coast where she's presuaded to be an advocate and community builder with her neighbors. We learn about their lives through several perspectives.
Carson starts making his way west to find Beatrix. He meets good people and bad people, and overall does pretty well without the comforts of home. Beatrix works with her neighbors to farm a little bit, garden, and use everyone's strengths for the benefit and safety of their community. Also in Beatrix's community are 15-year-old Rosie and her abuela, who arrived shortly before Beatrix returned home.
I was pulling for all the good guys, and reassured by how many people showed goodness. This was a great book of human resilience, good hearts, and recognizing when something may be too good to be true. The love and the loss are powerful. I'd give this book 4/5 stars and recommend it for those who enjoy a more promising version of dystopian fiction - how people keep going, instead of just watching it all fall apart.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my e-copy of this book. Receiving the book for free did not influence my opinions.
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