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Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Mother Fault in Books

Dec 19, 2021  
The Mother Fault
The Mother Fault
Kate Mildenhall | 2021 | Dystopia
5
7.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
A book that wasn't for me I'm sorry to say.

Set in a future where climate change is not just something that is likely to happen but is all too real and where everyone is micro-chipped and controlled by the Government, this is the story about Mim trying to find out about her missing husband but feeling she has no other option than to go on the run with her children.

Sounds good doesn't it, well for me it just fell short on excitement. There was a lot of description, too much waffle and whilst the characters were well developed, I couldn't seem to get on with them. The ending was also a disappointment; it seemed to take a while to get there and then it was over with many questions still to be answered - maybe I missed something somewhere?

So whilst this wasn't for me, there are plenty of positive reviews out there so don't take my word for it as I always say, if we all liked the same things, the world would be a very boring place indeed.

My thanks go to HarperCollins UK / HarperFiction and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
  
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ClareR (5721 KP) rated Doggerland in Books

May 3, 2019  
Doggerland
Doggerland
Ben Smith | 2019 | Dystopia, Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The boy (Jim), who is not a boy, and the old man (Griel), live and work on a wind farm out at sea. Land seems to be a distant memory, and escape from the wind farm seems unlikely. The boy is required to take over his fathers contract after he disappears. The old man might know what happened to him, but the boy never really asks, and no information is volunteered.
This has been compared to The Road and Waiting For Godot, and I’d agree with both of these. There is an overwhelming feeling of being trapped, even though they are out at sea and can see for miles, and this brought Huis Clos by Jean Paul Sartre to mind for me. Two men, trapped for what feels like eternity in the same place, with no hope of escape.
It’s a climate change story as well. It tells of the power of the sea and water, and how it will reclaim everything. This makes the story all the more futile. What’s the point if it’s all for nothing anyway?
I liked this book - I would say that it wasn’t a book I loved, but at the same time, it was a book that I didn’t want to put down. It’s a pretty bleak story, but compelling all the same.
  
TW
The Wolf and the Rain
Tanya Lee | 2018
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Voluntary honest review after receiving a free ARC.

An excellent book and fun read, if a bit of a bumpy beginning. It takes a little time to get into it.
  
After a collapse of civilization due to climate change. The North and South of a country has split into opposites. Divided by a heavily militarized border. The North is chaos and almost anarchy where the only authority are the elite compounds or the gangs there are many ways to die in the harsh living conditions. The people are ruled by superstition and fear. Most of the citizens are illiterate and disease is rampant, even if you go to a "stitcher" it is just as risky or riskier as doing nothing. In the South there is order and an almost totalitarian society where the government uses science and logic asking for complete obedience in return. And that you fill out a form for almost everything, even when choosing a sexual partner.

Samarra (Sam) is the main character. She has made a new home in the North after escaping from the South. She has a job as a carrier to one of the compounds that inhabit the North. Felling guilty about taking the place of a former teammate and daughter of a friend. She becomes obsessed with trying to find out what happened to the missing (possibly dead) girl.