If you're looking for a cheery, romanc-y read for an after-holiday vacation, this isn't it. But, if you like "climate" fiction and dystopian novels that have a strong and gorgeously written human element, then this the book for you. I absolutely loved it.

In a not-too-distant future, a disappearing Florida is in the midst of another horrific hurricane. Frida is on the cusp of giving birth to a daughter that she shares with Kirby, her husband and an electric lineman who has two children from his previous marriage. After the storm decimates their small town and other parts of Florida, two of the family are dead, while a new life has risen from the destruction--their daughter Wanda, named after the hurricane.

A time jump finds Wanda as a young girl, navigating bullies at school and the treacherous weather nature continues to pummel Florida and the Earth with, due to, as Brooks-Dalton reminds readers often, the negligence and miscare of humans. Wanda, who has some magical light powers of her own, befriends her neighbor, Phyllis, who is both a science teacher and survivalist. Phyllis teaches Wanda how to handle the elements, and the novel blossoms into a riveting tale of Wanda's life of staying in Florida and learning to adapt to the "new" environment environmental devastation has wrought.

I loved this book. Yes, it's bleak and tragedies occur but there is still hope. Not the "hope" of fixing the damage that's been done or the damage to come that we've enabled, but learning how to adapt (and possible evolve?!) to what is left--a new environment forged from climate change enabled by human/government neglect.

I both read and listened to this book. Rosemary Benson does an amazing job adding emotion and fear to this fraught yet fascinating tale. Thanks to @hachetteaudio for the gifted copy in exchange for a review! I'm so glad I chose it as my BOTM Dec. pick, too. This is a keeper.