This is a purely bookstagram made me do it moment. I came across the ARC of The Fell in NetGalley and I knew I had to get it. The fear of missing out real you guys and I am seeing so much of Moss in my TL from some of the awesome bookstagrammers. Anyhow, I am so glad that I got this book as it deals with the lockdown and the claustrophobia of quarantine.


The Fell is told by four people. Alice, Kate, Matt and Rob, each of them coping with the pandemic in their way. Kate, a single mom and a furloughed waitress, is under quarantine for the possible exposure. This places her son, Matt also in quarantine as a close contact. Alice is a well-off elderly woman, who is also a cancer survivor, is at home desperate for human contact instead finds comfort in her home-baked cookies and electric blanket. Matt, an angsty teenager without much angst and Rob, a mountain rescuer. These 4 are brought together when Kate decides to break her quarantine and go for a casual evening stroll in the hills that is called The Fell.


Moss has executed the stream-of-consciousness in such a way that I ended up excited more than I ought to. The minds of these four are bared to us and every thought of peril, every casual indulgence felt more urgent. I am spooked by how real it felt. It's like living in a lockdown all over again. I especially loved Alice, with her ruminations about people and her desperation for human contact. And it was sad thinking about all the elderly people who were alone but couldn't go out - because they might catch the disease - but also it is expected of them to stay indoors. I also didn't realise how dehumanizing it would've been for them to depend on someone to do even the grocery shopping or to buy other necessities.


We police and judge people for their choices but we don't know what they are going through, do we? I am yet again reminded that a simple act of kindness is most important in these times. We know so many of our acquaintances who died than our previous generation. We have attended and heard about too many funerals to count. And yet, we live on judging others for the way they chose to live their life when we swept our fuck ups under the carpet.


It's a very slim novel of 160 pages but does the job. The pandemonium and the uncertainty of the pandemic are what did for me. There is this dread that goes round and round. The dread so many of us are familiar with but then again, so many of us threw the caution to the wind just for an ounce of normality. I don't agree but I understand. With that being said, I am not a fan of the somewhat ableist tone of this book. I agree that we are all doing the best we can but a book like this from a well-acclaimed author is kind of off-putting. I especially don't encourage breaking the quarantine however much I understand the characters. And all this kind of resulted in a book I enjoyed over parts, even though I went absolute bonkers over the writing.

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for granting me the ARC. Much grateful.