I read How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu for my in person book club, but it had been on my radar before that. I typically really like pandemic novels and dystopians so I was excited for this one. This book is written as a collection of interlinked stories, starting when a frozen virus is discovered in the Arctic and subsequently devastates the world.

I think the first chapter of this novel was the strongest, but after that the book didn’t really work for me. The vibes were more sci-fi than I expected, particularly when it came to how the virus worked. I also struggled to care about the characters, and some of the stories were too bizarre and not well executed enough for me to take them seriously. To me, the writing felt simultaneously clumsy and melodramatic.

Overall, this one just wasn’t for me. I thought some of the ideas were interesting, but while reading this I found myself bored, and annoyed that I couldn’t even muster up sadness for kids dying at a euthanasia park because the writing was bland. But also, I’m probably just not the target reader for this book, as I tend to prefer more literary-feeling books that are more grounded in reality. I even want my sci-fi to feel realistic and believable. This one just didn’t hit that mark for me.

Lots of other people have really loved this book though! So if you like post-apocalyptic and sci-fi novels, this one might work better for you.