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A post-apocalypse novel for millennials? Even from the get-go I was excited for this novel, and I was not disappointed!
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Severance employs my favourite technique in such novels, flitting between past and present narratives so we get a sense of life before the catastrophic Shen Fever hits and then life after. Strangely enough, I found the ‘past’ parts of the novel the most compelling, when the main character Candace is struggling along with the daily grind, the first strains of fever are reaching the US, and then her solitary journey before she joins the small group of other survivors. That isn’t to say the present parts weren’t good - some of those chapters just weren’t as developed, and I felt the characters from ‘before’ were more fleshed out and real than the small band of survivors.
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I’m finding I’m enjoying novels set in contemporary society more and more than I ever thought I would. I used to find modern day narratives clunky and off-putting, but I’m clearly reading better ones now and I LOVE the relatability put across by millennial characters going through the same self-doubts, issues, struggling to know what to do in life, that I go through myself!
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Ling Ma provides a seamless blend of topics, including an immigrant narrative which I LOVED, as well as excessive consumerism, and even reluctant motherhood. But this last is one of my minor complaints, as I wish that had been explored further in the ‘now’ storyline! I think Severance could have easily been another couple of hundred pages, and while I admire Ma’s ability to tell a great story in less than 300 pages, I do wish there had been more, with more scope for exploring these fascinating topics!
.
Severance employs my favourite technique in such novels, flitting between past and present narratives so we get a sense of life before the catastrophic Shen Fever hits and then life after. Strangely enough, I found the ‘past’ parts of the novel the most compelling, when the main character Candace is struggling along with the daily grind, the first strains of fever are reaching the US, and then her solitary journey before she joins the small group of other survivors. That isn’t to say the present parts weren’t good - some of those chapters just weren’t as developed, and I felt the characters from ‘before’ were more fleshed out and real than the small band of survivors.
.
I’m finding I’m enjoying novels set in contemporary society more and more than I ever thought I would. I used to find modern day narratives clunky and off-putting, but I’m clearly reading better ones now and I LOVE the relatability put across by millennial characters going through the same self-doubts, issues, struggling to know what to do in life, that I go through myself!
.
Ling Ma provides a seamless blend of topics, including an immigrant narrative which I LOVED, as well as excessive consumerism, and even reluctant motherhood. But this last is one of my minor complaints, as I wish that had been explored further in the ‘now’ storyline! I think Severance could have easily been another couple of hundred pages, and while I admire Ma’s ability to tell a great story in less than 300 pages, I do wish there had been more, with more scope for exploring these fascinating topics!