It’s honestly been a while since I’ve read a purely dystopian book in this kind of sense, one that’s close enough still to our recognizable world to read differently than a fantasy book does. I also just wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from this book, due to its focus on a serial killer on top of everything else that was just going on in the book. In the end, I actually really enjoyed this, even though it just wasn’t what I thought it would be at all!

I guess in the end I did expect a dystopian book alongside what I’m used to, with a strong focus on the injustices of the world, with the main character trying to somehow fix it, either willingly or not. Instead, there was a stronger focus on how people themselves might change after an apocalypse, and adjust to this new society, if they can manage to adjust at all. It was interesting to see how, in this world, people so quickly reverted to similar habits once the life-or-death aspects of the crisis disappeared. People went right back to wanting the prettiest house or the best stuff, just now within the limits that the climate crisis allowed them (though also already trying to push them, of course). However, what was most intriguing, was seeing the effect of a serial killer on a world setting like this. This community, and humans in general, only just barely managed to survive the dangerous pollen, so to then see someone decide to kill even more people was horrifying to this society. It was really fascinating to see through the perspective of our main character as well, who lost her mother to the pollen and suffers a near-death experience due to it right at the beginning of the book as well. She becomes obsessive over the man who is behind it, writing to him and constantly thinking about him. She just wants to understand why someone could think to take a life, when every life that still remains was so hard fought for. I think the act of violence added to this as well. There was no physical violence, just the act of cutting open the safety net that everyone needed to survive, and letting the pollen in. However, the way it's written, this slicing of plastic feels just as gruesome as if the killer took the knife directly to the throats of these people, and it just felt really well done.

There are also some magical/mystical elements to all of this, almost adding a layer of magical realism to all of it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a magical realism dystopian genre crossover, and I honestly didn’t even realize it was something that could work this well! I loved the blend of these mystical elements with the harsh reality of the world, and it only worked to further explore that human element at the core of every dystopian novel.

Overall, I really enjoyed this read, and I think it’s one that will stick with me for a while! It just led to lots of thinking and reflecting, and honestly, that’s always the best part of dystopians like this!