Beatrice is simultaneously detached and profoundly present. Her internal dialogue is irreverent and comically specific. I LOVE this sort of narrator. I also enjoy coming of age stories, and here we get multiple. I recommend to anyone who enjoys the same. 

I loved the premise: in an ecologically bankrupt US in the near future (real), a young woman, Beatrice, who works at a home for girls is tasked with moving them cross-state as the largest environmental crisis yet rages. Also, the girls are going through withdrawal from their pre-FDA approval psych meds. 😅

This story alternates between the world and family of Beatrice’s youth, and those she’s found herself a part of in the present. I think there are some incredibly sad and touching moments tempered by humor. 

My chief issues were pacing in the second half, which seemed to start to limp towards the end, and the way that the humor sort of drained away. I could see that being intentional, it just didn’t feel that way to me. I also felt that the book ended abruptly. 

I still really enjoyed this and am happy I got a chance to read it. The references to Eastern North Carolina really tugged at my heartstrings since that’s where I spent my childhood. 

*Thank you to NetGalley and Astra Publishing House for the eARC.