In the late 21st century, rising waters displace millions while a growing police state raids climate refugees. As Laisve learns to survive in this dystopia by avoiding Raids, she also has to master the skills of a carrier, someone who can connect with old objects and travel through time. Laisve's power will allow her to communicate with people in the past two centuries, a French sculptor and his cousin, a dictator's daughter, an accused murderer, and laborers who built America. Laisve must tread through dangerous waters to save their lives and help these past figures shape the country.

I was drawn to the premise of Thrust, and who doesn't love a time-travel-to-the-past-to-save-your-country adventure? Yuknavitch brilliantly leverages different storylines to weave a beautiful epic about America's history, its erasure of indigenous populations and immigrants, and examines the meaning of freedom in the early days. Thrust is an ambitious story requiring more character development to realize its potential fully. At times, I feel that the protagonists' motivations are unclear and verge more on telling rather than showing.

In Thrust, Yuknavitch also aims to discuss how women's sexuality and sexual freedom have been restricted by childbirth and the Bible. I applaud the discussion and think it's an essential topic. Unfortunately, the highly explicit sexual content used in Thrust to make her points is a bit much for me. Most of the time, I was left bothered, but that could be Yuknavitch's goal. Overall, Thrust is an imaginative fantasy that urges the readers to examine our history to imagine a better future.