"Prophet Song" presents a poetic exploration of dystopian Ireland, embroiled in civil war following a tyrannical government's rise to power. Eilish, a mother of four, finds her life shattered when her husband is abruptly taken by the Irish secret police. As the conflict between government forces and rebels escalates, Eilish struggles to protect her family amidst the chaos. One of the novel's most compelling elements is Eilish's dual struggle: resisting the injustices of war while ensuring her family's safety. Lynch’s writing style is poetic and allegorical. He is descriptive and you come to see this war as a living breathing entity which has wormed it’s way into the lives of Irish citizens.

While I completely see the merit in this novel and understand why it is loved by many, I personally found its pace unbearably slow for a dystopian tale. The formatting, reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s *The Road*, with dense blocks of text and minimal page breaks, hindered my reading experience. Additionally, Lynch had many abrupt shifts in narrative direction, I often felt like there were three or four more sentences missing from each page break, we would just end up in an entirely new part of the story in the next “paragraph” leaving things feeling unresolved. While these narrative disruptions may be an attempt to emulate the disruption war brings to everyday life, it just felt like poor story telling to me.

"Prophet Song" may appeal to readers seeking a blend of literary fiction with a dystopian setting, ultimately it wasn’t for me.