Thank you so much to the author and HarperCollins NZ for sending this ARC in exchange for a free review. Please know that this review is 100% unbiased and contains my honest thoughts.

In simple terms, I really liked this book. I was weirdly craving a book about a pandemic, as NZ was in our second lockdown, and this truly scratched that itch. We follow multiple female perspectives as they watch the world, and males, around them collapse.

I found the multiple POVs were written in a way that helped me keep track of who is who, which is useful as there were plenty of em! Also, awesome to see a whole host of these characters from different cultures. The novel talks about a global pandemic and Sweeney-Baird truly shows a global perspective. Some of our main characters involve a a doctor who originally discovered the virus, a mother who makes it her mission to share other stories, and this lesbian couple who balance each other our perfectly and clearly state their boundaries with the world. I understand if people found that there were too many POVs and it made the book a bit disorientating, but for me I felt like it added to the feeling of panic and uncertainty the story produces.

My only teeny critique is that I would have LOOOOOVED to see the format be more epistolary. There are conversations and chapters which take place over email, blog, newspaper articles, and the equivalent to modern day Zoom, which could have been heightened by imitating the tool it was written with. Does that make sense? Illuminae file vibes.