3.5 stars

This is a story that I would not necessarily recommend widely because I do think it has some debut weaknesses, but I ended up really appreciating the story. As a fan of dystopian stories, climate-disaster stories, and character-led stories, I enjoyed how this took a softer approach to each of those, anchoring its dystopian setting with plenty of flashbacks to our present times and giving moments of brutality or reveals that kept me hooked.

Ultimately, I think it does struggle a bit to tie together all it's pieces to fully realize some of its characters, primarily Rose, arguably the main character. This also has a pretty open ending, and while I can appreciate those in certain regards, here, I felt like it leaned on the unsatisfying end rather than the purposeful end. We got plenty at the end, to be clear, but I was wanting more.

I would definitely read more from Sterling, and I'm curious to see how well this book sits in my memory. And honestly, I feel like I would reread this.