Whether Violent or Natural

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I tried to get into this book; the premise seemed to fulfill my hopes that it would be a enjoyable read (and namedrops books I quite enjoyed, like Piranesi and Station Eleven). I like it when post-apocalyptic books get you to think about the world they depict, and especially how that reflects on our own. However, this book has a bizarre writing style, not to mention a protagonist whose way of thinking was alienating rather than inviting. There’s also a really strange quasi-sex scene in the first part of the book that felt really out of place. The book sends a lot of mixed signals on what type of book it is trying to be, and the mysterious nature of the setting and the characters only made me frustrated, not intrigued. Kit relates how a bacteria had emerged on the mainland that could “devour plastic by the tonne”, offering a solution to the proliferation of plastics destroying the planet. But new strains evolved and began to consume everything. Then they developed “a taste for the human…”.

I really wanted to like this book. Hell, I really tried to like this book! Friends, I did not like this book. I had problems, they were many, and I can't find a ton of redeeming bits, though it wasn't all bad so I will try? The concept of antibiotic resistance is certainly timely and relevant and plausible, and I like that it was presented as such a dire situation. Because it would be, of course. I don't really get the connection with plastic, but whatever, that was the least of my concerns.Calder is an intensely lyrical writer whose passages in another form might be read as prose poetry. While there are moments of great brilliance in her prosaic style, the claustrophobia of the relentlessly dense work means they are seldom given room to breathe. The cumulative effect reads as self-indulgent on the part of the author who becomes a victim of her own writerly talent by over-cooking it. Less would definitely have been more. For those drawn to this novel for its premise, looking to inhabit this dystopian world and understand how it works, these eloquent but elongated musings will be difficult to wade through. If you are attracted, however, by the thought of luxuriating inside the mind of an intelligent, verbose narrator who articulates her observations and reflections in minute detail, then Kit is the protagonist for you. Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love. I also thought Ms. Calder’s choice to have Kit narrate the story was problematic. Kit is not at all likable. She’s highly narcissistic, dishonest, manipulative, and even murderous. It’s difficult to become involved in a story told by someone so dislikeable and undeserving of sympathy. the main character is so distasteful and despicable (and cringe might i add) that i want to spend the least amount of time with her as possible. this is the first and hopefully last time i will see a character use 'daddy' to refer to their partner. There’s a twist at the end, kind of a two-part twist, and I won’t spoil anything but I didn’t care for it because I felt like half of it was not foreshadowed well enough. It just kind of felt like it came out of nowhere. That being said, I did enjoy the book overall.

One of the novel's strengths lies in the captivating voice of the narrator, a young woman living on the island. Her narrative style is archaic and poetic, drawing readers into her story. However, her reliability and the coherence of her tale are questionable, as she withholds crucial information about her past and the reasons for her presence on the island. This ambiguity adds intrigue but also leaves readers wondering if her account can be trusted. I really wanted to like this book. Some of its passages will stay with me for a very long time; it carries a lyrical resonance that reminded me of being caught in a daydream, contemplating all kinds of metaphors for life. The book’s narrator Kit is incredibly insightful and sharp in her observations on post-apocalyptic life and scarily enough, some of these observations are useful for everyday life too. The narrator of British author Calder’s eerie dystopian novel is a young woman living on an isolated island within sight of a mainland ravaged by infection. But oh was I disappointed. I struggled to finish it, irritated by the voice of the narrator, Kit, and uneasy about the relationship between her and Crevan, with its underlying hints of some sort of weirdness between them. (Is it supposed to be some form of consensual sado-masochism? Or a man taking advantage of a vulnerable woman? Later events throw some light on this but in an unsatisfactory way.)This dystopian novel is set in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by antibiotic resistance. Main characters Kit and Crevan live on an isolated island in a bunker beneath a crumbling castle. Their secluded existence is disrupted when a nearly drowned woman washes ashore, sparking tension and uncovering secrets that threaten their fragile haven. One evening a woman washes ashore, nearly drowned. Crevan wants to keep her alive, but Kit isn't so sure. The plot was very straightforward though the end did have some good twists. I did feel slightly let down by the description as it applies to only a small portion of the actual novel. My main issues with the plot revolves around the dystopia aspect which will be discussed in more detail below in the spoiler section of the review. There's nothing I like more than a good apocalyptic, end-of-the-world scenario novel, so I grabbed this, interested in the premise of a world where antibiotics have failed (a plausible scenario).

Now I’m at the point of publication, I’ve had enough distance from the book to see several things I’d do differently, but I’m happy with it as a product of what I was capable of at the time. My only misgiving is Kit – in bringing this story to a wider audience, I can’t help but feel I’ve betrayed a confidence. I know: ridiculous. I hope, though, that others will enjoy Kit’s company as much as I have. Whether Violent or Natural hits you like a shot of the very good stuff – which it is. I downed it in one. It went down very smoothly. There is – in all the right ways – a faint top-note of Iain Banks’s The Wasp Factory, but it’s very much its own dark-hearted, complex, and accomplished thing, with an engaging narrator as snarled in the seductive tangle of her own words as she is hemmed in by the overgrown vegetation that covers the small island on which she is trapped.” – C. A. Fletcher, author of A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World Whether Violent or Natural by Natasha Calder is set in a dystopian future, in the aftermath of complete antibiotic resistance that has wiped out most of humanity on Earth. It’s a truly, terrifying, thought provoking, brutal and all too real look into the future. As Science Fiction books go, this one certainly didn’t disappoint on any level.In fiction, not every apocalypse is apocalypse wow. It’s what you’re hoping for, looking for, but not all apocalypses are imagined equal. This one, was imagined well, alarmingly so, and even spun around into a neat twist in the end but getting there was as slog.