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| Source: Amazon.com |
California, by Edan Lepucki
Publisher: Little, Brown and Comapny
Publication date: July 8, 2014
Category: Literature/Fiction
Source: I received this galley from the publisher via NetGalley for consideration of review.
Last fall I got my hands on a galley of California, by Edan Lepucki. Please note, it was months after the release date, so although this book has been out almost an entire year, I didn't necessarily slack on my review timing!
So why did I want to read this one? Post apocalyptic. I read many good things about it, but all it took was a statement about post apocalyptic living and I was sure to try it. The story centers around a couple, Frida and Cal, who are living in the woods of an unknown place. When I say living, I guess it's more like surviving. They have to hunt, grow, make most everything they need. Their location is unknown because it seems the nation has deteriorated enough that states and cities no longer carry their names, although Frida and Cal are from California.
The story held my attention the entire time. Parts of it are told in flashback, so I read on, interested in what exactly went down, where other people were, and then how Frida and Cal we're going to make it once they moved on from their new home. Snippets of back story from Frida and Cal's normal lives, pre-apocalypse, give an idea of how the world began to fall part, what it has become, and how it functions now.
As the story moved to a close, I felt myself waiting for some big revelation about why they ended up where they were and how they were going to change everything, etc. I won't give any spoilers, but have to say the ending was disappointing for me. I understand it and can even see why it ended the way it did, but I didn't like it. It's one of those endings where people will go back and forth about why it is or isn't good, which is good in itself because it means the writer created discussion. If you like apocalypse books, it's worth a try.
How do you feel about "those" types of endings?
