Review: Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton

Title: Good Morning, Midnight
Author: Lily Brooks-Dalton
Pages: 272
Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopia/Post-Apocalyptic
Source: Free ARC from Random House

Rating: B+

Note: As stated under the Source (above), I received this book for free from Random House via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review (and trust me, honest is always what you’ll get).

Review: If you knew there was a very real chance that life as you knew it was over, that your life itself may very well be over in the days to come, how would you feel? What would you think about? What would you regret? Would you hold onto hope? Would you take risks you hadn’t before? Would your view of everything change? Would you feel more compelled to enjoy every last moment, get more in touch with nature, savor the things you were always too busy to appreciate? Would you finally own your truth?

Something has happened to the world at large, that seems quite certain. But what? Augie and Sully are pretty well stuck, separated from the world at large in remote and virtually unreachable places, and communication to the rest of the world has been completely cut off. Augie is earthbound in a remote part of the Arctic, having opted to stay behind when everyone else was evacuating. He’s only heard rumors of the why’s, but it doesn’t matter to him. He’ll stay put in this familiar, if punishing terrain.

Sully and the rest of her 5-person crew are on a return trip from the first ever visit to Jupiter. They know nothing except communication with Earth has ceased suddenly and completely. All they can do is wait out the long return trip, hope that things become more clear as they get closer to home, and that whatever it is that has caused the loss of communication is survivable.

Over the period of a year, Augie, and Sully and her crew, examine their lives as they were while considering the possibilities their futures may hold. The dissection of their pasts is slow and meticulous, painful but cathartic.

It took me awhile to get into the groove of this book. The pace is slow. The story is completely character driven with no action, the tempo picks up only slightly at the end. At about the halfway point, immersion finally happened for me and the story really clicked.

Truthfully, I think the initial lack of connection was on me. I just wasn’t in the mood for it at the time I picked it up, but I plugged along, determined to finish it, and eventually found my sweet spot. Were I to pick it up again, I think I’d feel a greater connection from the beginning and get a great deal more out of it as well. The introspective nature of the story makes it a perfect fit for people like myself who spend a lot of time in their own head. The premise of the story is intriguing, unusual, and ingenious.

This is not a fast-paced, fun escapist type book, not something I’d take to the beach. But it’s thought-provoking and deeply human, and a wonderful book if you’re in a contemplative mood.

P.S. The cover? I want it blown up into a poster to mount on my wall. Eager to get my hands on a copy just to see if it’s half as beautiful in person as I’m expecting.