Ava Anna Ada

by Ali Millar

The between days were days of pure white heat.

Summer is swelling around the village. Heat is surging, people are whispering about a great hungry wave, and in the garden, Anna is kicking her dying dog on the grass.

But someone is watching her. The girl. Ava.

Outside, the brutal summer blisters on. Inside, over the course of one claustrophobic week, Anna and Ava become caught up in their own world. Become swallowed by each-otherness. But what does Ava really want?

As faces fray and secrets splinter, the past casts the present anew, and Anna and Ava are forced to reckon with who they truly are. Because who we are, Ava Anna Ada warns us, is not always the same as what we are to each other.

Braiding climate chaos, lust, poetry and violence, Ali Millar's debut novel is a contemporary fable against images and their enduring hold on us. Attuned to the knotty texture of reality, Ava Anna Ada asks us to confront the way things look in the dark - and what happens when what is buried comes into the light.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Science Fiction, Novels, Dystopia, Literature, Thriller

272 pages, Hardcover

Published January 18, 2024

Reviews

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 5 out of 5]

As in Missouri Williams’s The Doloriad, Millar’s first novel takes place in an unspecified near-future against a backdrop of climate calamity, bound within a claustrophobic social caste system. Unlike Williams’s overwritten and dour novel, Millar creates a more subtle dystopic backdrop to frame the psychological intrigue around which the compelling narrative is propelled (an impending flood is referred to as The Waves, the black mirror of social media is The Screen, and so on). Bethany (or Ava) is a Low Value individual working as a prostitute who encounters the High Value Anna—who stages Instagram simulacra of her life on social media for a living—kicking her dog one afternoon, and helps her dispose of the corpse. Her vague (imagined?) resemblance to Anna’s dead daughter Ada permits her an entrance into this warped Blue Velvet world of spotless surfaces and disturbed children. The novel explores Jean Baudrillard’s notion of simulacra and simulation (Baudrillard provides the epigraphs for each section) as Ava shapeshifts from the faithful duplicate of Ada to a warped imitation that throws Anna’s tenuous hold on her reality into (further) chaos. Ava Anna Ada is a profound and chilling novel, full of Ballardian steel but with a much larger heart, and one that manages to weave a complex examination of our diminishing hold on objective reality around a gripping story with a set of frail and broken characters. A clever, witty, and ingenious debut—clear winner of The Greatest Novel of 2024.

[Giuls (la_fisiolettrice) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chiusa l’ultima pagina, questo libro ha continuato a girarmi in testa per un’ora. È disturbante, sì, ma anche affascinante e lucidissimo nel suo sguardo sulla realtà. Non è stato semplice metabolizzare.

Diviso in tre parti e introdotto da citazioni di Baudrillard, filosofo dei simulacri e dell’iperrealtà, l’ambientazione è quella di un futuro prossimo in cui le persone vengono classificate da un Valorimetro domestico, che assegna loro un punteggio sociale non ben definito ma cruciale per la loro permanenza in società.

Ava (o Bethany) è una Basso Valore che lavora come prostituta. Un giorno assiste Anna, Alto Valore e creatrice di contenuti su Instagram, mentre uccide accidentalmente il suo cane. L’aiuta a portare il corpo dal veterinario. Ava somiglia (o forse è tutto nella testa di Anna?) alla figlia morta di Anna: questo dettaglio basta a farle ottenere un passaggio nell’esistenza finta e patinata di quest’ultima, fatta di simulazioni, dolore non elaborato e immagini da condividere.

Intorno, un disastro climatico incombe: l’inondazione, chiamata L’Onda, viene osservata con interesse più estetico che umano. Tutto è spettacolo, anche la potenziale tragedia.

Il romanzo si muove sul filo dell’autodistruzione e della messa in scena: le due protagoniste cercano nel dolore fisico una via per restare ancorate alla realtà, spengere i pensieri, anestetizzare il dolore della perdita mentre i rapporti si fanno estremi e il corpo diventa solo un contenitore di sofferenza.
 
È un libro arguto, inquietante e ipnotico che inchioda e costringe a chiedersi quanto di quello che vediamo e mostriamo sia reale.

[Yvonne (the putrid Shelf) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a really strange read. Maybe it's because I'm not bright enough to understand what was going on but things weren't all that clear until the last 10%. It's an apocalyptic story where the world is coming to an end. It takes place on a coastal area called The spit. Anna and Ava meet each other while waiting for the wave.

Ava is obsessed with Anna, who has everything she doesn't. She is an influencer, with the perfect husband and son. Ava sells sex in the woods and wants more. Anna's daughter Ada to anorexia. Both characters seem to be dissociated from their worlds in general and being involved in each other brings some excitement to a life living on borrowed time.

I'm not going to lie, I found this a really strange read. There were no speech dialogues as such, it reminded me a lot of Normal People, which oddly was another book I didn't get on well with. This one just wasn't my cup of tea in the end.

[CatAmongThePages · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We didn't see the line we were crossing then. That's the problem with lines; they're impossible to see until after."

Anna has lost her child. Ava has lost her innocence. When they meet it is both beautiful and ugly.

This is a story packed with ideas and words so cleverly crafted it will subject you to feelings you did not think you could possess. I'm not a writer so it is difficult for me to put well into words just how beguiling this book is. It packs menace and bewitches as it delivers prose which tricks and treats in a most satisfying way. A story that is determined to stay with me as I cannot stop thinking about Ava. My word, Ali Millar is one heck of a writer and storyteller.

[Diana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ve just about had it with this genre of literary sci-fi. Sci-fi as a whole has a lot of terribly amateurish writing, but then you get authors trying to wade in with more “serious” airs like in this one or the dreadful In Ascension and it’s somehow even worse. Can’t win I guess.
Just as with Conquest, another baffling literary sci-fi entry I tried to read recently, I want to know: who was this written for?
And how about some humility? There’s nothing that Millar doesn’t throw in here: a near future dystopia, social media influencers, anorexia, obsession, grief, addiction, sex work, climate change, deportations, a social credit system, oh and there’s animal AND child abuse too because why the fuck not I guess.
Any author would struggle to do just two of these topics justice in one book, why Millar thought she could handle all of them at the same time I have no idea. To make matters worse, none of it is portrayed in an interesting way or makes sense whatsoever. I really have to start DNF’ing earlier again.

[Cal · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book could have been good except it fucking sucks

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

mi aspettavo un libro superficiale e invece mi sono trovata immersa in una storia di dolore narrata in modo particolare.
I protagonisti sono tratteggiati nei loro istinti più primitivi.
Vengono fuori i sentimenti più oscuri e profondi.
Un libro da cui lasciarsi trasportare nelle sue tinte dark e inquietanti.

[Paolo Albera · Rating 2 out of 5]

Storia perversa tra due donne, in un mondo distopico, alla vigilia del disastro di uno tsunami. Angoscia e poco altro.

[lise.charmel · Rating 4 out of 5]

In un vicino futuro distopico la quarantenne Anna, dopo aver perso la figlia, si trasferisce sulla Punta, in un vecchio mulino che ristruttura, raccontando tutto il processo sui social. Sulla Punta (imprecisata località sul mare tra Inghilterra e Scozia) vive Ava, un'adolescente che fa leva sulla sua somiglianza con Ada (la figlia morta di Anna) per avvicinarsi a lei e al suo mondo dorato con un alto punteggio sul Valorimetro, un agghiacciante strumento che misura il "valore sociale" di persone e famiglie. Chi ha un basso punteggio viene deportato, non si sa bene dove e a far cosa.
Nel frattempo sulla costa si sta avvicinando L'Onda: una terribile tempesta simbolo di una delle tante catastrofi causate dal cambiamento climatico. Invece di spingere tutti a fuggire, l'imminente tragedia attira frotte di turisti e curiosi, oltre che potenziali negazionisti, sicuri che L'Onda non sarà altro che una montatura dei media.
Il rapporto tra Ava e Anna, raccontato nel romanzo dando voce ad entrambe, è una spirale di attaccamento e piccoli gesti crudeli, in un crescendo di disagio e situazioni disturbanti, che coinvolgono anche Adam, il figlio minore di Anna.
Il disagio si trasmette anche al lettore: alla fine mi resta difficile dire se il romanzo mi sia piaciuto o meno. Attraversa tanti temi ed è scritto divinamente, un esordio notevole, un'autrice da tenere d'occhio in futuro.

[Giorgia Manfè · Rating 3 out of 5]

What in the David Lynch was that?

[Annalisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ava è una ragazzina che si prostituisce per mettere da parte un gruzzolo che le permetta di rifarsi una vita altrove.
Anna è un'influencer quarantenne che condivide sui social la propria vita, perfetta solo in apparenza.
Ada è la figlia di Anna, morta giovanissima per l'anoressia.
Ava vuole Anna e la sua finta vita patinata, Anna vuole Ava perché le ricorda Ada, ma nessuna delle due sa davvero chi è e cosa desidera.

Una storia disturbante e grottesca fatta di pulsioni, ossessioni e atteggiamenti socialmente inappropriati, inserita in un vicino futuro distopico nel quale la crisi climatica ha cambiato per sempre il modo di vivere delle persone.

Mi è piaciuto? A tratti. L'idea di base è buona, ma ho trovato la crisi climatica e l'onda totalmente scollegate alla storia di Anna e Ava: l'ambientazione da romanzo distopico, insomma, è piuttosto inutile, non fosse per la risoluzione di un paio di questioni sul finale.

[Günter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed quite some time to really get into this book, but after approximately one-third, I recognized it as something very special. I then continuously had the feeling of being in an Ingmar Bergman film.

[Miria TheBookHunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

In bilico fra distopia, fiaba nera, storia di formazione questo libro presenta delle protagoniste respingenti, macerate nei loro problemi che cercano di risolverli facendo del male a chi sta vicino loro e anche a loro stesse. Donne ambigue che si trincerano dietro le loro maschere destinate prima o poi a cadere.

[Jennifer Bisi · Rating 3 out of 5]

In un universo distopico dove “ Un’onda” minaccia di porre fine alla vita degli abitanti della Punta, Anna, si innamora di Ava.

Anna vive con il marito Leo e il figlio Adam all’interno di un vecchio mulino ristrutturato da poco. La vita della famiglia dipende dal “ Valorimentro”. Se quest’ultimo dovesse scendere sotto una certa soglia, la famiglia rischierebbe la deportazione.
Anna di mestiere fa l’influencer , mentre il marito è medico.
Il valorimetro ha raggiunto una soglia alta dopo la morte della figlia Ada.
Ada è morta di anoressia.
Da quel momento Anna costruisce la sua fortuna sulla morte della figlia, intrattenendo corsi per la gestione del lutto.
L’altro figlio, Adam, è come se non esistesse. O meglio, esiste, ma non assomiglia minimamente ad Ada, motivo per cui Anna si interroga spesso sull’amore che prova per quel figlio che teme lo abbiano scambiato alla nascita con un altro.

Ava, invece, è una ragazzina che vive con la mamma. Non sono ancora state deportate poiché Ava riesce a costruirsi la propria fortuna prostituendosi.
Ava ( che non si chiama Ava ma Bethany ) assomiglia tanto alla figlia defunta di Anna.

Un giorno le due si incontrano in circostanze strane, o meglio, l’incontro è stato studiato nei minimi dettagli da Ava.
Per l’esattezza, Anna si accorge per la prima volta di Ava mentre sta prendendo a calci un cane.
Notando l’uguaglianza con la figlia defunta, le chiede aiuto per tirarsi fuori dal pasticcio combinato con il cane.
Il cane che Anna stava prendendo a calci apparteneva al marito Leo.
Il cane stava morendo poiché aveva rubato della cocaina dalla borsa di Anna.
Pensando di salvarlo, Anna lo prende a calci convinta di rianimarlo.

Da quel momento comincia una sorta di relazione sentimentale malata tra le due donne.
Chi ci rimette e inevitabilmente il figlio di Anna.
Dopo serate passate all’insegna dell’alcool e di pasticche, il povero Adam verrà ridicolizzato e picchiato dopo essere stato obbligato ad indossare gli indumenti della sorella defunta.
In preda alla sbornia e agli effetti delle pasticche, Anna in qualche modo rivede sua figlia defunta in Adam.

La relazione tra le due donne colpisce indirettamente anche il marito Leo, che si scoprirà in seguito essere un cliente fisso di Ava ( Bethany).

La relazione tra le due donne è nata perché Ava ( Bethany ) aveva escogitato tutto fin dal principio cercando di assomigliare quanto più possibile alla figlia defunta di Anna.
Ava ( Bethany) è una ragazzina malata. Oltre a sottoporsi ad atti autolesionistici, le piaceva collezionare pezzi di dna di altre persone.

Dopo che Leo e Anna scoprono che Ava ha intrattenuto relazioni amorose con entrambi, la famigliola felice ( sui social, ma non nella vita reale ) arriva al capolinea.

Ava ( Bethany ) riesce a fuggire dirigendosi dal padre che, a suo dire, era scappato tanti anni prima.
L’Onda pare aver colpito la Punta e ucciso inevitabilmente tutti gli abitanti.
Anna, invece, pare rimanere in vita, distrutta dal dolore. Dolore che non deriva dalla perdita del marito o di Adam, ma dal dolore che si porta dietro da tanti anni, quello della figlia Ada.

Lettura parecchio strana.
Libro scorrevole.
3 stelle.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘That’s how it began, in the rain, with a dog being kicked; that’s how it would end, too, in the rain but without the dog.’

This novel is set in a near future world reeling under the impact of climate change. It is summer and people are living in sweltering heat. In this world, people are assigned Value based on their worth to society. And when an individual’s Value plummets …

‘they’d be straight on the Deportation Bus, away to – we didn’t really know where.’

It’s a world awaiting disaster: people known as Watchers speculate that The Wave will soon arrive and have gathered to await it.

And in this world, we meet an opportunist and a grieving mother, and we learn about her dead daughter. Ava meets Anna as Anna kicks her dying dog. Together, they take the dog to the vet. Ava, who looks a little like Anna’s dead daughter Ada, insinuates herself into Anna’s life. Anna and her husband Leo are high Value people, Ava is not. Anna is a social media influencer on the Screen which seems to be central to the lives of most (if not all) people. Anna needs to generate content to maintain her Value. Beneath the surface, Anna’s world is a mess, as Ava soon learns.

The novel, which unfolds over a week, is written in short chapters, shifts between points of view and at times can be confusing. Sometimes a chapter encompasses a single character, sometimes two. What is real, and whose reality is it? Can we rely on what we see? Anna’s son Adam has his own reality, one which Anna rejects.

I kept reading, waiting for disaster to hit and wondering which disaster might hit first. Would it be the Wave, the loss of Value or the complete unravelling of Anna’s reality? There’s a twist. Ava is not a complete stranger to all members of the family: perhaps she is more familiar with them than they are with each other.

I cannot say that I enjoyed this novel: none of the characters are likeable but I felt sorry for Adam. What captured and held my attention was the combination of looming climate catastrophe and the spectre of big brother assigning Value to citizens. Those with high Value can ignore reality … at least for a while.

‘We didn’t see the line we were crossing then. That’s the problem with lines; they’re impossible to see, until after.’

I may have to revisit this novel.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Questo libro é disturbante.
Si snoda tra questa alternanza di nomi allitteranti (Ava, Anna, Ada), drammi familiari e personali nonché una crisi climatica che fa da contorno.

Il potenziale da 4 ⭐️ ci sarebbe potuto essere se magari ci fossero stati forniti più retroscena e dettagli sui personaggi: la vicenda inizia in medias res, con Anna che si trova in giardino a prendere a calci il povero cane avvelenato, mentre Ava/Bethany ritorna da uno dei suoi appuntamenti.

In questa società distopica basata sul Valore (debitamente ricordato al singolo tramite un orologio/contatore da parete), ci si arrabatta per evitare la Deportazione.

Mentre Anna risulta essere una persona di Alto Valore (é una nota influencer che posta contenuti ogni giorno e/o propone corsi ai followers..non avendo la minima competenza in materia, come tiene a precisare Leo, il di lei marito e chirurgo), Ava/Bethany si vende per mettere da parte qualche soldo da utilizzare per scappare.

Le due donne( Ava in realtà potrebbe essere la figlia di Anna) si studiano e si stimolano a vicenda, arrivando a fondersi e interscambiarsi. Confusa é l’alternanza dei punti di vista, come anche la comparsa di personaggi (Ada fornisce spesso la propria opinione, ma non si comprende se sotto forma di fantasma o altro) e plurali che dovrebbero rappresentare la Natura (‘Noi’ chi?).

Nel frattempo alla Punta, questo remoto paesino tra Inghilterra e Scozia, sta per arrivare l’Onda: un non ben specificato tsunami naturale che diventerà calamita per uno mediatico. Mentre i più sensati lasciano la zona, sono sempre di più gli imbecilli che vi si recano per festeggiare e attendere l’arrivo di quello che risulterà essere un muro d’acqua di proporzioni epiche.


Molto critica risulta la voce della scrittrice sia verso i social sia verso la società attuale, ipocritamente smembrata in rigide caste basate sul Valore di ognuno (calcolato in percentuale reddito/status/apparenza sui social).
Mi ha trasmesso molta rabbia che purtroppo pervade quando trovo una narrazione valida che però non convince fino in fondo. Molti punti si sarebbero dovuti esplorare maggiormente (i Deportati che fine fanno? Perché Ava/Bethany e sua madre sono quasi a zero Valore?) per non dare l’impressione di leggere sotto l’effetto delle pasticche/polverine di Anna.

[Manet Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm frustrated, because this book held a lot of promise. The context of the world the characters find themselves in is by far the most interesting part of the book, and the only reason I kept reading.

There were so many times where I felt Millar proved her talent as a writer and poet, which actually made the rest of the book all the more frustrating, leaving me to think 'why couldn't it all be like that?'.

The characters were so unlikeable and unbelievable that it stole from the intrigue of their context. Unfortunately, I found the majority of the book (predominantly the mid-section) to be quite weak and poorly written. I felt it was almost patronising (either that or like there was an editing error?) because, let's say, something was introduced through insinuation, it would then be spelt out and spoon-fed in just the next chapter or a couple of chapters later.

It is a shame, because I think the book would have been much stronger had Millar let us do more of the work. It lacked all subtly in the areas it needed it most. Classic case of telling rather than showing.

The characters were so unlikeable. SO unlikeable. I know that was part of the point, but it made it hard to sit through or care about why they made the decisions they made. I stopped believing them pretty early on in the book and tired of them quickly. It felt like what would happen if you asked Chat GPT to write a soap opera with the themes of death, mummy issues, and maybe some slight incest (but can be defended as not being incest in a court of law!!!) and throw them into a dystopian near-future. I just didn't care for it. The characters would go from 20% to 100% without any real explanation as to why, which just frustrated me and felt lazy.

My interpretation of the book, my own projection, is that Millar had this fantastic idea for a setting (which like I said, was the best part), and just tried to fill around it. This would explain why the beginning and the end were the strongest sections, and everything that happens in-between was just filler.

As a side-note, a mild criticism but an annoyance nonetheless: the social media aspect of the book was kind of cringe, but I understood why it was there. I guess I found it hard to believe that in a dystopian future we'd all still be using Instagram (or equivalent) ... but hey, whatever! Girls gonna Girl Boss, even in the Apocalypse.

[Olly90 · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Non vedevamo il confine che stavamo superando in quel momento. È questo il problema dei confini: sono impossibili da vedere fino a cose fatte”.

Siamo alla Punta, una piccolo borgo inglese affacciato sul mare minacciato da un’imminente catastrofe naturale. Abitanti, turisti e giornalisti accorrono per poter assistere all’arrivo dell’Onda in un’estate torrida e caotica.

Alla Punta vivono Anna, una ricca influencer che insieme al marito Leo e al figlio Adam, abita un lussuoso faro ristrutturato, e Ava una prostituta adolescente, a volte anche babysitter, che vive con la madre in una casa molto più spartana rispetto a quella di Anna.
La vita degli abitanti della Punta è costantemente tenuta sotto controllo da un Valorimentro che misura il tenore di vita di ogni famiglia differenziando quelle di maggiore livello (Anna) da quelle di minore livello (Ava).

Ma c’è un’altra protagonista in questa storia ed è Ada, figlia di Anna, scomparsa prematuramente a causa dell’anoressia. Ada, anche se fisicamente assente, è una presenza costante nella vita di Anna e il ricordo di lei è vivo a tal punto da portare la donna a vederla ovunque soprattutto nelle movenze e nella fisicità di Ava.

L’incontro tra Anna e Ava è abbastanza scioccante e macabro (non ve lo svelo per non rovinarvi la lettura) così come continuerà ad essere il loro rapporto da quel momento in poi.

Il punto di vista delle due si alterna per l’interno romanzo conducendo il lettore in un gioco di parti folle e ambiguo, fatto di bugie, manipolazione e desiderio. Anna e Ava sono due protagoniste respingenti, inaffidabili ma allo stesso tempo affascinanti e travolgenti.

Oltre al racconto delle due donne dai nomi palindromi leggiamo anche il punto di vista della natura, della Punta, osservatrice silenziosa ma sempre presente.

Ali Miller, attraverso una scrittura chiara, lucida e condita da un pizzico di humor nero, ci regala un esordio originale e disturbante, nel quale la vita delle due donne (anzi tre contando anche Ada) viene fatta a pezzi, fisicamente e psicologicamente mentre contemporaneamente si va incontro alla fine del mondo.

L’elaborazione del lutto, i lati oscuri della maternità, le varie inclinazioni che può assumere il piacere, il cambiamento climatico e le conseguenze che i social media hanno sull’umanità sono i temi alla base di questo romanzo caleidoscopio, nel quale tutti cambiano faccia e pelle, mostrando un lato nascosto, oscuro e distruttivo.

All’inizio ho faticato ad entrare nella storia, continuavo a chiedermi “si ma quindi?!”.
Poi ad un certo punto di colpo la narrazione ha iniziato a travolgermi, proprio come un’onda improvvisa. Ho provato un continuo senso di disagio ma allo stesso tempo di soddisfazione durante la lettura, al punto da domandarmi come fosse possibile che leggere certe cose mi respingesse e incuriosisse allo stesso tempo.

Non credo sia un libro accessibile a tutti ma se non siete persone facilmente impressionabili leggetelo assolutamente.
Ali Millar autrice da tenere d’occhio!

[Diana Clough · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contained some serious mummy problems (not derogatory).

Ava Anna Ada imagines what is a not so distant future — sweltering heat and a phenomenon called The Wave speculated to arrive by spectators named The Watchers. Citizens are given Value based on their place within society, and those like Anna and her husband Leo — influencer on The Screen and doctor — are ranked highly.

Unlike sex worker Ava however, who spots Anna one day kicking her dog outside her house where this story begins. Ava knows she looks slightly like Anna’s dead daughter, Ada, and plays this to her advantage to insert herself in Anna’s high-value life - but like the dog kicking, a life that isn’t as appears on screen.

What I like about AAA was that it acknowledged how we watch disasters like the climate crisis unfold from afar but do nothing (or nothing helpful) about them, leading ourselves to believe they won’t actually affect us, which The Screen and The Watchers seemed to allude to. Cli-fis (climate fiction books) are growing in number and this is one I’d recommend if you’re looking for something of this genre.

The obsession Anna feels for Ava reminded me of so many things, from Eileen to Saltburn, and nodded to how one’s life can look absolutely perfect in their curated social feeds but be a hot mess irl, especially with how Anna essentially uses her family for content, including her son Adam’s desire to dress up as a girl.

Big thanks to Orion for the proof that I picked up at their showcase event! pr - gifted

[Michelle Best · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warning! This is a ‘near future dystopia’ that comes with a long list of trigger warnings. I can’t say it was an enjoyable read but it was highly original, and I couldn’t put it down.

The book has an unusual narrative structure, switching POVs between We, Ava, Anna and sometimes Anna and Ava collectively. This structure was great at highlighting the unreliability of each narrator, I never knew who to trust.

The story unfolds over a week of blistering heat and the expected arrival of The Wave. The suspense and general insanity grow as the week progresses. The short chapters and alternating POVs propelled the narrative along at quite a pace. The chapters from the POV of We provide narrative and some respite from the intensity of Anna and Ava. Having said that they were still creepy but really got me thinking e.g. “We’d had enough of it and them…, their touching belief that a beautiful life would be enough to insulate them from the horror of life….so we came for them, as they went, life returned…”

All the characters are dislikeable but utterly beguiling. Just as I thought they couldn’t get any worse they did something to prove me wrong. The author has written these complex and layered characters in a way that made me eager to find out more about them whilst being horrified at their behaviour.

For me the main themes of the book were.
1. Our lack of real concern over climate change. “Nobody seemed to care, not really…we watched disasters happening on the TV but couldn’t connect them to ourselves…”
2. Our preoccupation with social media and the manufacturing of our reality. The characters are constantly monitored and always trying to increase the numbers on The Value Meter. “People thought it was easy, that all I did was snap something and put it on The Screen, whereas in reality it was difficult to construct a whole other version of reality.” “He was becoming obsessive with it….checking it all the time for fluctuations, getting alerts sent to his phone.”

The book is expertly written, and I fully intend to read it again as I’m sure I will get more from it second time around. I would defiantly recommend but only after checking the trigger warnings, some of which are child loss, animal cruelty, self-harm, toxic relationships etc etc.

Thanks to the author, White Rabbit, and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

[dariia · Rating 5 out of 5]

before you read this book, please-please-please, check the trigger warnings!
I can't even begin to list them all, scared of missing something!

now, that we're done with an official part... this book is fucked up!
it's fucked up and you either love it and enjoy every part of it, like I did, or chug it away and pray.

I cried, I screamed, and sometimes I even felt happy. which is an emotion I don't particularly associate with this book.

remember the craziest black mirror episode you've ever seen? double it. now you have Ava Anna Ada.
your scariest nightmare? triple it. now you have Ava Anna Ada.

it's a mommy issues universe filled with people trying to seem better than they are, chasing high numbers on Value Meters.

the book is full of different concepts like The Screen, The Wave, and The Spit, so it took me a long time to learn how to concentrate on the book properly. you miss a passage and you don't understand what the heck is happening.

it's delusional, it's a bad trip, it's hard to understand and come to terms with.

my manager at work asked me what this book is about and I couldn't answer it. you can't explain this book with a couple of sentences, you can't answer this question without going on an hour rundown of all of the events. I can't talk about this book to someone who hasn't read it.

it's a masterpiece.

thank you NetGalley for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. despite this, my review is completely honest.

[Joe Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ali Millar's original, intoxicating debut novel, AVA ANNA ADA, will have you glued to every page. You won't let go, until it's too late.

Rarely does a writer hit every note, every beat, but Millar is performing at a uniquely high level. It's all firing: story, plot, pace, characters, sense of place and time, relevance, atmosphere. This is visceral, intense, erotic and just plain weird in all the best ways. And what makes this so impressive, is that Ava Anna Ada is her FIRST novel!

The short chapters combined with alternating character perspectives sped me through. I was fixated from the shocking first page, watching helplessly as Anna kicks her dying dog and Ava enters the frame, skewing the manicured image Anna is desperate to maintain, for her family, her social media value, but most of all herself.

The spectacle unravels, horrifying and maddening. The characters fuse and diffuse, stick to each other then snap apart as their relationships play out over the course of one sweltering, demented week. You're dying to know what they'll do - or have done to them - next. And as the suspense grows the closer they come to meltdown - this strange but familiar family and its interloper - the planet burns and nature waits hungrily on the horizon, coils tightening, ready to pounce, to end this human mess once and for all. No one should survive, and yet.

[Renee Gosney · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

I really struggled to get into the writing style of this book and because of this, I started it months ago and only read a few chapters then put it down. I also found the main characters (Anna, Ava) to be insufferable so early on.

Also having chapters change from first person perspectives to then third and some even from multiple people. Made the flow of the book seem all over the place. The different perspectives almost seem like they were all written by different authors at times.

Everything was described too ambiguously for me. (And poetically) Which I felt made it more work to read this and try to figure out what was happening. But I would say this is just the authors style of writing.

All that being said. I finished the last few chapters pretty quickly as they are all fairly short. If you get the chance to read this I would say give it ago as I’m not the most advanced reader so it might be a different experience depending on your reading style.

The plot its self has parts that are good but overall I just felt a bit “meh” by the end of it.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading is hard lately but I was right in this one, picking it up in the daytime, putting the screen (ha) to one side... I just went where it took me, and it took me. It bothers me sometimes when writers write things I've been thinking about, and a lot of that is in here. Ali gets to the things and she pulls them all out into the light, and none of us can deny them. The world she wrote to put them in was very real, sometimes more than some of the people. I couldn't place the boy, his age shifted around, but I believed in him. Ava made perfect sense in an insane world. Anna... Well, we know about Anna. She's everywhere.

I'd hoped this one would live up to my anticipation. It was good to find out what it was all about; and it did.

[Patrizio Daveri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questo libro entra in testa. Disturba. Sbatte in faccia paure e ansie che assorbiamo dal quotidiano. Per tutti questi motivi o lo si apprezza o lo si rigetta.
È scritto benissimo. Il dialogo serrato tra Ava, Anna e Noi, con ritmo irregolare che monta (come la minaccia dell’Onda) e si fa via via più frenetico, mi ha tenuto incollato alla lettura per tutta la seconda parte del libro. Fino alla distensione finale in cui sei lasciato in uno strano senso di pace.
Ho letto in un’intervista che sulla costruzione dei personaggi l’ispirazione è Bret Easton Ellis, e si capisce subito. L’altro nome che mi è venuto subito in mente, pensando soprattutto all’atmosfera a metà tra distopia e bad trip, è George Saunders. Che per me è Dio e vabbè, vale come sigillo di approvazione.

[Barbara Bartolucci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non è stata affatto una brutta lettura , perché sono andata spedita e volentieri, peró penso che essendoci così poca profondità nei personaggi (ok fanno dei pensieri anche profondi ma mi sembrano più che altro cose che voleva dire l’autrice), dovrebbe esserci una trama solida e una costruzione più concreta. Diventa veramente troppo senza senso a un certo punto, anche le loro azioni. Anche nell’ambito denuncia sociale, secondo me bastava la critica all’uso dei social, nell’ultimo capitolo spara a razzo su clima, guerre, immigrazione, indifferenza globale. Un po’ too much forse.

[Shanice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for the advance reader copy.

I don’t think this book was for me. I’m still unsure about the story and also what it was trying to say.

All the characters are for use of better words, the worst. Which left me feeling nothing during this book.

I found it was a task to read and finish even though I don’t think it’s that long.

[Jade Lyf · Rating 5 out of 5]

What the Fuck did I just read.
This book is unhinged. Beautiful. Horrid. The whole thing was a trip. A wild ride filled with social commentary on climate change, human value, social media, and family violence all tied up and weighed down with a profound and uncomfortable depiction of grief and mental illness.

[Brad B · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We watched as all the ideas they'd paid lip service to - tolerance, liberty, freedom - fell by the wayside; things, we knew, never changed, just came in cycles, history only a circle; We'd had enough of it and them, their meaningless borders, their flimsy flags, their insular ways, their touching belief that a beautiful life would be enough to insulate them from the horror of life"

[Liam Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the structure and thought the book was very well written. It annoyed me at times. It also unsettled me at times. Given that is the point, I think it was rather good.