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Tilt
Set over the course of a single day, an electrifying debut novel following one woman’s journey across a transformed city, carrying the weight of her past and a fervent hope for the future.
Annie is nine months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a massive earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. With no way to reach her husband, no phone or money, and a city left in chaos, there’s nothing to do but walk.
Making her way across the wreckage of Portland, Annie experiences human desperation and kindness: strangers offering help, a riot at a grocery store, and an unlikely friendship with a young mother. As she walks, Annie reflects on her struggling marriage, her disappointing career, and her anxiety about having a baby. If she can just make it home, she’s determined to change her life.
Annie is nine months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a massive earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. With no way to reach her husband, no phone or money, and a city left in chaos, there’s nothing to do but walk.
Making her way across the wreckage of Portland, Annie experiences human desperation and kindness: strangers offering help, a riot at a grocery store, and an unlikely friendship with a young mother. As she walks, Annie reflects on her struggling marriage, her disappointing career, and her anxiety about having a baby. If she can just make it home, she’s determined to change her life.
240 pages, Paperback
First published March 25, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 5,469 reviews
January 31, 2025
This is a tough one to review because I liked parts of it, but felt it was missing something.
Tilt is tagged as 'thriller' and 'suspense', but, while the story follows a woman in the aftermath of an earthquake, I do not think either is truly accurate. Pattee shares her concerns about the Pacific Northwest 'Big One' in the Acknowledgements, but the story mainly uses the disaster as a backdrop to reflect on Annie's life, her marriage and her pregnancy through flashbacks.
At first, I enjoyed it enough. The author explores life dissatisfaction and pregnancy anxiety by revisiting Annie's recent past. In the present, a nine-month pregnant Annie begins walking across a devastated Portland, trying to reach her husband. During this walk, she contemplates all aspects of her life that have led her to this point.
I quite liked the idea of the earthquake as a metaphor, because Annie's story is ultimately about forces that move us and shape our lives, ones that we cannot control. Annie feels very much out of control of her life. Her dreams are unrealised; nothing has gone the way she planned or imagined. She fancied this one guy, but ended up with another. She got pregnant-- not by trying, but by not not trying. She is someone who clearly feels like her life is something that happened to her.
In fact, I really wanted Annie’s characterisation to go further. She was really unlikable and kinda inexplicably reactive in parts, so I was expecting that to be explored more, for an explanation to emerge from her past, or at least for her to experience some growth. It all felt like it was building toward a climax of realisation or epiphany but… it wasn’t?
I was extremely dissatisfied with the ending of the book, and I'm sure this will be many people's reason for not liking it. While open endings can sometimes be appropriate, I don't feel it was here.
Tilt is tagged as 'thriller' and 'suspense', but, while the story follows a woman in the aftermath of an earthquake, I do not think either is truly accurate. Pattee shares her concerns about the Pacific Northwest 'Big One' in the Acknowledgements, but the story mainly uses the disaster as a backdrop to reflect on Annie's life, her marriage and her pregnancy through flashbacks.
At first, I enjoyed it enough. The author explores life dissatisfaction and pregnancy anxiety by revisiting Annie's recent past. In the present, a nine-month pregnant Annie begins walking across a devastated Portland, trying to reach her husband. During this walk, she contemplates all aspects of her life that have led her to this point.
I quite liked the idea of the earthquake as a metaphor, because Annie's story is ultimately about forces that move us and shape our lives, ones that we cannot control. Annie feels very much out of control of her life. Her dreams are unrealised; nothing has gone the way she planned or imagined. She fancied this one guy, but ended up with another. She got pregnant-- not by trying, but by not not trying. She is someone who clearly feels like her life is something that happened to her.
In fact, I really wanted Annie’s characterisation to go further. She was really unlikable and kinda inexplicably reactive in parts, so I was expecting that to be explored more, for an explanation to emerge from her past, or at least for her to experience some growth. It all felt like it was building toward a climax of realisation or epiphany but… it wasn’t?
I was extremely dissatisfied with the ending of the book, and I'm sure this will be many people's reason for not liking it. While open endings can sometimes be appropriate, I don't feel it was here.
April 18, 2025
omg i loved this one so much! Annie is 37 weeks pregnant shopping at Ikea for a crib when “The Big One” hits (Cascadia earthquake- google it if you want) and then we follow her journey trying to make it home + find her husband. Annie’s witty commentary had me laughing out loud over and over again, while also tearing up during other parts. don’t think it will be for everyone, check tws for yourself!
February 13, 2026
Diving into this book, which takes place during a natural disaster, forced me to face my own fears! Living in a city still experiencing wildfires and high earthquake risk, reading fiction inspired by real-life events can be challenging - I often prefer fantasy. However, I must admit this book is well-written and honestly executed. I couldn't help but follow Annie's journey step by step, squirming anxiously in my seat, biting my nails, barely breathing. The storytelling is engaging and genuine, making us deeply resonate with Annie's struggles and survival journey.
Annie is 37 weeks pregnant, 35 years old, and once an aspiring playwright. Now stuck in an office job to support her marriage, she's still grieving, questioning her life choices, dealing with fears of motherhood, financial struggles, and moving from the city and house where they built their life. These thoughts and fears lie buried, ready to burst with any tragic triggering pressure. And burst they do when Annie finds herself in the middle of a horrifying earthquake while shopping for a crib at IKEA on a random Thursday in Portland, Oregon.
She gets trapped between boxes but is fortunately rescued by a store employee. In her rush to escape, she leaves behind her purse and phone as she joins the crowd seeking safety.
As she walks through the city's wreckage, she forms a plan to reach the café where her husband works, motivated by the desire to reunite their family. Throughout her compelling journey, she talks to her future baby, nicknamed "Bean." Annie's survival experience leads her through increasingly bizarre and tragic situations, including waiting beside a dying woman alone in a park while the woman's husband searches for help. She also reflects on her past: meeting her husband, watching her playwright dreams diminish, and seeing her plans to change the world through words fade while her husband, in his late thirties, still pursues his acting dreams. She mentally converses with her mother, sharing her fears and loneliness during the crisis. Will she find her husband? Can she protect her baby and give birth in a city of chaos? Most importantly, will she survive as her journey becomes increasingly dangerous with each passing second?
I loved this heart-wrenching, moving, emotionally rattling, honest story of Annie's life-changing journey. Without spoiling the ending, I'll warn that those expecting sweet, clichéd moments may be disappointed. Sometimes, in the midst of darkness, when you've lost your way, the best thing to hold onto is a crumbling hope. Annie's story offers that crumb of hope in an inspirational and resonating way, making us wonder: what would I do in the same situation? This is one of the year's most thought-provoking, well-executed novels that you shouldn't miss.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon Element/S&S/Marysue Rucci Books for sharing this engaging fiction's digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
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Annie is 37 weeks pregnant, 35 years old, and once an aspiring playwright. Now stuck in an office job to support her marriage, she's still grieving, questioning her life choices, dealing with fears of motherhood, financial struggles, and moving from the city and house where they built their life. These thoughts and fears lie buried, ready to burst with any tragic triggering pressure. And burst they do when Annie finds herself in the middle of a horrifying earthquake while shopping for a crib at IKEA on a random Thursday in Portland, Oregon.
She gets trapped between boxes but is fortunately rescued by a store employee. In her rush to escape, she leaves behind her purse and phone as she joins the crowd seeking safety.
As she walks through the city's wreckage, she forms a plan to reach the café where her husband works, motivated by the desire to reunite their family. Throughout her compelling journey, she talks to her future baby, nicknamed "Bean." Annie's survival experience leads her through increasingly bizarre and tragic situations, including waiting beside a dying woman alone in a park while the woman's husband searches for help. She also reflects on her past: meeting her husband, watching her playwright dreams diminish, and seeing her plans to change the world through words fade while her husband, in his late thirties, still pursues his acting dreams. She mentally converses with her mother, sharing her fears and loneliness during the crisis. Will she find her husband? Can she protect her baby and give birth in a city of chaos? Most importantly, will she survive as her journey becomes increasingly dangerous with each passing second?
I loved this heart-wrenching, moving, emotionally rattling, honest story of Annie's life-changing journey. Without spoiling the ending, I'll warn that those expecting sweet, clichéd moments may be disappointed. Sometimes, in the midst of darkness, when you've lost your way, the best thing to hold onto is a crumbling hope. Annie's story offers that crumb of hope in an inspirational and resonating way, making us wonder: what would I do in the same situation? This is one of the year's most thought-provoking, well-executed novels that you shouldn't miss.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon Element/S&S/Marysue Rucci Books for sharing this engaging fiction's digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
medium blog
July 5, 2025
Tilt is a quick and easy read. However, I found it very overhyped (and I see its rating has drastically decreased since I asked the library to put this on hold for me).
While the earthquake was dark and scary, I found that the two main characters were wholeheartedly invested in living a life of mediocrity. How many years can someone try break into acting at all costs (including jeopardizing their family’s future and finances)?
I found myself really only liking one character from this book: the IKEA staff member. She was the only one who seemed to have her priorities somewhat together.
Tilt is definitively not a thriller, despite how it’s been tagged. The only thriller-like aspect is how we have no resolution at the end for any of the characters.
I’m glad this book was short enough that I didn’t waste too many hours with it.
While the earthquake was dark and scary, I found that the two main characters were wholeheartedly invested in living a life of mediocrity. How many years can someone try break into acting at all costs (including jeopardizing their family’s future and finances)?
I found myself really only liking one character from this book: the IKEA staff member. She was the only one who seemed to have her priorities somewhat together.
Tilt is definitively not a thriller, despite how it’s been tagged. The only thriller-like aspect is how we have no resolution at the end for any of the characters.
I’m glad this book was short enough that I didn’t waste too many hours with it.
April 16, 2025
The earthquake depicted in this novel is pretty devastating with fallen buildings, damaged roads and bridges. People are injured, people are missing and there is utter chaos in the aftermath. Described in a way that seems so realistic. Maybe it was “the big” one .
In real life when disaster happens, people sometimes take pause and evaluate themselves, their relationships, what they will do if things get better . Annie who is 9 months pregnant is in an Ikea store in Portland, Oregon buying a crib when the earthquake hits . She does just that in this intense , introspective story as she makes her way through the devastation looking for her husband . The whole way as she walks for miles, thirsty , hungry and in pain, we learn her thoughts and feelings about her never realized dream of becoming a playwright, about her husband who keeps chasing his dream, while she sacrifices hers, about her marriage on the verge of cracking, about her apprehension of becoming a mother. She speaks to her unborn baby she calls Bean as she walks moving back and forth in time telling Bean about her past. The scene is pretty horrific, yet I wanted to believe there was hope for a future. Very realistic feel, a few gut punches, a well done gripping debut.
I received a copy of this book from Simon & Schuster through Edelweiss.
In real life when disaster happens, people sometimes take pause and evaluate themselves, their relationships, what they will do if things get better . Annie who is 9 months pregnant is in an Ikea store in Portland, Oregon buying a crib when the earthquake hits . She does just that in this intense , introspective story as she makes her way through the devastation looking for her husband . The whole way as she walks for miles, thirsty , hungry and in pain, we learn her thoughts and feelings about her never realized dream of becoming a playwright, about her husband who keeps chasing his dream, while she sacrifices hers, about her marriage on the verge of cracking, about her apprehension of becoming a mother. She speaks to her unborn baby she calls Bean as she walks moving back and forth in time telling Bean about her past. The scene is pretty horrific, yet I wanted to believe there was hope for a future. Very realistic feel, a few gut punches, a well done gripping debut.
I received a copy of this book from Simon & Schuster through Edelweiss.
May 14, 2025
1 star. It's like if Emily St. John Mandel wrote Station Eleven in thirty minutes after smoking a bowl. Awful.
The protagonist is bonkers, but I'm supposed to empathize with her because...she's a millennial like me? The flashback chapters are the epitome of boring; the protagonist and her husband are extremely bland people with extremely bland lives. The basic fact of growing up to realize you probably won't be the one-in-a-million superstar in a creative field is treated like a grand philosophical revelation instead of the "duh" moment that it is. And, worst of all, everything is couched in terms of the "millennial experience" in the most cringe-inducing style possible.
Don't even get me started on the plot. The actual super-earthquake apocalypse plot line is barely there. It's mostly just a woman walking down the street and stopping to get snacks every now and again—except, oh yeah, half the city just collapsed, tons of people are dead, and there are tsunamis wrecking the coast.
Pay those things no mind though. The protagonist certainly doesn't. And then the book ends. That's it.
There are a few scenes in here where I think I'm supposed to feel anguish about the awfulness of human behavior in the face of disaster, but it's all completely unconvincing. None of the "awfulness" examples ring true to me; they carry no real emotional weight, and some of the scenarios are downright silly. I felt nothing but boredom and apathy during the protagonist's "journey."
To be frank, I'm not sure who this book is for. The apocalypse angle might as well be nonexistent; we could've got pretty much the same story from the protagonist if her car broke down on a back road and her phone ran out of battery. The protagonist's backstory is blander than plain white rice. There's nothing "profound" in this story; the supposed life lessons are straight off an "I'm 14 and this is deep" Reddit post.
The protagonist herself is insufferable, nothing but a bunch of millennial cliches, and she acts in completely bizarre ways that I'm supposed to accept because "shock." And then, of course, the book has the whole frame of "mother talking to unborn baby," which can so easily come off as cheesy—and it does, here.
I mean...this is just a total disaster from start to finish. The characters are bad. The writing is bad. The story is boring. There's no saving this.
The protagonist is bonkers, but I'm supposed to empathize with her because...she's a millennial like me? The flashback chapters are the epitome of boring; the protagonist and her husband are extremely bland people with extremely bland lives. The basic fact of growing up to realize you probably won't be the one-in-a-million superstar in a creative field is treated like a grand philosophical revelation instead of the "duh" moment that it is. And, worst of all, everything is couched in terms of the "millennial experience" in the most cringe-inducing style possible.
Don't even get me started on the plot. The actual super-earthquake apocalypse plot line is barely there. It's mostly just a woman walking down the street and stopping to get snacks every now and again—except, oh yeah, half the city just collapsed, tons of people are dead, and there are tsunamis wrecking the coast.
Pay those things no mind though. The protagonist certainly doesn't. And then the book ends. That's it.
There are a few scenes in here where I think I'm supposed to feel anguish about the awfulness of human behavior in the face of disaster, but it's all completely unconvincing. None of the "awfulness" examples ring true to me; they carry no real emotional weight, and some of the scenarios are downright silly. I felt nothing but boredom and apathy during the protagonist's "journey."
To be frank, I'm not sure who this book is for. The apocalypse angle might as well be nonexistent; we could've got pretty much the same story from the protagonist if her car broke down on a back road and her phone ran out of battery. The protagonist's backstory is blander than plain white rice. There's nothing "profound" in this story; the supposed life lessons are straight off an "I'm 14 and this is deep" Reddit post.
The protagonist herself is insufferable, nothing but a bunch of millennial cliches, and she acts in completely bizarre ways that I'm supposed to accept because "shock." And then, of course, the book has the whole frame of "mother talking to unborn baby," which can so easily come off as cheesy—and it does, here.
I mean...this is just a total disaster from start to finish. The characters are bad. The writing is bad. The story is boring. There's no saving this.
October 3, 2025
I would have not known about this book, had it not been recommended by Goodreads friend, Brendan Shea. So, I did what I typically do, when books are recommended. I check with my local library if it is available. Fortunately, it was, so, on June 2, 2025 I ordered it. I finally received it on August 2, 2025. And, today, August 7, 2025, I am posting my review.
What if you were 9 months pregnant on a mission to buy a crib and mattress at IKEA, and then the ultimate earthquake hits? What?! Well, in Annie’s case, she certainly hoped to survive!
And, as she does, her greatest dilemma is finding her way to her husband, Dom, who is supposedly working in town. What she soon finds out is that he was off chasing his dreams on stage in the worst possible place, the epicenter of the earthquake.
As Annie walks herself through the devastation, readers learn through trips to the past, there is a lot about Annie and Dom to navigate and overcome as she tells her story to readers and unborn ‘Bean.’
What will Annie come to discover and experience in the end?
A measured, fast-paced, easy-to-read, one-sitting reading experience (for me) that will have readers turning pages quickly to find out what will happen. Thank you, Brendan for recommending this book to me.
What if you were 9 months pregnant on a mission to buy a crib and mattress at IKEA, and then the ultimate earthquake hits? What?! Well, in Annie’s case, she certainly hoped to survive!
And, as she does, her greatest dilemma is finding her way to her husband, Dom, who is supposedly working in town. What she soon finds out is that he was off chasing his dreams on stage in the worst possible place, the epicenter of the earthquake.
As Annie walks herself through the devastation, readers learn through trips to the past, there is a lot about Annie and Dom to navigate and overcome as she tells her story to readers and unborn ‘Bean.’
What will Annie come to discover and experience in the end?
A measured, fast-paced, easy-to-read, one-sitting reading experience (for me) that will have readers turning pages quickly to find out what will happen. Thank you, Brendan for recommending this book to me.
September 14, 2025
Our protagonist, Annie, is nine months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a massive earthquake rocks Portland, Oregon. Annie stays close to an employee who helps her, but they eventually separate in the confusion.
Annie's purse, which held her keys, phone, and money, is lost. Her only option is to start walking through the rubble, across the city, desperate to unite with her husband. As she navigates the chaos, she shares her story of a troubled marriage, a frustrating career on hold, and fears of impending motherhood...
Tilt is a well-written and emotionally driven debut novel. I love Annie's first-person perspective, leading the reader through the earthquake's destruction. She remains focused on her trek, mostly alone and one foot in front of the other, as turmoil ensues. She's honest and reflective on the first day of her maternity leave, and despite the challenges, she remains resilient, determined, and level-headed. Many others around her do not.
An immersion read, the audiobook is narrated by Ariel Blake, who does a solid job bringing Annie to life.
Tilt is a one-day snapshot of how a catastrophic event can impact every aspect of daily living in the blink of an eye.
4⭐
Annie's purse, which held her keys, phone, and money, is lost. Her only option is to start walking through the rubble, across the city, desperate to unite with her husband. As she navigates the chaos, she shares her story of a troubled marriage, a frustrating career on hold, and fears of impending motherhood...
Tilt is a well-written and emotionally driven debut novel. I love Annie's first-person perspective, leading the reader through the earthquake's destruction. She remains focused on her trek, mostly alone and one foot in front of the other, as turmoil ensues. She's honest and reflective on the first day of her maternity leave, and despite the challenges, she remains resilient, determined, and level-headed. Many others around her do not.
An immersion read, the audiobook is narrated by Ariel Blake, who does a solid job bringing Annie to life.
Tilt is a one-day snapshot of how a catastrophic event can impact every aspect of daily living in the blink of an eye.
4⭐
August 19, 2024
TILT incorporates a familiar tope—natural (earthquake) or other disaster and then protagonist goes on an “odyssey” of finding loved one(s) while reflecting back on their life. If you are a Millennial or younger and have not read many similar plots/themes, you may be swept away. I enjoyed following Annie, three weeks away from giving birth, trying to find her way back to her husband, Dom, after an earthquake flattens half the city of Portland, Oregon, while she is shopping for a crib. She blames herself for procrastinating this purchase for so long. Her precarious marriage with a struggling actor creates financial issues that preoccupies her. Annie’s husband is selfish and self-regarding, which adds to her stress. During her long walk post-quake, she talks to her currently unnamed baby, which Annie calls “Bean.”
Author Emma Pattee gifts us a promising debut, with confident, organic prose and themes of motherhood, pregnancy, marriage, family, survival, and trauma. The novel builds momentum as Annie toggles back and forth between past and present, with her eye on the immediate future and inevitable birth of baby. She has reached an emotional crisis just as the earthquake crisis has occurred. We comprehend Annie’s empathy as she reaches out to others, some who are separated from their children. A woman who helped save her from the crushed IKEA store becomes he walking mate.
The stakes keep rising as the narrative progresses. Although a natural disaster has occurred, Pattee balances the interior landscape of Annie’s life with the destruction of the city. As we go back and forth, we head toward a surprising but inevitable finale. Readers wanting an ending tied up in a bow may be disappointed. Although the book doesn’t break as much ground as the earthquake, there’s enough space between the words for considerate contemplation. Pattee has the chops for a long future as a writer.
“Here’s how this will go, Bean. Listen to me now. It can only go one way. I will cross the bridge. I will walk to the theatre. Your father will be there. I will find him. He will cry when he sees us. And together we will walk home. We will walk home together. We will be home because we are together. We will be every cliché about home once we are together.”
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for sending me a copy for review.
Author Emma Pattee gifts us a promising debut, with confident, organic prose and themes of motherhood, pregnancy, marriage, family, survival, and trauma. The novel builds momentum as Annie toggles back and forth between past and present, with her eye on the immediate future and inevitable birth of baby. She has reached an emotional crisis just as the earthquake crisis has occurred. We comprehend Annie’s empathy as she reaches out to others, some who are separated from their children. A woman who helped save her from the crushed IKEA store becomes he walking mate.
The stakes keep rising as the narrative progresses. Although a natural disaster has occurred, Pattee balances the interior landscape of Annie’s life with the destruction of the city. As we go back and forth, we head toward a surprising but inevitable finale. Readers wanting an ending tied up in a bow may be disappointed. Although the book doesn’t break as much ground as the earthquake, there’s enough space between the words for considerate contemplation. Pattee has the chops for a long future as a writer.
“Here’s how this will go, Bean. Listen to me now. It can only go one way. I will cross the bridge. I will walk to the theatre. Your father will be there. I will find him. He will cry when he sees us. And together we will walk home. We will walk home together. We will be home because we are together. We will be every cliché about home once we are together.”
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for sending me a copy for review.
May 26, 2025
Finished Reading
Pre-Read notes
I was honestly smitten with the Title of this one, and that bird on the original cover. That image force my perspective to shift, I felt, and I was in for any story that did the same!
Final Review
My aliveness is beaming out of me, every pore shining with the fact that I’m alive. I’m so fucking alive I’m shaking. We’re alive, you and me, we’re alive, and that’s why I’m running now, running down the trail with my Birkenstocks flopping and my great misshapen belly straining to stay upright, p56
Review summary and recommendations
I admit I have an embarrassing weakness for disaster and survival stories, and this one is both. This completely miserable but totally memorable protagonist is a young pregnant woman who must survive a massive earthquake and its aftermath.
The FMC of this book will probably be a terrible mother, but I love her as the protagonist of this story! I was rooting for her the whole way. I loved how this story's is unafraid to be hopeful in a high stakes and terrifying situation.
I recommend this to readers of thrillers, disaster stories, and action books. I also think fans of strong female characters, fast-paced reads, and mom narratives.
People have done harder things than this. People have been through worse than this. Nobody I know, but still, people. p162
Reading Notes
Seven things I loved:
1. My belly distended, a blimp exiting sideways out of my body. I walk in stiff little jerky motions like a stork. p6 Best description of pregnancy ever 🤣
2. Some really brilliant depictions of anxiety from first person POV. Her efforts don't feel forced or hurried, which is sometimes my experience of anxiety from first person. The details of her experience are perfectly fish-out-of-water.
3. The description of inflation over the last 30 years from first person is actually sort of harrowing to read. It's really brilliant writing!
4. Maybe we’re not telling the jokes, we are the joke. Now that we’re pregnant, we’re forced to be part of some enormous collective joke about women.... I really like how this author writes about being pregnant. It's so real and, yes, darkly funny, even given her circumstances.This would be a great joke: the pregnant woman who couldn’t just stay home like she was supposed to, like everybody else would have preferred, who couldn’t wait for the ambulance, who forgot to grab water, who lost her phone and purse and keys, who didn’t buy the whistle even after being told to buy the whistle, didn’t text her husband back, didn’t tell anyone where she was going, who couldn’t JUST WAIT. Who doesn’t even know if her baby is alive, even though she is a mother and a mother is supposed to FEEL THESE THINGS. I am the joke. That damn bra strap sliding down my arm over and over. p142
5. The thread of the plot is fascinating, both seemingly random and clearly the cohesive force of the story. Just excellent work on this unique form!
6. Throughout this brilliant disaster story, the fmc speaks in first person to her unborn baby. I don't always go for this kind of first/second person mashup, but it works really well here, becoming part of the character's internal monolog.
7. Some moving depictions of grief in this book, without going over the top. Hyperbole, in the few instances it arises, seems to be in response to the setting, which is unfriendly.
One thing I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. The confrontation in the opening scene feels theatrical to me. It's just a little too out of reach. But the scene is propulsive for sure. *edit honestly I think it was intentional for the author to do this, because she has some interesting development in for these two characters. You almost need this scene to establish the characters' grit.
Rating: 🪨🪨🪨🪨🪨 /5 pieces of rubble
Recommend? yes!
Finished: Mar 17 '25
Format: accessible digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
☄️ disaster stories
🫄 mom stories
🏋🏻♀️ strong female characters
👩🏼🤝👩🏾 unlikely friends
Thank you to the author Emma Pattee, publishers MarySue Rucci Books, and NetGalley for an accessible advance digital copy of TILT. All views are mine.
---------------
Pre-Read notes
I was honestly smitten with the Title of this one, and that bird on the original cover. That image force my perspective to shift, I felt, and I was in for any story that did the same!
Final Review
My aliveness is beaming out of me, every pore shining with the fact that I’m alive. I’m so fucking alive I’m shaking. We’re alive, you and me, we’re alive, and that’s why I’m running now, running down the trail with my Birkenstocks flopping and my great misshapen belly straining to stay upright, p56
Review summary and recommendations
I admit I have an embarrassing weakness for disaster and survival stories, and this one is both. This completely miserable but totally memorable protagonist is a young pregnant woman who must survive a massive earthquake and its aftermath.
The FMC of this book will probably be a terrible mother, but I love her as the protagonist of this story! I was rooting for her the whole way. I loved how this story's is unafraid to be hopeful in a high stakes and terrifying situation.
I recommend this to readers of thrillers, disaster stories, and action books. I also think fans of strong female characters, fast-paced reads, and mom narratives.
People have done harder things than this. People have been through worse than this. Nobody I know, but still, people. p162
Reading Notes
Seven things I loved:
1. My belly distended, a blimp exiting sideways out of my body. I walk in stiff little jerky motions like a stork. p6 Best description of pregnancy ever 🤣
2. Some really brilliant depictions of anxiety from first person POV. Her efforts don't feel forced or hurried, which is sometimes my experience of anxiety from first person. The details of her experience are perfectly fish-out-of-water.
3. The description of inflation over the last 30 years from first person is actually sort of harrowing to read. It's really brilliant writing!
4. Maybe we’re not telling the jokes, we are the joke. Now that we’re pregnant, we’re forced to be part of some enormous collective joke about women.... I really like how this author writes about being pregnant. It's so real and, yes, darkly funny, even given her circumstances.This would be a great joke: the pregnant woman who couldn’t just stay home like she was supposed to, like everybody else would have preferred, who couldn’t wait for the ambulance, who forgot to grab water, who lost her phone and purse and keys, who didn’t buy the whistle even after being told to buy the whistle, didn’t text her husband back, didn’t tell anyone where she was going, who couldn’t JUST WAIT. Who doesn’t even know if her baby is alive, even though she is a mother and a mother is supposed to FEEL THESE THINGS. I am the joke. That damn bra strap sliding down my arm over and over. p142
5. The thread of the plot is fascinating, both seemingly random and clearly the cohesive force of the story. Just excellent work on this unique form!
6. Throughout this brilliant disaster story, the fmc speaks in first person to her unborn baby. I don't always go for this kind of first/second person mashup, but it works really well here, becoming part of the character's internal monolog.
7. Some moving depictions of grief in this book, without going over the top. Hyperbole, in the few instances it arises, seems to be in response to the setting, which is unfriendly.
One thing I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. The confrontation in the opening scene feels theatrical to me. It's just a little too out of reach. But the scene is propulsive for sure. *edit honestly I think it was intentional for the author to do this, because she has some interesting development in for these two characters. You almost need this scene to establish the characters' grit.
Rating: 🪨🪨🪨🪨🪨 /5 pieces of rubble
Recommend? yes!
Finished: Mar 17 '25
Format: accessible digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
☄️ disaster stories
🫄 mom stories
🏋🏻♀️ strong female characters
👩🏼🤝👩🏾 unlikely friends
Thank you to the author Emma Pattee, publishers MarySue Rucci Books, and NetGalley for an accessible advance digital copy of TILT. All views are mine.
---------------
January 19, 2025
For how short this book is, it's unbelievable how much it has stuck with me since I've finished it. I think what sealed the 5/5 star fate was the Acknowledgments - the Cascadia earthquake is real, my friends. Per Oregon's gov't site, "Currently, scientists are predicting that there is about a 37% chance that a megathrust earthquake of 7.1+ magnitude in this fault zone will occur in the next 50 years. This event will be felt throughout the Pacific Northwest" Regardless of whether of not you're a mother, that's terrifying.
In hindsight, the natural disaster plotline took a back seat to the profound unveiling of motherhoods' countless dimensions. How Emma Pattee was able to articulate the dualities mothers face daily is beyond me. It was done so seamlessly, too. I was so busy holding my breath for Annie that I couldn't prepare myself for the emotional toll this book would take on me with each chapter.
At one point, my kindle kept slipping through my hands they were so sweaty. Next, I'd have to take a second to breathe so I didn't cry - the sentiments hit THAT close to home.
I bring up motherhood in my reviews (almost to a fault) because your lens is forever smudged by tiny fingerprints once you enter it. BUT I can say with certainty that you have a mom somewhere. Even if you don't want to become a parent yourself you still have that one vital link to someone's motherhood, at the very least. So, you start from that place of understanding. Maybe you've felt a baby kick inside their mom's belly? Okay, now you have a little more understanding and can identify more closely with mentions of baby's kicks. You've had a baby in your own belly kick? Okay, now you can remember the strange sensation of little schools of fish flipping around, bumping into your bladder. You see what I mean? I know this is a simple idea to grasp - I only mention it because SO MUCH of the beauty I found in the book lies in that idea. Beyond the living roles (pregnant, freshly postpartum, toddler mom, etc as they grow up) the absolutely heartbreaking exploration of becoming a mother without having a living mother to guide you is yet another perspective to be had. I'd bet you could read this book over again with each shift of roles in your personal life, and find your appreciation for it deepening each time.
Thankfully, the intensity was broken up really well. Annie is only a few years older than I am and I can confirm the millennial vibes were immaculate. We've grown up embedded with such a fun (this is sarcasm) mix of shame and need for validation, seeing something and immediately thinking "I need to Instagram this" or "I can't wait to tell so-and-so this story" instead of actively participating in the world around us and helping where we can.
I don't know much about writing, but I'd think that taking on a novel with a timeline of A SINGLE DAY is hard. I only said "there's no way this would really happen" 2x; I usually hit at least 5x when reading anything remotely dystopian. I could keep writing about this book forever probably, and am very willing to if anyone else would like!!! Buuut for my review, I'm going to call it after mentioning... This is Emma Pattee's debut novel!?!?!?!?!? No way??? Can I have dibs on #1 fan?
{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Emma Pattee and publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!}
Editing to add a thank you to Marysue Ricci & Emma Pattee for sending me a print ARC as well, it's beautiful 😍
In hindsight, the natural disaster plotline took a back seat to the profound unveiling of motherhoods' countless dimensions. How Emma Pattee was able to articulate the dualities mothers face daily is beyond me. It was done so seamlessly, too. I was so busy holding my breath for Annie that I couldn't prepare myself for the emotional toll this book would take on me with each chapter.
At one point, my kindle kept slipping through my hands they were so sweaty. Next, I'd have to take a second to breathe so I didn't cry - the sentiments hit THAT close to home.
I bring up motherhood in my reviews (almost to a fault) because your lens is forever smudged by tiny fingerprints once you enter it. BUT I can say with certainty that you have a mom somewhere. Even if you don't want to become a parent yourself you still have that one vital link to someone's motherhood, at the very least. So, you start from that place of understanding. Maybe you've felt a baby kick inside their mom's belly? Okay, now you have a little more understanding and can identify more closely with mentions of baby's kicks. You've had a baby in your own belly kick? Okay, now you can remember the strange sensation of little schools of fish flipping around, bumping into your bladder. You see what I mean? I know this is a simple idea to grasp - I only mention it because SO MUCH of the beauty I found in the book lies in that idea. Beyond the living roles (pregnant, freshly postpartum, toddler mom, etc as they grow up) the absolutely heartbreaking exploration of becoming a mother without having a living mother to guide you is yet another perspective to be had. I'd bet you could read this book over again with each shift of roles in your personal life, and find your appreciation for it deepening each time.
Thankfully, the intensity was broken up really well. Annie is only a few years older than I am and I can confirm the millennial vibes were immaculate. We've grown up embedded with such a fun (this is sarcasm) mix of shame and need for validation, seeing something and immediately thinking "I need to Instagram this" or "I can't wait to tell so-and-so this story" instead of actively participating in the world around us and helping where we can.
I don't know much about writing, but I'd think that taking on a novel with a timeline of A SINGLE DAY is hard. I only said "there's no way this would really happen" 2x; I usually hit at least 5x when reading anything remotely dystopian. I could keep writing about this book forever probably, and am very willing to if anyone else would like!!! Buuut for my review, I'm going to call it after mentioning... This is Emma Pattee's debut novel!?!?!?!?!? No way??? Can I have dibs on #1 fan?
{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Emma Pattee and publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!}
Editing to add a thank you to Marysue Ricci & Emma Pattee for sending me a print ARC as well, it's beautiful 😍
November 14, 2025
4+
Wow!!
Imagine being 9 months pregnant and navigating your way through an apocalypse… after “the big one” the potentially devastating Cascadia earthquake that has a 1-in-3 chance of striking the Pacific Northwest within the next 40 years.
Well, read Tilt!
So good and a quick read!
Wow!!
Imagine being 9 months pregnant and navigating your way through an apocalypse… after “the big one” the potentially devastating Cascadia earthquake that has a 1-in-3 chance of striking the Pacific Northwest within the next 40 years.
Well, read Tilt!
So good and a quick read!
July 10, 2025
would feel insensitive for me to say “leave him girl” lol but also …
October 29, 2024
3.5
4 for the writing, 3 for the ending!
4 for the writing, 3 for the ending!
January 31, 2026
Não faz sentido ter um filho neste momento, com o teu pai e eu encalhados como sempre e com o dinheiro tão curto como sempre. Só a ideia de o meu rabo, mamas e barriga explodirem, dá-me vontade de vomitar. Apesar disso, uma minúscula orelhinha cor-de-rosa. Aquele peso quente que de certa forma sempre ansiei ter nos meus braços, que não pode ser replicado segurando num gato ou numa saca de farinha ou num homem adulto.
Além da condição financeira instável, Annie ainda tem de, com 37 semanas de gravidez, enfrentar um terramoto. Noutras condições, talvez parisse mesmo ali, nos escombros da loja IKEA onde estava a comprar o berço para o seu Feijãozinho (é como ela chama ao bebé que traz na barriga), mas assim acabava o livro.
Em vez disso, Annie vira uma grávida ninja e .
No meio disto tudo, pois a ação alterna entre o presente e alguns momentos específicos do seu passado, recorda a mãe, a forma como conheceu o marido, o que os levou a casarem, as aulas pré-natais e todas as tragédias de grávidas que via no Youtube, Reddit, Instagram.
Foi uma leitura fluída, pois é um livro com capítulos curtos, mas não é transcendente.
Além da condição financeira instável, Annie ainda tem de, com 37 semanas de gravidez, enfrentar um terramoto. Noutras condições, talvez parisse mesmo ali, nos escombros da loja IKEA onde estava a comprar o berço para o seu Feijãozinho (é como ela chama ao bebé que traz na barriga), mas assim acabava o livro.
Em vez disso, Annie vira uma grávida ninja e .
No meio disto tudo, pois a ação alterna entre o presente e alguns momentos específicos do seu passado, recorda a mãe, a forma como conheceu o marido, o que os levou a casarem, as aulas pré-natais e todas as tragédias de grávidas que via no Youtube, Reddit, Instagram.
Foi uma leitura fluída, pois é um livro com capítulos curtos, mas não é transcendente.
January 13, 2025
3.5 Stars
This was a story about a married thirty-something named Annie who was 9 months pregnant. It's her first day of maternity leave as she drives out alone to her local IKEA in Portland, Oregon to buy a crib. While there, a massive earthquake hits. The chapters weave back and forth from past to present as Annie recounts her relationship with her husband, as she is one among the masses of people trying to get to their loved ones amid this environmental catastrophe.
I liked the honest way the main character looked back at her life with her husband, weary and cynical about the fact that her husband relentlessly persued his passion to be an actor. She watched other friends take more traditional job trajectories and build lives with financial security, feeling wistful and a bit depressed that their own best lives were possibly passing them by. I also admired her inner and outer strength, navigating this natural disaster and the dangers all around her...while 9 months pregnant. The present day story takes place within one day, and the tension/suspense kept me tethered as I cheered for Annie to get home and keep her unborn baby safe.
Thank you to the publisher Simon Element / Simon & Schuster/ Marysue Rucci Books who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
This was a story about a married thirty-something named Annie who was 9 months pregnant. It's her first day of maternity leave as she drives out alone to her local IKEA in Portland, Oregon to buy a crib. While there, a massive earthquake hits. The chapters weave back and forth from past to present as Annie recounts her relationship with her husband, as she is one among the masses of people trying to get to their loved ones amid this environmental catastrophe.
I liked the honest way the main character looked back at her life with her husband, weary and cynical about the fact that her husband relentlessly persued his passion to be an actor. She watched other friends take more traditional job trajectories and build lives with financial security, feeling wistful and a bit depressed that their own best lives were possibly passing them by. I also admired her inner and outer strength, navigating this natural disaster and the dangers all around her...while 9 months pregnant. The present day story takes place within one day, and the tension/suspense kept me tethered as I cheered for Annie to get home and keep her unborn baby safe.
Thank you to the publisher Simon Element / Simon & Schuster/ Marysue Rucci Books who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
June 13, 2025
Review for Bean, because you deserve the warning.
Oh, sweet baby Bean. Precious wrinkly caterpillar.
I know you're still working on neck control and object permanence, but I need you to internalise this: TILT is an absolute snoozefest.
I picked up Tilt expecting an emotional rollercoaster, except the story just meandered like a baby crawling: aimless, slow, and occasionally bumping into furniture. But way less cute.
Maybe I thought we'd be trapped in IKEA making friends and enemies, gangs and cliques building forts out of flatpack furniture. Instead we get a woman wallowing through town.
I kept waiting for something - anything - to happen. At one point I thought, "Ah, finally, tension!" but it turned out it was just a pair of neon sneakers.
The characters had all the depth of a bathwater puddle. Bean, you'd find more emotional complexity in your stuffed teddy bear.
Would I recommend this to you? Only if you've just run out of paint to watch dry.
The emoji that summed up this experience for me: 🫠
1.5 stars
Oh, sweet baby Bean. Precious wrinkly caterpillar.
I know you're still working on neck control and object permanence, but I need you to internalise this: TILT is an absolute snoozefest.
I picked up Tilt expecting an emotional rollercoaster, except the story just meandered like a baby crawling: aimless, slow, and occasionally bumping into furniture. But way less cute.
Maybe I thought we'd be trapped in IKEA making friends and enemies, gangs and cliques building forts out of flatpack furniture. Instead we get a woman wallowing through town.
I kept waiting for something - anything - to happen. At one point I thought, "Ah, finally, tension!" but it turned out it was just a pair of neon sneakers.
The characters had all the depth of a bathwater puddle. Bean, you'd find more emotional complexity in your stuffed teddy bear.
Would I recommend this to you? Only if you've just run out of paint to watch dry.
The emoji that summed up this experience for me: 🫠
1.5 stars
August 29, 2024
Add this one to your 2025 reads! The setting is in Portland, Oregon. Annie is 8 months pregnant and shopping for a crib in IKEA. The book is set in one single day as she focuses on her survival after an earthquake and trying to reunite with her husband.
The reader is privy to her inner feelings as she navigates her way through the city’s ruins to her home. She has had concerns about her marriage, career, finances, and mothering. At the same time,flashback chapters create character development allowing the reader to understand why Annie has these feelings. It was engaging!
The reader is privy to her inner feelings as she navigates her way through the city’s ruins to her home. She has had concerns about her marriage, career, finances, and mothering. At the same time,flashback chapters create character development allowing the reader to understand why Annie has these feelings. It was engaging!
April 3, 2025
Oh wow, I really hated this book. I should have abandoned it but I wanted to find out if she reunited with her husband or not. By the end I just didn’t even care anymore. An incredibly unlikeable main character making incredibly asinine decisions for 224 pages.
June 10, 2025
I’m sitting between a 3-4 star in my review so let’s round it up for goodreads.
You know me and unique thrillers (ie Piglet, Vladimir, Shark Heart, The Memory of Animals) and this one was no different! The audio kept me listening and I couldn’t stop. The ending was left a bit too open for interpretation, but might make it a fun one for book club to discuss!
You know me and unique thrillers (ie Piglet, Vladimir, Shark Heart, The Memory of Animals) and this one was no different! The audio kept me listening and I couldn’t stop. The ending was left a bit too open for interpretation, but might make it a fun one for book club to discuss!
April 26, 2025
- 2.5⭐️ — 0🌶️
- Annie who is 37 weeks pregnant goes into ikea to shop for a baby crib when a catastrophic earthquake hits Portland, Oregon.
- Whole book is just one day, during the present chapters of her before during and after the earthquake hits trying to get to her husband where he is at when the earthquake hits which is across town. So she walks, and walks, and walks. There is an unlikely friendship that blossoms and you get front seat to the distraction and people Annie sees during her journey to get to Dom.
- Dual times lines from present going back 17 years. But is kinda written like a diary to “bean” who she names the baby inside of her. Explaining her life choices and important milestones that led her to where she is now at 37 weeks pregnant.
- This book was written very realistic and sarcastically funny.
- I did not like the ending. Nothing was tied up. Everything was a huge question mark. It would have gotten such a better review if a couple things were explained. But no.
Read this if you like: whole book is one day, earthquake survival story, under 250 pages, unlikely friendship, loose ends
- Annie who is 37 weeks pregnant goes into ikea to shop for a baby crib when a catastrophic earthquake hits Portland, Oregon.
- Whole book is just one day, during the present chapters of her before during and after the earthquake hits trying to get to her husband where he is at when the earthquake hits which is across town. So she walks, and walks, and walks. There is an unlikely friendship that blossoms and you get front seat to the distraction and people Annie sees during her journey to get to Dom.
- Dual times lines from present going back 17 years. But is kinda written like a diary to “bean” who she names the baby inside of her. Explaining her life choices and important milestones that led her to where she is now at 37 weeks pregnant.
- This book was written very realistic and sarcastically funny.
- I did not like the ending. Nothing was tied up. Everything was a huge question mark. It would have gotten such a better review if a couple things were explained. But no.
Read this if you like: whole book is one day, earthquake survival story, under 250 pages, unlikely friendship, loose ends
September 26, 2025
Here we come to the end of yet another Emergency Preparedness Month when I have done approximately precisely
nothing
to prepare for any number of disasters that could befall our community: tsunami, flood, forest fire, being stranded from the mainland during a natural or man-made event, collateral damage if a nearby military base is targeted by one nefarious entity or another, Sasquatch storming down from the mountains; and yes, the most likely of all, the long-overdue Big One: our inevitable Cascadia Earthquake.
I think about doing all the things: stockpiling water and non-perishables; assembling a go-bag; compiling digital documentation of valuables and critical paperwork. So why don't I? I'm a Virgo, mildly Type A, organized, prepared. This is so in my wheelhouse. But somehow I just can't pull it together. I blame my busy life, but really it's willful inertia. I keep telling myself I'll get around to it. Someday...
I did, however, make time to read Tilt, Emma Pattee's stampede of a disaster novel. It's not as if I could have put it down. Holy Page-Turner, Batman! The story storms through Portland, Oregon, in the aftermath of a massive earthquake, unfolding over a 12-hour (or so) period and through the eyes of 35-year-old Annie, who is due any day with her first child. The breathlessly graphic present-moment chapters are bracketed by the relief of flashbacks, and by Annie's wry observations and jarringly hilarious gallows humor.
The plot is deceptively simple: Annie must cross a city devastated by the earthquake to get to her husband, Dom. Will she make it? Will he be there? Will she give birth along the way? It's what happens on her journey as she experiences the heartbreak and terror of natural disaster that layer this brief novel with emotional complexity. Annie recounts her journey to her baby, whom she calls Bean, and through this mother-to-womb conversation we also learn the story of how Annie and Dom met, all their aspirations and dashed hopes as they navigate life in this strange little city.
Annie's affect can grate with self-pity, the wry humor can bite with snark, the flashbacks can feel like filler. There is an airiness to the narrative—at times outright hilarity—that feels unbalanced against the horror of sudden, massive disaster. The questions left unanswered may prove to be deeply frustrating for readers who will have wept and worried with Annie. Despite these wobbles, I was left shaken to the core by Tilt.
I also came away realizing there is no preparing for a disaster of that magnitude. One that, for those of us living in Cascadia, could happen at any moment.
I think about doing all the things: stockpiling water and non-perishables; assembling a go-bag; compiling digital documentation of valuables and critical paperwork. So why don't I? I'm a Virgo, mildly Type A, organized, prepared. This is so in my wheelhouse. But somehow I just can't pull it together. I blame my busy life, but really it's willful inertia. I keep telling myself I'll get around to it. Someday...
I did, however, make time to read Tilt, Emma Pattee's stampede of a disaster novel. It's not as if I could have put it down. Holy Page-Turner, Batman! The story storms through Portland, Oregon, in the aftermath of a massive earthquake, unfolding over a 12-hour (or so) period and through the eyes of 35-year-old Annie, who is due any day with her first child. The breathlessly graphic present-moment chapters are bracketed by the relief of flashbacks, and by Annie's wry observations and jarringly hilarious gallows humor.
The plot is deceptively simple: Annie must cross a city devastated by the earthquake to get to her husband, Dom. Will she make it? Will he be there? Will she give birth along the way? It's what happens on her journey as she experiences the heartbreak and terror of natural disaster that layer this brief novel with emotional complexity. Annie recounts her journey to her baby, whom she calls Bean, and through this mother-to-womb conversation we also learn the story of how Annie and Dom met, all their aspirations and dashed hopes as they navigate life in this strange little city.
Annie's affect can grate with self-pity, the wry humor can bite with snark, the flashbacks can feel like filler. There is an airiness to the narrative—at times outright hilarity—that feels unbalanced against the horror of sudden, massive disaster. The questions left unanswered may prove to be deeply frustrating for readers who will have wept and worried with Annie. Despite these wobbles, I was left shaken to the core by Tilt.
I also came away realizing there is no preparing for a disaster of that magnitude. One that, for those of us living in Cascadia, could happen at any moment.
May 6, 2025
First of all, this is another one of the books I loved so much I made a playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Bv...
Now to the review: WOW. I thought this short-but-quite-a-journey, suspenseful-but-absolutely-literary-fiction book was positively fantastic. This book does at least three things perfectly. First, it’s stellar cli fi, with the author’s research bringing to vividly detailed life the reality of “the big one” hitting Portland, OR (a city whose vibe seemed pretty accurately captured, in my POV, as someone who lived there for a bit). It reads so realistically and viscerally that it feels like nonfiction, or like watching news coverage. Second, this is an amazing book about motherhood, taking the form of one woman’s interior conversation with her unborn, very soon-to-be-born child, “Bean,” as she tries to navigate them both through peril and uncertainty toward safety and home during a time that would already be emotionally fraught and frightening even without a major earthquake hitting. Third, this is one of those It’s a Wonderful Life/A Christmas Carol etc. types of books where a significant brush with mortality jars the protagonist (in this case, apropos to Portland, a frustrated art monster/playwright) from their funk of disappointment and complacency and drives them to yearn for another chance to savor all the everyday life details, activities, and relationships previously taken for granted - with the backdrop of climate/natural disaster (including some COVID-related loss flashbacks) and impending motherhood dramatically upping the passion and poignancy level of all this. This book is beautifully written and moving with a unique voice and wit, and despite the heavy, tough realism of the hard-to-face subject matter, it’s also a book about the human ability to maintain resilience, hope, connection, and love in the face of tragedy and chaos. How is this a debut??
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Bv...
Now to the review: WOW. I thought this short-but-quite-a-journey, suspenseful-but-absolutely-literary-fiction book was positively fantastic. This book does at least three things perfectly. First, it’s stellar cli fi, with the author’s research bringing to vividly detailed life the reality of “the big one” hitting Portland, OR (a city whose vibe seemed pretty accurately captured, in my POV, as someone who lived there for a bit). It reads so realistically and viscerally that it feels like nonfiction, or like watching news coverage. Second, this is an amazing book about motherhood, taking the form of one woman’s interior conversation with her unborn, very soon-to-be-born child, “Bean,” as she tries to navigate them both through peril and uncertainty toward safety and home during a time that would already be emotionally fraught and frightening even without a major earthquake hitting. Third, this is one of those It’s a Wonderful Life/A Christmas Carol etc. types of books where a significant brush with mortality jars the protagonist (in this case, apropos to Portland, a frustrated art monster/playwright) from their funk of disappointment and complacency and drives them to yearn for another chance to savor all the everyday life details, activities, and relationships previously taken for granted - with the backdrop of climate/natural disaster (including some COVID-related loss flashbacks) and impending motherhood dramatically upping the passion and poignancy level of all this. This book is beautifully written and moving with a unique voice and wit, and despite the heavy, tough realism of the hard-to-face subject matter, it’s also a book about the human ability to maintain resilience, hope, connection, and love in the face of tragedy and chaos. How is this a debut??
June 14, 2025
I loved this! It packs a punch for a book that can be devoured in a day.
Very well done, highly recommend.
Very well done, highly recommend.
May 6, 2025
Annie is heavily pregnant and feeling off about everything, including herself.
When at IKEA by herself, trying to finally buy a crib, a big earthquake happened. The aftermath is dreadful and horrifying as you'd imagine.
This short novel is written as a diary for Bean, the unborn baby. It goes back and forth between past moments and the present with its hair-raising and heartbreaking events. The Millenial ennui, the lack of prospects and the worries about the future were very realistic. The post-earthquake parts were urgent, visceral and scary.
A worthy debut.
When at IKEA by herself, trying to finally buy a crib, a big earthquake happened. The aftermath is dreadful and horrifying as you'd imagine.
This short novel is written as a diary for Bean, the unborn baby. It goes back and forth between past moments and the present with its hair-raising and heartbreaking events. The Millenial ennui, the lack of prospects and the worries about the future were very realistic. The post-earthquake parts were urgent, visceral and scary.
A worthy debut.
March 28, 2025
Interesting premise but poorly executed, IMO. Didn’t like the protagonist at all and too many scenarios where you are left hanging- including the ending. Would not recommend.
December 15, 2024
4.5
If you're into apocalyptic fiction, you'll want to preorder this gem or grab it when it releases in March 2025.
Let me set the scene for you:
Our MC is 37 weeks pregnant.
She and her wanna be actor husband can barely afford the rent.
She's in Ikea, planning to max out her credit card buying a crib when...
🫨〰🌀🌏🏚️⚠️ Earthquake!
THE earthquake! The one that collapses bridges, buildings, and dreams in a matter of seconds.
Told in dual timelines between Annie's past and her devastating present, this is a novel about resiliency, love, grief, and hope. It was so well written that I felt like I was right there with Annie. I couldn't put it down.
If you're into apocalyptic fiction, you'll want to preorder this gem or grab it when it releases in March 2025.
Let me set the scene for you:
Our MC is 37 weeks pregnant.
She and her wanna be actor husband can barely afford the rent.
She's in Ikea, planning to max out her credit card buying a crib when...
🫨〰🌀🌏🏚️⚠️ Earthquake!
THE earthquake! The one that collapses bridges, buildings, and dreams in a matter of seconds.
Told in dual timelines between Annie's past and her devastating present, this is a novel about resiliency, love, grief, and hope. It was so well written that I felt like I was right there with Annie. I couldn't put it down.
Read
April 12, 2025The writing in this was accomplished and a pleasure to read. I see where I think this book intended to take me, but it never really got me there.
For my thriller fans, do NOT go in expecting a "thriller." Yes, Tilt had harrowing aspects and gripping moments but those scenes were interspersed with long flashbacks that slowed the pace.
Annie, who is nine months' pregnant, is trying to buy a crib at Ikea. But as she struggles to get the box into her cart, a massive earthquake strikes Portland. Annie then valiantly tries to get herself and her unborn child to safety and find her husband. As she does, she reflects on her life choices and where they have led her.
I have seen some people describe Annie as unlikeable, while others saw her as relatable. I think she was both. She has a nice sardonic first person voice, but her thoughts and choices in the face of disaster were so odd to me. The woman has survived a massive earthquake and is literally stepping around dead bodies yet her main thoughts are the same sort of mundane, self-absorbed thoughts we all think every day (and sometimes post on social media). She wishes she was more successful in her career. She and her husband are not where she thought they'd be at 35. To me that was ... weird.
I think the book intended to have themes of a mother's love but again, Annie let me down. I think having Dom be a POV character might have helped the story because it was hard for me to understand their relationship at all, which was supposed to be a main driver of the story.
Finally, the ending was VERY weird to me. It's an ending that I think will annoy many readers.
Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review!
For my thriller fans, do NOT go in expecting a "thriller." Yes, Tilt had harrowing aspects and gripping moments but those scenes were interspersed with long flashbacks that slowed the pace.
Annie, who is nine months' pregnant, is trying to buy a crib at Ikea. But as she struggles to get the box into her cart, a massive earthquake strikes Portland. Annie then valiantly tries to get herself and her unborn child to safety and find her husband. As she does, she reflects on her life choices and where they have led her.
I have seen some people describe Annie as unlikeable, while others saw her as relatable. I think she was both. She has a nice sardonic first person voice, but her thoughts and choices in the face of disaster were so odd to me. The woman has survived a massive earthquake and is literally stepping around dead bodies yet her main thoughts are the same sort of mundane, self-absorbed thoughts we all think every day (and sometimes post on social media). She wishes she was more successful in her career. She and her husband are not where she thought they'd be at 35. To me that was ... weird.
I think the book intended to have themes of a mother's love but again, Annie let me down. I think having Dom be a POV character might have helped the story because it was hard for me to understand their relationship at all, which was supposed to be a main driver of the story.
Finally, the ending was VERY weird to me. It's an ending that I think will annoy many readers.
Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review!
May 7, 2025
Tilt follows Annie, a very pregnant mom-to-be, who is out crib shopping at IKEA when an earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. In the aftermath, Annie can’t connect with her husband and she realizes her only option is to walk, so, she begins the trek.
This story is told in present and before chapters — Annie making her way home in the present chapters, witnessing the earthquake’s destruction and reflecting on her life — Her shaky marriage, her unfulfilled professional ambitions while her husband continues to pursue his, and her nervousness about being a mom. The before chapters shed light on how Annie got to the present. I felt for Annie and what she was going through in the present day as she reflects on her life, yet I couldn’t help feeling frustrated by her acceptance of decisions that led her to “now” too.
I hoped to enjoy Tilt a bit more than I did. The writing style leans stream of consciousness which doesn’t always work for me.
This story is told in present and before chapters — Annie making her way home in the present chapters, witnessing the earthquake’s destruction and reflecting on her life — Her shaky marriage, her unfulfilled professional ambitions while her husband continues to pursue his, and her nervousness about being a mom. The before chapters shed light on how Annie got to the present. I felt for Annie and what she was going through in the present day as she reflects on her life, yet I couldn’t help feeling frustrated by her acceptance of decisions that led her to “now” too.
I hoped to enjoy Tilt a bit more than I did. The writing style leans stream of consciousness which doesn’t always work for me.
July 14, 2025
there is the principal of Chekhov's gun--if a gun appears in the first act it will be used by the 3rd act. I think there is a principal that applies to pregnant women--if the woman is close to term in the start of the story she will deliver by the end.
This book made me realize that I have aged out of certain novels. This is one. It is the story of a young woman in her 30's who has cast aside her dreams of being a playwright due to a relationship turned to marriage turned to pregnancy. The story begins when she is 37 weeks pregnant (40 weeks is term) in IKEA purchasing a crib. During what is already a difficult day a seismic event occurs--the worst earthquake to hit Portland, Oregon. She is at first trapped below loads of boxes, where she looses her phone and purse and then after several scary moments is rescued by an employee. She is basically uninjured but must make her way through the next several hours of chaos, total destruction, confusion and violence to reach her husband or home.
The premise was quite interesting at first, as I wondered in what direction this story might take, but soon descended into a scenario that seemed to click every box--a long walk over debris, attempting to help injured, internal judgements on what one can do, what is not possible and one's own needs, finding help, looting, violence, loss of trust and fear of those around you. Realizing there is no one to help and one is totally alone. I felt there was little new or creative to latch on to and for me it became boring and repetitive.
The only POV is the pregnant woman. She describes all the difficulties she must face, the choices she must make and the realizations she comes to about herself and others. This is tempered by chapters that give her history as a young woman and then slowly major choices she made about love, work, family and home. Why did she leave her dreams behind and settle/compromise for love, a boring job and a now pregnancy. Why couldn't she have it all? Were her choices the right ones (A theme that seems to be running through so many books lately--think the Midnight Library by Haig.
It often read like a YA novel though the protagonist is closer to 30 (if her age was given I missed it). Severely over dramatic (some of this maybe have been due to the way it was narrated. I only had the audio) but I felt it was a large part due to the language used. I did speed the recording up quite a bit just to get through it (always a bad sign, almost like skimming the text) just to finish it. I feel guilty for the one star but--sorry. It just wasn't for me.
This book made me realize that I have aged out of certain novels. This is one. It is the story of a young woman in her 30's who has cast aside her dreams of being a playwright due to a relationship turned to marriage turned to pregnancy. The story begins when she is 37 weeks pregnant (40 weeks is term) in IKEA purchasing a crib. During what is already a difficult day a seismic event occurs--the worst earthquake to hit Portland, Oregon. She is at first trapped below loads of boxes, where she looses her phone and purse and then after several scary moments is rescued by an employee. She is basically uninjured but must make her way through the next several hours of chaos, total destruction, confusion and violence to reach her husband or home.
The premise was quite interesting at first, as I wondered in what direction this story might take, but soon descended into a scenario that seemed to click every box--a long walk over debris, attempting to help injured, internal judgements on what one can do, what is not possible and one's own needs, finding help, looting, violence, loss of trust and fear of those around you. Realizing there is no one to help and one is totally alone. I felt there was little new or creative to latch on to and for me it became boring and repetitive.
The only POV is the pregnant woman. She describes all the difficulties she must face, the choices she must make and the realizations she comes to about herself and others. This is tempered by chapters that give her history as a young woman and then slowly major choices she made about love, work, family and home. Why did she leave her dreams behind and settle/compromise for love, a boring job and a now pregnancy. Why couldn't she have it all? Were her choices the right ones (A theme that seems to be running through so many books lately--think the Midnight Library by Haig.
It often read like a YA novel though the protagonist is closer to 30 (if her age was given I missed it). Severely over dramatic (some of this maybe have been due to the way it was narrated. I only had the audio) but I felt it was a large part due to the language used. I did speed the recording up quite a bit just to get through it (always a bad sign, almost like skimming the text) just to finish it. I feel guilty for the one star but--sorry. It just wasn't for me.
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