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Relief Map
A small town swept up in a manhunt for a fugitive from foreign soil and a teenage girl struggling to make the right choices with little information and less time. In the heat of a stifling summer in her sixteenth year, Livy Marko spends her days in the rust-belt town of Lomath, Pennsylvania, babysitting, hanging out with her best friend, Nelson, and waiting for a bigger life to begin. These simple routines are disrupted when the electricity is cut off and the bridges are closed by a horde of police and FBI agents. A fugitive from the Republic of Georgia, on the run from an extradition order, has taken refuge in nearby hills and no one is able to leave or enter Lomath until he is found.As the police fail to find the wanted man and hours stretch into days, the town of Lomath begins to buckle under the strain. Like Russian dolls, each hostage seems to be harboring a captive of their own. Even Livy’s parents may have something to conceal, and Livy must learn that the source of danger is not always what it appears.Rosalie Knecht’s wise and suspenseful debut evokes the classics while conjuring the contemporary paranoia of the post-terrorist age. Relief Map doesn’t loosen its grip until the consequences of this catastrophic summer, and the ways in which a quiet girl’s fate can be rerouted and forever changed, are made fully apparent.
287 pages, Paperback
First published March 28, 2016
23 people are currently reading
1384 people want to read
About the author
Rosalie Knecht
7 books300 followersRosalie Knecht is the author of Vera Kelly is not a Mystery (2020), Who is Vera Kelly? (2018) and Relief Map (2016). She is also the translator of César Aira's The Seamstress and the Wind.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
January 24, 2019
She often thought now about the power everybody had to ruin everybody else. You could do it by accident, just by showing up, or you could make the wrong decisions in such small pieces that by the time you realized what you were doing, it was too late.
sixteen-year-old livy markos feels cramped in her hometown of lomath, pennsylvania; a town "half a mile long," even before a fugitive takes shelter within its borders and they are cut off from the rest of the world by an electrical and telecommunications lockdown as well as by the police officers and the fbi guarding the town's perimeter.
the book is many things - it's a rust belt Lord of the Flies, where lomath becomes the crucible in which secrets are revealed, tension builds, tempers flare, suspicion runs rampant, old resentments fester - all the things you would expect when people are cut off from technology, given explanations either conflicting or confusing, and there's at least one conspiracy theory nut in the mix.
it's a scaled-down terrorism-response allegory where a combination of fear, misinformation, and poorly-executed crisis management services propel livy, her best friend nelson, and several other local youths into a string of criminal activities as self-defense, while livy harbors her own secret crime and the citizens of lomath, restless and frustrated by the prolonged quarantine, take matters into their own hands.
it's a timely cautionary tale that pits a terrified community against an unspecified "other," where the collective fear and the solidarity of a shared crisis snowballs until regular folks are forced into action because of the systemic failures of services meant to provide protection, information, or relief.
it's also a fine coming-of-age story, as livy learns some truths about herself, her parents, and the world around her:
He was a ghost, a story that only Nelson knew. He would be her currency of intimacy. Many people might know little things about her but there would be very few in her whole life, she thought, who would hear this secret. It would always be with her, right there at her elbow. That was what made you grown-up, she thought: having the past following you around. Having a past at all, really.
livy is a likable character, whose introspection sets her apart from many others in her town, and her outlook is simultaneously fanciful and realistic:
"I'm feeling anxious," she said. She had always been good at identifying her emotions by their names, even when in the grip of them. She thought this was probably a talent, though not a great one.
she provides half of the novel's voice, with the rest supplied by revaz deni - fugitive, suspected terrorist, food-deprived philosopher:
The thing was that the less you had, the harder it was to get anything. The light-headedness of hunger made this seem very profound. He had nothing.
it's a really strong debut, which reminded me somewhat of Wake or Under the Dome or any of those other suburban-isolation stories, but this one has less-horrific consequences, zero necrophilia, and a more delicately hopeful ending.
worth your time.
come to my blog!
sixteen-year-old livy markos feels cramped in her hometown of lomath, pennsylvania; a town "half a mile long," even before a fugitive takes shelter within its borders and they are cut off from the rest of the world by an electrical and telecommunications lockdown as well as by the police officers and the fbi guarding the town's perimeter.
the book is many things - it's a rust belt Lord of the Flies, where lomath becomes the crucible in which secrets are revealed, tension builds, tempers flare, suspicion runs rampant, old resentments fester - all the things you would expect when people are cut off from technology, given explanations either conflicting or confusing, and there's at least one conspiracy theory nut in the mix.
it's a scaled-down terrorism-response allegory where a combination of fear, misinformation, and poorly-executed crisis management services propel livy, her best friend nelson, and several other local youths into a string of criminal activities as self-defense, while livy harbors her own secret crime and the citizens of lomath, restless and frustrated by the prolonged quarantine, take matters into their own hands.
it's a timely cautionary tale that pits a terrified community against an unspecified "other," where the collective fear and the solidarity of a shared crisis snowballs until regular folks are forced into action because of the systemic failures of services meant to provide protection, information, or relief.
it's also a fine coming-of-age story, as livy learns some truths about herself, her parents, and the world around her:
He was a ghost, a story that only Nelson knew. He would be her currency of intimacy. Many people might know little things about her but there would be very few in her whole life, she thought, who would hear this secret. It would always be with her, right there at her elbow. That was what made you grown-up, she thought: having the past following you around. Having a past at all, really.
livy is a likable character, whose introspection sets her apart from many others in her town, and her outlook is simultaneously fanciful and realistic:
"I'm feeling anxious," she said. She had always been good at identifying her emotions by their names, even when in the grip of them. She thought this was probably a talent, though not a great one.
she provides half of the novel's voice, with the rest supplied by revaz deni - fugitive, suspected terrorist, food-deprived philosopher:
The thing was that the less you had, the harder it was to get anything. The light-headedness of hunger made this seem very profound. He had nothing.
it's a really strong debut, which reminded me somewhat of Wake or Under the Dome or any of those other suburban-isolation stories, but this one has less-horrific consequences, zero necrophilia, and a more delicately hopeful ending.
worth your time.
come to my blog!
July 21, 2017
Livy lives in a small town where nothing much goes on when one day all the power is down and the town is quarantined off. The people in the town are taken aback, especially when FBI agents and the local police won't let anyone in or out of the town. Word soon spreads that a fugitive from overseas is hiding out in town and will be extradited back to the Republic of Georgia when caught. As the FBI keeps the perimeter of the town closed though, things begin to get tense, especially when people can't come and go to get the things they need.
I really enjoyed the book and I liked the writing a lot. I only realized it was supposed to be something with political undertones about the age of terrorism after reading the summary when I came to write my review and I didn't really get that from the book when I read it, and I think if I had read the book looking for that I would have been disappointed. I did enjoy the ambiguity about morality and the complex characters portrayed in the story and I like how the author choose to end it. I did like the themes about emergency protocol and the way law enforcement dealt with the situation and that may have been what the description meant abut the post-terrorism age paranoia and the tension built up between the law enforcement and the towns people was really well executed. It seems pretty relevant to most contemporary discussions about civil liberties and what the government is or isnt allowed to do under duress or threat.
I really enjoyed the book and I liked the writing a lot. I only realized it was supposed to be something with political undertones about the age of terrorism after reading the summary when I came to write my review and I didn't really get that from the book when I read it, and I think if I had read the book looking for that I would have been disappointed. I did enjoy the ambiguity about morality and the complex characters portrayed in the story and I like how the author choose to end it. I did like the themes about emergency protocol and the way law enforcement dealt with the situation and that may have been what the description meant abut the post-terrorism age paranoia and the tension built up between the law enforcement and the towns people was really well executed. It seems pretty relevant to most contemporary discussions about civil liberties and what the government is or isnt allowed to do under duress or threat.
September 11, 2016
I admit my rating is less a reflection of what this book achieves and more a reflection of the level of potential it contains and how much joy I got out of it. Honestly, it's the first book I've unabashedly enjoyed in quite a while. Five stars is not because it's a perfect book, but because I'm looking forward to rereading it, now that I'm not in a hurry to find out how the plot plays out. The prose is that pleasurable.
I struggled at first with trying to sort which characters were going to be important to the story, because Knecht has this great ability to sketch a character's soul in just a few phrases. The downside is that she makes them all seem important to the story when they're really not. There were a few very minor characters whose descriptions were so compelling, I was disappointed to discover that character didn't have a bigger role to play. As for the main character, Livy is young enough that she still retains a lot of her childhood ideas about the world, but she's old enough that she's starting to reinterpret them with more adult perspectives. And Knecht excels where she's showing us that, even when it's just in the form of a flashback or a vignette.
My big disappointment in the book is that there is so much subtext about class that doesn't get explored. At less than 300 pages, there was room to tackle that. It's clear that Livy and her BFF/BF Nelson are middle class or upper middle class. Comfortable homes, successful parents, higher academic expectations. One of the major plot points hinges on their interaction with Dominic, who is clearly lower class and dealing with the daily fallout of poverty. For me, he was a far more compelling character than Nelson (and Livy's budding romance with Nelson.) I wished that both Livy and the author had been more interested in dealing with those issues of class. A crime is committed and the narrative seems invested in the idea that Nelson and Livy received lesser punishment because they deserve lesser punishment. There's no dealing with the fact that Dominic is likely to be punished more because he is disadvantaged by social and financial factors.
(Also, Dominic has one of the best lines in the book, in response to Livy's exclamation that she doesn't want to go to jail:
"Why would you even fucking say that?" Dominic said. "Nobody wants to go to jail. You think other people go because they want to? Jesus."
The authoritative voice of a boy who knows about how people end up in jail. And the tip of an iceberg that mostly goes unacknowledged.)
The premise, of a fugitive on the loose in a small town, also isn't explored as much as I'd like. (And the blockade around the town feels very much like a literary knock-off of Stephen King's Dome--an artificial mechanism to force the town's inhabitants into desperate measures.)
That said, the fugitive--middle-aged journalist Revaz--is this fascinating seed of fear and invasion in small town America. His chapters are compelling reading, filled with incredible details and emotional tension. Again, at under 300 pages, I wish the book had stretched its legs there.
Despite what seem to be its shortcomings, I absolutely recommend this book.
I struggled at first with trying to sort which characters were going to be important to the story, because Knecht has this great ability to sketch a character's soul in just a few phrases. The downside is that she makes them all seem important to the story when they're really not. There were a few very minor characters whose descriptions were so compelling, I was disappointed to discover that character didn't have a bigger role to play. As for the main character, Livy is young enough that she still retains a lot of her childhood ideas about the world, but she's old enough that she's starting to reinterpret them with more adult perspectives. And Knecht excels where she's showing us that, even when it's just in the form of a flashback or a vignette.
My big disappointment in the book is that there is so much subtext about class that doesn't get explored. At less than 300 pages, there was room to tackle that. It's clear that Livy and her BFF/BF Nelson are middle class or upper middle class. Comfortable homes, successful parents, higher academic expectations. One of the major plot points hinges on their interaction with Dominic, who is clearly lower class and dealing with the daily fallout of poverty. For me, he was a far more compelling character than Nelson (and Livy's budding romance with Nelson.) I wished that both Livy and the author had been more interested in dealing with those issues of class. A crime is committed and the narrative seems invested in the idea that Nelson and Livy received lesser punishment because they deserve lesser punishment. There's no dealing with the fact that Dominic is likely to be punished more because he is disadvantaged by social and financial factors.
(Also, Dominic has one of the best lines in the book, in response to Livy's exclamation that she doesn't want to go to jail:
"Why would you even fucking say that?" Dominic said. "Nobody wants to go to jail. You think other people go because they want to? Jesus."
The authoritative voice of a boy who knows about how people end up in jail. And the tip of an iceberg that mostly goes unacknowledged.)
The premise, of a fugitive on the loose in a small town, also isn't explored as much as I'd like. (And the blockade around the town feels very much like a literary knock-off of Stephen King's Dome--an artificial mechanism to force the town's inhabitants into desperate measures.)
That said, the fugitive--middle-aged journalist Revaz--is this fascinating seed of fear and invasion in small town America. His chapters are compelling reading, filled with incredible details and emotional tension. Again, at under 300 pages, I wish the book had stretched its legs there.
Despite what seem to be its shortcomings, I absolutely recommend this book.
March 25, 2016
Wow, I don't know how I feel
ETA:
Review originally posted at All Books Considered: 3.5 STARS
I just finished this book as I write this review and don't even know what to say. The whole time I was reading this, I felt tense and uneasy just like the characters in the book. To that end, the book was a total success. But I feel like I am missing something with the plot or the meaning behind the story. This book could just be a story for the story's sake -- the feeling of being a teenager, making bad decisions and sometimes without a reason but I feel like there must be something else, something more. I am honestly left with more questions than answers at the conclusion of this and I still feel uneasy. The idea of being trapped never sounds good and, yet, Livy made things infinitely worse for herself. The problem is, we don't get much of a sense of Livy before so I don't even know if her actions were out of character or weren't . . . I will say I think this one will stay with me for a while, if only because I still need answers!!
I'm not even sure what genre to put this one in -- there is some mystery, it is as close to YA literary fiction as I've read and, yet, I don't even know if this should be considered YA. I liked it but I don't know how to recommend it -- if you want to read a well written book and feel tense and confused, this may be for you.
ETA:
Review originally posted at All Books Considered: 3.5 STARS
I just finished this book as I write this review and don't even know what to say. The whole time I was reading this, I felt tense and uneasy just like the characters in the book. To that end, the book was a total success. But I feel like I am missing something with the plot or the meaning behind the story. This book could just be a story for the story's sake -- the feeling of being a teenager, making bad decisions and sometimes without a reason but I feel like there must be something else, something more. I am honestly left with more questions than answers at the conclusion of this and I still feel uneasy. The idea of being trapped never sounds good and, yet, Livy made things infinitely worse for herself. The problem is, we don't get much of a sense of Livy before so I don't even know if her actions were out of character or weren't . . . I will say I think this one will stay with me for a while, if only because I still need answers!!
I'm not even sure what genre to put this one in -- there is some mystery, it is as close to YA literary fiction as I've read and, yet, I don't even know if this should be considered YA. I liked it but I don't know how to recommend it -- if you want to read a well written book and feel tense and confused, this may be for you.
She stood on packed earth; the grass grew knee-high beside the bare patch, and each blade of it, each angled stem and puff of seed, was perfectly still. She began to hear her own blood hissing in her ears. She looked at the edge of the woods, the field going over the hill, the stand of walnut trees around the bedrock at the top, and none of it scratched out any sound to match the seething in her veins. Her aliveness was monumental and the world was faint and distant and dark.
She had been like that for most of her adolescence, vivid to herself with the world muted and blurred around her. Now the world was thunderous. She pulled up a blade of grass and chewed on the end of it. The world was loud and close, and her heart and lungs and brain were a tinny afterthought.
July 20, 2016
I'm not real sure why I placed this book on hold or on my To Read list but it must have been one hell of a review.
The Relief Map reminded me of the Seinfeld TV show but without the humor. It was a book about nothing that went no where and made little sense.
Let me break it down this way:
Pros - the writing itself was great, everytime I picked up the book I was sucked right back into the story.
Cons - the book was boring and the 2 main stories (the hunted Georgian nationalist & Livy) lacked chemistry & purpose. The kidnapping seemed completely out of place and unnecessary.
Realistically I can see the closing off a small town but turning off the entire towns electricity was super far fetched.
☆☆maybe I shouldn't write reviews when I'm tired and a little bit cranky - sorry Rosalie!
Knecht really is a good writer; very expressive, I enjoyed reading the story.
My problem was the storyline itself. It felt incomplete to me, like Relief Map was originally a short story or novella with no real beginning, middle or end. Just 2 meandering storylines that happened to intersect at one point but they didnt mean anything to each other at all.
I'll definitely give her next book a go because she's a good writer let's just hope she improves as a storyteller.
The Relief Map reminded me of the Seinfeld TV show but without the humor. It was a book about nothing that went no where and made little sense.
Let me break it down this way:
Pros - the writing itself was great, everytime I picked up the book I was sucked right back into the story.
Cons - the book was boring and the 2 main stories (the hunted Georgian nationalist & Livy) lacked chemistry & purpose. The kidnapping seemed completely out of place and unnecessary.
Realistically I can see the closing off a small town but turning off the entire towns electricity was super far fetched.
☆☆maybe I shouldn't write reviews when I'm tired and a little bit cranky - sorry Rosalie!
Knecht really is a good writer; very expressive, I enjoyed reading the story.
My problem was the storyline itself. It felt incomplete to me, like Relief Map was originally a short story or novella with no real beginning, middle or end. Just 2 meandering storylines that happened to intersect at one point but they didnt mean anything to each other at all.
I'll definitely give her next book a go because she's a good writer let's just hope she improves as a storyteller.
October 25, 2016
A fun read, but not a literary one. There was too much explaining of thoughts and motivations. This dumbed it down a bit, which is unfortunate, because the premise was interesting. Basically, a fugitive from the Republic of Georgia is suspected to be in a random small town. The town is cordoned off by police and FBI agents, and no one is allowed in or out. The electricity and the phone lines are cut off. Before I begin criticizing, the idea of a community unraveling because of containment is fantastic. I think the author got some of the reactions right, as well as the weird paranoia and mob mentality that could crop up. However. Why would they cut off the electricity and the phone lines? That's dangerous, as well as ineffectual. Also, why are the police the first line of defense against a foreign national? And why do the teenage protagonists make piss-poor decisions, despite having somewhat loving families and decent futures ahead? It just made no sense.
March 12, 2016
Review to follow.
September 30, 2016
2.5 stars
I really wanted to love this book, but it just didn't happen for me. It's less than 300 pages, yet it took me a week to read it. I just didn't connect with the story or characters.
It's the story of a town held hostage by the government, as they search for a terrorist on the run. The townspeople are blockaded in; power, phones, and Internet are all cut off. This small Pennsylvania town is stewing in the summer heat, and inevitably things boil over.
Knecht set the scene skillfully, and showed herself to be capable of keen insights. The situation was rich with potential. But she made the story much smaller than that, focusing mainly on how Livy gets through it, a teenaged girl. The problem was I didn't connect enough with Livy to care until the last chapter.
So I can't really recommend this one, though if you think you'll like it I won't discourage you. You may see something I don't. I will keep an eye out for this author again, though. I think she has the potential to do better the next time.
I really wanted to love this book, but it just didn't happen for me. It's less than 300 pages, yet it took me a week to read it. I just didn't connect with the story or characters.
It's the story of a town held hostage by the government, as they search for a terrorist on the run. The townspeople are blockaded in; power, phones, and Internet are all cut off. This small Pennsylvania town is stewing in the summer heat, and inevitably things boil over.
Knecht set the scene skillfully, and showed herself to be capable of keen insights. The situation was rich with potential. But she made the story much smaller than that, focusing mainly on how Livy gets through it, a teenaged girl. The problem was I didn't connect enough with Livy to care until the last chapter.
So I can't really recommend this one, though if you think you'll like it I won't discourage you. You may see something I don't. I will keep an eye out for this author again, though. I think she has the potential to do better the next time.
April 1, 2016
THIS BOOK IS PERFECT. The prose is anxious and quiet and fraught and absolutely brilliant and I never wanted it to end. Rosalie Knecht is a wonderful genius.
Read
March 15, 2024DNF at the end of section 1, and then I read the last few pages of the book. I would recommend to a general fiction reader - this was interesting, and engagingly written, but just not my kind of thing.
The protagonist is a teenage girl living in this small town in the early 2000s which gets locked down by the police because a some kind of criminal fugitive, allegedly from the Balkans, is on the run in the area. There are also intermittent sections of the book from the perspective of the fugitive, Revaz.
The tone of this book is - small town monotony, descriptions of the working class characters that make up the small town, the protagonist’s internal reflections about people and the world, some wise and some naive.
The thing that struck me the most was how almost out-of-time this setting feels within the book. Early on I kept being surprised when characters mentioned having cell phones - there’s really no Internet to speak of, at least so far, although there is easy access to video cameras, and there are, at least in section 1, no references to contemporary music at all, which for teenage characters is something I can’t even fathom. It creates such a claustrophobic feeling not to have those references, like the town exists in some kind of pocket universe. Which I guess is intentional given the premise that these characters have been shut off from the outside world by this police barricade - but very interesting to read through.
When I read a character mention “Those Russian soldiers who were trapped in the submarine” I recoiled because it brought me back so fully to hearing vaguely about that on the news as a child. I had to look it up to confirm - that was August 2000. Which I guess explains why 9/11 isn’t being referenced either - it hadn’t happened yet? Although I would guess that upon finishing this book a reader would have a lot to say about whether and how the book is actually addressing 9/11 from a sort of metaphorical sideways perspective.
Anyway, an interesting one! I am DNFing because this type of near-historical general fiction isn’t my kind of thing and it’s due back to the library in a day or two, but would be interested to hear what other people, who have read the whole thing, think of it.
The protagonist is a teenage girl living in this small town in the early 2000s which gets locked down by the police because a some kind of criminal fugitive, allegedly from the Balkans, is on the run in the area. There are also intermittent sections of the book from the perspective of the fugitive, Revaz.
The tone of this book is - small town monotony, descriptions of the working class characters that make up the small town, the protagonist’s internal reflections about people and the world, some wise and some naive.
The thing that struck me the most was how almost out-of-time this setting feels within the book. Early on I kept being surprised when characters mentioned having cell phones - there’s really no Internet to speak of, at least so far, although there is easy access to video cameras, and there are, at least in section 1, no references to contemporary music at all, which for teenage characters is something I can’t even fathom. It creates such a claustrophobic feeling not to have those references, like the town exists in some kind of pocket universe. Which I guess is intentional given the premise that these characters have been shut off from the outside world by this police barricade - but very interesting to read through.
When I read a character mention “Those Russian soldiers who were trapped in the submarine” I recoiled because it brought me back so fully to hearing vaguely about that on the news as a child. I had to look it up to confirm - that was August 2000. Which I guess explains why 9/11 isn’t being referenced either - it hadn’t happened yet? Although I would guess that upon finishing this book a reader would have a lot to say about whether and how the book is actually addressing 9/11 from a sort of metaphorical sideways perspective.
Anyway, an interesting one! I am DNFing because this type of near-historical general fiction isn’t my kind of thing and it’s due back to the library in a day or two, but would be interested to hear what other people, who have read the whole thing, think of it.
February 19, 2016
Actual Rating: 2.5/5
Cover Rating: Kind of confusing but I like the color scheme
Overall Story: slightly boring
Relief Map follows a teenage girl, Livy, who lives in a small town. One day, the whole town gets shut down due to information that a runaway is hiding there. Electricity is shut off and roads are blocked off, leaving the citizens trapped in their houses in the boiling heat of the summer. Livy already couldn't wait to get out of her town so being stuck there made everything even worse. As she discovers more, Livy learns that everyone is hiding a secret, even her own parents.
This novels seems like it would be anything but boring. A runway hidden in a small town is such an interesting concept, but the actual story fell flat for me. Livy was an okay character, but she made too many stupid mistakes for me to be able to relate or understand her. I couldn't connect with her thoughts or actions.
I received a copy on a read-to-review basis from NetGalley.
Cover Rating: Kind of confusing but I like the color scheme
Overall Story: slightly boring
Relief Map follows a teenage girl, Livy, who lives in a small town. One day, the whole town gets shut down due to information that a runaway is hiding there. Electricity is shut off and roads are blocked off, leaving the citizens trapped in their houses in the boiling heat of the summer. Livy already couldn't wait to get out of her town so being stuck there made everything even worse. As she discovers more, Livy learns that everyone is hiding a secret, even her own parents.
This novels seems like it would be anything but boring. A runway hidden in a small town is such an interesting concept, but the actual story fell flat for me. Livy was an okay character, but she made too many stupid mistakes for me to be able to relate or understand her. I couldn't connect with her thoughts or actions.
I received a copy on a read-to-review basis from NetGalley.
March 28, 2016
Reading this, I remembered, sharply, how to cross a moving stream barefoot with absolute confidence. I fell into this book and enjoyed every word.
June 12, 2020
This book reminded me a bit of A Simple Plan by Scott Smith - if it could go wrong, it did.
A very small rural Pennsylvania town is surrounded by police and FBI because they suspect an illegal immigrant, supposedly a terrorist, is in the area. Not only is no one allowed in or out, the electricity and utilities are shut off.
Livy is only 15, but the center of this engrossing story (don't look at how long it took me to read it - life got in the way). I thoroughly enjoyed every stolen moment I was able to spend with her and her friends and townspeople.
I had a good belly laugh when Livy came across her parents' bonfire.
A very small rural Pennsylvania town is surrounded by police and FBI because they suspect an illegal immigrant, supposedly a terrorist, is in the area. Not only is no one allowed in or out, the electricity and utilities are shut off.
Livy is only 15, but the center of this engrossing story (don't look at how long it took me to read it - life got in the way). I thoroughly enjoyed every stolen moment I was able to spend with her and her friends and townspeople.
I had a good belly laugh when Livy came across her parents' bonfire.
April 5, 2022
Love this author
May 17, 2017
I think I can see what this novel was trying to be: a suspenseful coming-of-age story about small-town secrets; an understated novel that challenges the reader to contemplate complex moral gray areas.
Unfortunately, it just didn't work. The story is shallow and amateur—the kind of writing that tells with barely an ounce of showing. There are a couple of major events that happen, but there's such a lack of depth and insight into any of it. Rather than coming across as powerful and tense, these events are completely unbelievable and even borderline ridiculous. I didn't buy anything I was reading.
It's a debut novel, so part of me feels bad being so harsh. There's the semblance of a good story here...somewhere...maybe? Fortunately it was a quick read.
Unfortunately, it just didn't work. The story is shallow and amateur—the kind of writing that tells with barely an ounce of showing. There are a couple of major events that happen, but there's such a lack of depth and insight into any of it. Rather than coming across as powerful and tense, these events are completely unbelievable and even borderline ridiculous. I didn't buy anything I was reading.
It's a debut novel, so part of me feels bad being so harsh. There's the semblance of a good story here...somewhere...maybe? Fortunately it was a quick read.
August 2, 2023
Very good! The author is good at creating suspense!
September 17, 2017
So for the May meeting in my second book group, there were two picks. I did not manage to read this one in time for the discussion-- but, fortunately(?)-- we didn't actually spend much time talking about this one. I have mixed feelings... the main characters were well-drawn and interesting and the story intrigued me, but at the same time, I found myself having a difficult time suspending my disbelief because I just couldn't imagine the happenings as a realistic scenario. I really couldn't tell at times if it was supposed to be a novel grounded in reality or if it was a sort of dystopian fiction. That really marred my enjoyment.
February 8, 2016
'These emphatic gestures looked strange on her; she was normally so quiet, so slump-shouldered, a thin woman hunched in on herself.' The sentences are gorgeous. There are many characters in this town and it can throw readers off, lose some in the story-line. Morals, secrets- this town is complicated! It's easy to imagine such a scenario in any town, how different people would be affected and react. Livy learns that growing up is 'having a past' and what a past. Sometimes we get tangled in messes not necessarily of our own making. Who is the criminal really? Is it the fugitive?
This is one strange coming of age (Sort of?) novel. Livy and her friends are so believable and genuine, not like so many teenagers in other stories that are more what adults think teenagers are like. This played out like a movie in my mind.
It's funny how people react when their lives are disrupted. Reminds me of typhoons and hurricanes I've been through and the restlessness- it could be snow, it could be floods, whatever. Not knowing inspires chaos, brings out the worst in us. With a fugitive on the lose and the locals feeling restrained and in the dark, how can anyone expect things not to get messy? The kids just step in it, a lot! The ending wraps at nicely but it's strange. I'm still sorting out my thoughts, and it's hard to review without revealing things. A solid novel. Read away!
This is one strange coming of age (Sort of?) novel. Livy and her friends are so believable and genuine, not like so many teenagers in other stories that are more what adults think teenagers are like. This played out like a movie in my mind.
It's funny how people react when their lives are disrupted. Reminds me of typhoons and hurricanes I've been through and the restlessness- it could be snow, it could be floods, whatever. Not knowing inspires chaos, brings out the worst in us. With a fugitive on the lose and the locals feeling restrained and in the dark, how can anyone expect things not to get messy? The kids just step in it, a lot! The ending wraps at nicely but it's strange. I'm still sorting out my thoughts, and it's hard to review without revealing things. A solid novel. Read away!
June 27, 2016
When a supposedly dangerous Georgian refugee is rumored to be hiding in the small Pennsylvania town of Lomath, government agencies and the state police shut down all access points and forbid residents to cross in or out. Sixteen-year-old Livy is unsettled by these drastic actions, but what's more alarming is her parents' anger and skittishness. Livy takes refuge on the roof of her house and in the home of her best friend, Nelson, but she can't escape the drama completely. One choice leads to another, and soon Livy finds herself entwined in the drama more intricately than she ever could have imagined.
Knecht excels in creating a vivid world in this haunting story, one where a bathrobe is perfectly acceptable attire for the local convenience store and no one is too surprised when the town crank initiates a door-to-door search for the fugitive. A child protagonist risks bringing preciousness to a story, but Livy's teenage perspective is crucial here. What she learns the summer of the fugitive is that no one is free of secrets--not even the people she trusts most deeply.
**Review originally written for the San Francisco Book Review. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**
Knecht excels in creating a vivid world in this haunting story, one where a bathrobe is perfectly acceptable attire for the local convenience store and no one is too surprised when the town crank initiates a door-to-door search for the fugitive. A child protagonist risks bringing preciousness to a story, but Livy's teenage perspective is crucial here. What she learns the summer of the fugitive is that no one is free of secrets--not even the people she trusts most deeply.
**Review originally written for the San Francisco Book Review. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**
July 16, 2017
I really wanted to love this book. it seemed like it had a lot of promise. to me, it was very slow starting. so many back stories on people that were mentioned only once or twice and had to real connection to the story. The plot had so many holes and I found myself getting bored easily.
I feel the book could have been so much better had it been longer and stayed on track. towards the end, Livy and Nelson are obviously starting to have feelings for one another, but that's all we get. just the start of it. I want to know what happens next while they're on house arrest. how does this change their lives? do they find a way to be together even though Nelson's mother forbids they even speak? what happens after they get off and turn eighteen and can be free? so many unanswered questions.
I feel the book could have been so much better had it been longer and stayed on track. towards the end, Livy and Nelson are obviously starting to have feelings for one another, but that's all we get. just the start of it. I want to know what happens next while they're on house arrest. how does this change their lives? do they find a way to be together even though Nelson's mother forbids they even speak? what happens after they get off and turn eighteen and can be free? so many unanswered questions.
July 3, 2016
The perfect blend of excellent prose and intriguing plot. While the story winds in directions that seem absurd from a distance, Knecht lays the seeds for all of the events that unfold in the characters that populate Lomath. On top of that, unlike in so many books where unlikely events unfold, the characters react to situations in ways that are neither too large nor too small.
October 19, 2016
Re-read this engaging and beautifully written debut for a book club discussion. It turns out to be a great book club book. Very glad I had a chance to read and consider it more deeply than the first time through.
July 26, 2018
In the heat of a stifling summer in the rust-belt town of Lomath,
Pennsylvania, sixteen-year-old Livy Markos babysits, hangs out with
her best friend, Nelson, and waits for a bigger life to begin. Her
lazy summer is quickly disrupted when the electricity is cut off, and
bridges are closed by the police and FBI agents. A fugitive from the
Republic of Georgia, on the run from an extradition order, has taken
refuge in nearby hills, and no one is able to leave or enter Lomath
until he is found.
As the police fail to find the wanted man, and hours stretch into
days, the citizens of Lomath begin to buckle under the strain. Like
Russian dolls, each hostage seems to be harboring a captive of his or
her own. Even Livy's parents may have something to conceal, and Livy
must learn that the source of danger is not always what It appears to be.
(Rosalie Knecht is a social worker and translator in New York City.
She was born and raised in Pennsylvania. Relief Map is her first novel.)
(Edited description taken from the publisher description of the
paperback edition, as is the edited author biography.)
At the end of the text the publisher poses several “Book Club
Questions.” Some of the more interesting ones, in my own words, follow.
Whom do you think of as the antagonist in this novel? The fugitive?
The townspeople? Law enforcement? Or someone/thing else entirely? (I
don't think the fugitive is the antagonist. I think he's caught up in
the events. If anything, he's the innocent victim. I do think the
townspeople and law enforcement share equal responsibility for the
events that unfold. I also think that the licentiousness of small town
life is a factor, as well.)
What sort of ending do you imagine for the fugitive? I think he's
going to make it. (He's hard working and industrious and with a sort
of Greta Garbo wish to life.)
What were you expecting from Livy and Nelson's relationship? How do
you think Knecht balances the intense friendship and the budding
romance? (I think one of the great things about this novel is the way
the author handles this. Two long-time, close friends develop feelings
that they hadn't expected and the uncertainties seem to weigh on both
of them. Rosalie Knecht, judging from the profile portrait of her on
the paperback cover, doesn't seem that far removed from the age of
Livy and Nelson, which probably makes that relationship seem so real.)
Which story of a citizen of Lomath would you like to know more about?
Why? (I'd like to know more about Livy's parents, because they seem
like flower children from the sixties; however, her parents probably
are in their thirties or forties, but if they were flower children
they probably would be in their sixties or seventies. I'd also like
know more about Nelson's mother, because she seems so weird. Most of
all, though, I'd like to more about Livy, because she seems such a
neat person. For that reason, I think women, particularly would like
this book.)
I decided to read Relief Map after seeing a review of her second book,
Who is Vera Kelly?, which came out in June 2018. After reading Relief
Map, I definitely plan to read this second book.
Pennsylvania, sixteen-year-old Livy Markos babysits, hangs out with
her best friend, Nelson, and waits for a bigger life to begin. Her
lazy summer is quickly disrupted when the electricity is cut off, and
bridges are closed by the police and FBI agents. A fugitive from the
Republic of Georgia, on the run from an extradition order, has taken
refuge in nearby hills, and no one is able to leave or enter Lomath
until he is found.
As the police fail to find the wanted man, and hours stretch into
days, the citizens of Lomath begin to buckle under the strain. Like
Russian dolls, each hostage seems to be harboring a captive of his or
her own. Even Livy's parents may have something to conceal, and Livy
must learn that the source of danger is not always what It appears to be.
(Rosalie Knecht is a social worker and translator in New York City.
She was born and raised in Pennsylvania. Relief Map is her first novel.)
(Edited description taken from the publisher description of the
paperback edition, as is the edited author biography.)
At the end of the text the publisher poses several “Book Club
Questions.” Some of the more interesting ones, in my own words, follow.
Whom do you think of as the antagonist in this novel? The fugitive?
The townspeople? Law enforcement? Or someone/thing else entirely? (I
don't think the fugitive is the antagonist. I think he's caught up in
the events. If anything, he's the innocent victim. I do think the
townspeople and law enforcement share equal responsibility for the
events that unfold. I also think that the licentiousness of small town
life is a factor, as well.)
What sort of ending do you imagine for the fugitive? I think he's
going to make it. (He's hard working and industrious and with a sort
of Greta Garbo wish to life.)
What were you expecting from Livy and Nelson's relationship? How do
you think Knecht balances the intense friendship and the budding
romance? (I think one of the great things about this novel is the way
the author handles this. Two long-time, close friends develop feelings
that they hadn't expected and the uncertainties seem to weigh on both
of them. Rosalie Knecht, judging from the profile portrait of her on
the paperback cover, doesn't seem that far removed from the age of
Livy and Nelson, which probably makes that relationship seem so real.)
Which story of a citizen of Lomath would you like to know more about?
Why? (I'd like to know more about Livy's parents, because they seem
like flower children from the sixties; however, her parents probably
are in their thirties or forties, but if they were flower children
they probably would be in their sixties or seventies. I'd also like
know more about Nelson's mother, because she seems so weird. Most of
all, though, I'd like to more about Livy, because she seems such a
neat person. For that reason, I think women, particularly would like
this book.)
I decided to read Relief Map after seeing a review of her second book,
Who is Vera Kelly?, which came out in June 2018. After reading Relief
Map, I definitely plan to read this second book.
August 28, 2018
A small backwater community is thrown into turmoil when police and the FBI set up roadblocks and cut power in efforts to capture a purported terrorist. Complicating this tense situation is 17 year old Livy, her friend Nelson, and a couple of bad boys who decide that rules don't necessarily apply to them. Apprehension mounts as these restless teens sneak into a neighboring town and set off a series of events that have dire consequences.
With a cast of colorful neighbors who add interest even though glimpsed in fleeting scenes, I found myself fearing worst case scenarios a number of times, yet the author knew that restraint can ultimately make the biggest impact. The conclusion, both surprising and shocking, is also thoroughly satisfying. In the end, the author's powerful themes of friendship and familial bonds along with the ability to follow our instincts in the face of group pressure leave an indelible impression.
With a cast of colorful neighbors who add interest even though glimpsed in fleeting scenes, I found myself fearing worst case scenarios a number of times, yet the author knew that restraint can ultimately make the biggest impact. The conclusion, both surprising and shocking, is also thoroughly satisfying. In the end, the author's powerful themes of friendship and familial bonds along with the ability to follow our instincts in the face of group pressure leave an indelible impression.
August 4, 2019
Livy Marko thought the summer would be spent in her small Pennsylvania town as the days often are: babysitting or hanging out with her best friend, Nelson. When the power goes out one morning, leaving the town cut off from the world because of a law enforcement search for a fugitive, how will Livy, her friends, and her community deal with the days trapped in a powder keg?
Having won a copy of Relief Map through a Goodreads Giveaway, I really wanted to like this novel. As a YA coming of age story, it was just average. The premise was not all that believable and the characters fell flat. With questionable intel about the fugitive and his possible seclusion in the town, there is no way that those in authority would have been able to pull the town effectively off the map by any legal avenue. There was just too much going on in this novel, yet nothing was really fully explored or explained. For these reasons, I would be hesitant to recommend Relief Map to other readers.
Having won a copy of Relief Map through a Goodreads Giveaway, I really wanted to like this novel. As a YA coming of age story, it was just average. The premise was not all that believable and the characters fell flat. With questionable intel about the fugitive and his possible seclusion in the town, there is no way that those in authority would have been able to pull the town effectively off the map by any legal avenue. There was just too much going on in this novel, yet nothing was really fully explored or explained. For these reasons, I would be hesitant to recommend Relief Map to other readers.
June 17, 2021
This book is like 98% atmosphere, 1% thriller, 1% coming of age story and I loved it. The weird claustrophobia of a hot, still summer day, the long emptiness of summer as a teenager, compounded by the isolation and desperation that the not-even-really-a-town of Lomath feels when they're cut off by police barricades and a power outage - it just oozes off of every page. I picked this up expecting to read just a few chapters to get a sense of it and I ended up finishing the whole thing because I was sucked in. There's a plot, and it's even kind of gripping, but I came for the atmosphere and the portrait of a complex teenage girl on the cusp of adulthood but not quite and adult and I stayed for those things too.
December 26, 2022
Surprisingly sad and atmospheric for a thriller, feels almost like a coming-of-age awakening built into an action story. Having read this after the Vera Kelly mysteries, it's interesting to note the parallels, in both cases an isolated protagonist working on her own against oppressive systems, where a "stolen" car features. (Did Knecht do that as a teen??) Still, this book definitely stands on its own as an impressive thriller, and I was especially caught by Livy's growing insight into her parents' behavior, and the claustrophia of life trapped without phones. The ending is satisfying, justified, and as hopeful as it could ever be, given the horrors. Livy's relationship with Nelson is powerful and insightful re race & gender too. Highly recommended.
September 18, 2024
A suspenseful, well crafted, and ultimately melancholy story about the arbitrary nature of crime and punishment. Livy is a bored 16-year-old who goes stir-crazy when her town goes on lockdown to search for a mysterious international criminal. Revaz is that "criminal," a man on the run for perhaps being a little naive or lazy, but hardly an international terrorist. When Livy gets herself into trouble for equally dumb reasons, we see how those sent to impose law and order often cause more trouble. The police and FBI in the novel aren't exactly corrupt; like Livy and Revaz, they're prone to human errors and poor split-second decisions. The outcomes for each are very different. Knecht writes beautifully (see her Vera Kelly series), with subtle, deep character development and vivid sentences.
August 15, 2018
3.6***
Teenagers Livy and her friend Nelson are troubled with only the typical angst for their age in smalltown Lowmath, PA during the summer break when news of a wanted Balkan man hiding somewhere in their town relegates them to a prisoner-like situation. I felt like Ms. Knecht was referencing Boston when the marathon bombers were being tracked in Watertown and the anxious feeling of suspense + strange behavior amongst typically trustworthy town members intensified due to a cloud of mistrust. Livy finds herself in situations requiring some difficult adult decisions and the reader realizes she is better suited to this task than many of her “adult” neighbors.
Teenagers Livy and her friend Nelson are troubled with only the typical angst for their age in smalltown Lowmath, PA during the summer break when news of a wanted Balkan man hiding somewhere in their town relegates them to a prisoner-like situation. I felt like Ms. Knecht was referencing Boston when the marathon bombers were being tracked in Watertown and the anxious feeling of suspense + strange behavior amongst typically trustworthy town members intensified due to a cloud of mistrust. Livy finds herself in situations requiring some difficult adult decisions and the reader realizes she is better suited to this task than many of her “adult” neighbors.
October 24, 2018
I liked this story but I never forgot that I was reading. There was no moment where I pulled my head up and realized that I’d been reading for hours on end, it just didn’t draw me in. The story was interesting and the characters were good, but the random potential-East-European-terrorist plot felt really weird to me. Maybe that was the point, and I appreciate that it created this feeling of disjointedness that I’m sure would accompany something like this happening but it had the effect of distancing me from the book so 🤷🏻♀️. I wouldn’t really recommend it but I guess if you’re in the mood of a short, somewhat interesting, coming-of-age story then go for it?
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