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Road Out of Winter
In an endless winter, she carries seeds of hope
Wylodine comes from a world of paranoia and poverty—her family grows marijuana illegally, and life has always been a battle. Now she’s been left behind to tend the crop alone. Then spring doesn’t return for the second year in a row, bringing unprecedented extreme winter.
With grow lights stashed in her truck and a pouch of precious seeds, she begins a journey, determined to start over away from Appalachian Ohio. But the icy roads and strangers hidden in the hills are treacherous. After a harrowing encounter with a violent cult, Wylodine and her small group of exiles become a target for its volatile leader. Because she has the most valuable skill in the climate chaos: she can make things grow.
Urgent and poignant, Road Out of Winter is a glimpse of an all-too-possible near future, with a chosen family forged in the face of dystopian collapse. With the gripping suspense of The Road and the lyricism of Station Eleven, Stine’s vision is of a changing world where an unexpected hero searches for a place hope might take root.
Wylodine comes from a world of paranoia and poverty—her family grows marijuana illegally, and life has always been a battle. Now she’s been left behind to tend the crop alone. Then spring doesn’t return for the second year in a row, bringing unprecedented extreme winter.
With grow lights stashed in her truck and a pouch of precious seeds, she begins a journey, determined to start over away from Appalachian Ohio. But the icy roads and strangers hidden in the hills are treacherous. After a harrowing encounter with a violent cult, Wylodine and her small group of exiles become a target for its volatile leader. Because she has the most valuable skill in the climate chaos: she can make things grow.
Urgent and poignant, Road Out of Winter is a glimpse of an all-too-possible near future, with a chosen family forged in the face of dystopian collapse. With the gripping suspense of The Road and the lyricism of Station Eleven, Stine’s vision is of a changing world where an unexpected hero searches for a place hope might take root.
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First published September 1, 2020
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About the author
Alison Stine
10 books270 followersAlison Stine grew up in rural Ohio and now lives in Colorado. Her first novel Road Out of Winter won the 2021 Philip K. Dick Award. Recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and National Geographic, she has published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and elsewhere.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 267 reviews
February 6, 2023
*2021 Philip K. Dick award winner*
I've read lots of survival on the road books, and still I really enjoyed this one. The story is expectedly tense but the danger encountered doesn't quite descend into outright horror like it does in some books of this subgenre. It's more about the narrator, Wil, discovering herself and understanding that she has the strength to make her own choices and to carry them through.
Most climate change collapse stories are set in deserts, but this is set in an area beset by an apparently unending winter season. Neither sounds good, but the essential message in both is the same, that the things we have come to take for granted to provide the means of survival have radically changed. The question is always whether we can adapt quickly enough and still maintain who we are inside.
Wil has a talent that will serve her well any place she chooses to go: she's a talented gardener who know how to make plants grow. She's strong and competent, but lacks both confidence in herself and any real idea of what she wants from her own life. Although she starts her journey from a place where she's leaving what she doesn't want and simply chasing someone else, throughout the story Wil's experiences cause her to look closely at herself and to understand what she is really looking for.
I've read lots of survival on the road books, and still I really enjoyed this one. The story is expectedly tense but the danger encountered doesn't quite descend into outright horror like it does in some books of this subgenre. It's more about the narrator, Wil, discovering herself and understanding that she has the strength to make her own choices and to carry them through.
Most climate change collapse stories are set in deserts, but this is set in an area beset by an apparently unending winter season. Neither sounds good, but the essential message in both is the same, that the things we have come to take for granted to provide the means of survival have radically changed. The question is always whether we can adapt quickly enough and still maintain who we are inside.
Wil has a talent that will serve her well any place she chooses to go: she's a talented gardener who know how to make plants grow. She's strong and competent, but lacks both confidence in herself and any real idea of what she wants from her own life. Although she starts her journey from a place where she's leaving what she doesn't want and simply chasing someone else, throughout the story Wil's experiences cause her to look closely at herself and to understand what she is really looking for.
September 10, 2020
2.5 stars
Wylodine has been left behind on her own to grow the family marijuana crop on the Appalachian Ohio farm. Two years previously her mother left for California with her boyfriend Lobo who owns the farm and the illegal business.
Wil's life has been one of poverty, struggling, and paranoia. Her determination to keep going in very harsh conditions was a great start to this story.
After the 2nd year with no summer Wil decides to leave the area, with a rag tag team of others that needed help. This road trip was filled with cult after cult within the short time they were still in the Appalachian region. From the Church group, Skate State, the tree-hugging hippies to the group all dressed in white burning all their possessions.
Where were the normal people? The ones that also just want to survive the endless winter?
I think the comparison between The Road and Station Eleven creates certain expectations even before you start, and I think that does not allow the reader a chance to get to know the story on its own terms.
This is not a bad book but after finishing I still feel very ambivalent about it. I didn’t dislike it but I also was not as swept up in the story as I expected.
The ending fizzled out a bit for me, but I am rounding this up to 3 stars because of the strong beginning and the overall atmosphere created.
Wylodine has been left behind on her own to grow the family marijuana crop on the Appalachian Ohio farm. Two years previously her mother left for California with her boyfriend Lobo who owns the farm and the illegal business.
Wil's life has been one of poverty, struggling, and paranoia. Her determination to keep going in very harsh conditions was a great start to this story.
After the 2nd year with no summer Wil decides to leave the area, with a rag tag team of others that needed help. This road trip was filled with cult after cult within the short time they were still in the Appalachian region. From the Church group, Skate State, the tree-hugging hippies to the group all dressed in white burning all their possessions.
Where were the normal people? The ones that also just want to survive the endless winter?
I think the comparison between The Road and Station Eleven creates certain expectations even before you start, and I think that does not allow the reader a chance to get to know the story on its own terms.
This is not a bad book but after finishing I still feel very ambivalent about it. I didn’t dislike it but I also was not as swept up in the story as I expected.
The ending fizzled out a bit for me, but I am rounding this up to 3 stars because of the strong beginning and the overall atmosphere created.
August 9, 2020
In Appalachian Ohio, Wylodine (Wil) keeps to herself, tending a crop of marijuana on the farm after her mom leaves with her boyfriend for California.
For two years now, there has been only snow. Spring has forgotten to return.
When Wil heads to town, she finds a scene that looks like the end of the world. People are lining up a day in advance for bottled water (all the pipes have frozen), schools have closed because it costs too much to heat the buildings, basics like canned food can no longer be found in the stores that remain open. It seems that everyone is packing up to leave and find warmer weather.
Wil packs up the few grow lights and supplies she has, hangs a pouch of pumpkin seeds from her neck, hooks her tiny house to the back of her truck and heads in the direction of California. The journey is slow and she picks up a small group of misfits along the way. They come in to contact with small communities, each more violent and desperate than the last, as Wil fights to keep them together and on the road in search of a fighting chance.
Road Out of Winter is a fantastic dystopian novel. I loved how Stine created this gritty atmosphere of a world on the brink of collapse where readers are aware of the gradual changes but then witness the sudden switch to survival mode. Wil is an authentic character: she remains focused on survival and is increasingly wary of people but is loyal to those in her group. The life she’s led gives her an edge as she knows how to take care of herself and most importantly: she can make things grow.
Thanks to the author and MIRA for sending me an ARC to review. Road Out of Winter is scheduled for release on September 1, 2020.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
For two years now, there has been only snow. Spring has forgotten to return.
When Wil heads to town, she finds a scene that looks like the end of the world. People are lining up a day in advance for bottled water (all the pipes have frozen), schools have closed because it costs too much to heat the buildings, basics like canned food can no longer be found in the stores that remain open. It seems that everyone is packing up to leave and find warmer weather.
Wil packs up the few grow lights and supplies she has, hangs a pouch of pumpkin seeds from her neck, hooks her tiny house to the back of her truck and heads in the direction of California. The journey is slow and she picks up a small group of misfits along the way. They come in to contact with small communities, each more violent and desperate than the last, as Wil fights to keep them together and on the road in search of a fighting chance.
Road Out of Winter is a fantastic dystopian novel. I loved how Stine created this gritty atmosphere of a world on the brink of collapse where readers are aware of the gradual changes but then witness the sudden switch to survival mode. Wil is an authentic character: she remains focused on survival and is increasingly wary of people but is loyal to those in her group. The life she’s led gives her an edge as she knows how to take care of herself and most importantly: she can make things grow.
Thanks to the author and MIRA for sending me an ARC to review. Road Out of Winter is scheduled for release on September 1, 2020.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
March 19, 2025
This is a beautifully written climate-apocalypse road novel, a quick and absorbing—if predictably grim—read. I would certainly recommend it to fans of the genre, and anyone else intrigued.
Worldbuilding is both the novel’s great strength and great weakness. On the one hand, the texture, the warp and weft of this world, is vivid and rich. And the inner lives of its characters—their hopes and fears within the context of a chilling reality—are equally well drawn. On the other hand, there is something fundamentally—not boring, certainly, but plain, perhaps, about the novel. Like much scifi by authors from more literary or journalistic backgrounds, there is a failure, here, to grasp that the bizarre, the impossible, the profoundly strange—even the flight of fancy—are essential elements to effective future history. Because human history is indelibly strange, without an element of the absurd, no future is plausible.
Along the same lines, Stine has an information problem. Her characters don’t really have any—no internet, no radio, no telephone. This allows Stine to dodge the big picture of her imagined future. That in itself is not a problem; in fact, lack of knowledge is central to the novel’s construction, style, and themes. What is a problem is that, given our protagonists’ goals and challenges, they desperately need information. The fact that everyone in the novel isn’t constantly trying to figure out what the hell is going on—their near indifference to the bigger picture engulfing them—felt, to me, like a failure of imagination, and an utterly implausible failure of imagination at that. These are people desperate to survive. They need to know things. Information, even rumor, should be almost as valuable as food in this world.
Nonetheless, this is a compelling, thought-provoking story; one that felt entirely fitting in the midst of a soggy, muddy, rather gray New England March (though a February blizzard might have been even more appropriate!)
Worldbuilding is both the novel’s great strength and great weakness. On the one hand, the texture, the warp and weft of this world, is vivid and rich. And the inner lives of its characters—their hopes and fears within the context of a chilling reality—are equally well drawn. On the other hand, there is something fundamentally—not boring, certainly, but plain, perhaps, about the novel. Like much scifi by authors from more literary or journalistic backgrounds, there is a failure, here, to grasp that the bizarre, the impossible, the profoundly strange—even the flight of fancy—are essential elements to effective future history. Because human history is indelibly strange, without an element of the absurd, no future is plausible.
Along the same lines, Stine has an information problem. Her characters don’t really have any—no internet, no radio, no telephone. This allows Stine to dodge the big picture of her imagined future. That in itself is not a problem; in fact, lack of knowledge is central to the novel’s construction, style, and themes. What is a problem is that, given our protagonists’ goals and challenges, they desperately need information. The fact that everyone in the novel isn’t constantly trying to figure out what the hell is going on—their near indifference to the bigger picture engulfing them—felt, to me, like a failure of imagination, and an utterly implausible failure of imagination at that. These are people desperate to survive. They need to know things. Information, even rumor, should be almost as valuable as food in this world.
Nonetheless, this is a compelling, thought-provoking story; one that felt entirely fitting in the midst of a soggy, muddy, rather gray New England March (though a February blizzard might have been even more appropriate!)
September 2, 2020
This could have been a rather conventional 'feedstock supplies are breaking down / humans convert to more primitive social ways' dystopian novel, yet the author managed to counterbalance the more or less known scenario with good character depth of the little group of survivors as well as a determined main character without converting her into some fighting endtime hero type.
The interactions and motivations of the characters proved to be convincingly done and carry the story more than the plot.
For me a story like this stands and falls with the ending and here it was quite satisfying. Readers who need a neat roundup perhaps won't like it, but the open end was perfect for this kind of narration, and in my eyes the only one possible.
Worth an extra mention is the focus on the interaction of two female characters who a) don't bitch and b) don't get romantically involved, which is so rare in my reading experiences that my inner self was cheering.
All in all an easy, fast read following the current trend of climate change dystopian novels with a successful take on characters. I enjoyed reading it.
The interactions and motivations of the characters proved to be convincingly done and carry the story more than the plot.
For me a story like this stands and falls with the ending and here it was quite satisfying. Readers who need a neat roundup perhaps won't like it, but the open end was perfect for this kind of narration, and in my eyes the only one possible.
Worth an extra mention is the focus on the interaction of two female characters who a) don't bitch and b) don't get romantically involved, which is so rare in my reading experiences that my inner self was cheering.
All in all an easy, fast read following the current trend of climate change dystopian novels with a successful take on characters. I enjoyed reading it.
December 19, 2020
I found this book to be unputdownable. It’s very dark, gritty, and sad—perhaps even a little too realistic, which makes it even scarier. People have been adapting to the obviously accelerating climate changes around them, but as it becomes evident that spring isn’t going to come, panic sets in and the whole fabric of society begins to crumble as supply chains fail.
Alison Stine’s writing is excellent. She manages to give the reader a very real sense of dread from the beginning of the story, and the tone of the book is relentlessly matter-of-fact. The book is well-paced and wonderfully descriptive, even in its cold starkness and foreshadowing:
“I didn’t know the song they performed at what would be the last graduation ceremony, the final graduating class; the last time the platform groaned under the risers; the last time the wind tried but could not unsettle the principal’s hair, buzzed short on his flat head.”
Wil is a fantastic character: always a loner, with a sad personal history and not much joy in her life, she’s got a lovely heart and cares for her best friend, her mom, and then literal strangers she meets as the chaos sets in. She’s able to create her own family, and that part of the story is heartbreaking and beautiful.
I highly recommend this page-turner dystopian to any fan of the genre. It’s brutal and intense, but it has moments of hope and joy. A truly good read.
Alison Stine’s writing is excellent. She manages to give the reader a very real sense of dread from the beginning of the story, and the tone of the book is relentlessly matter-of-fact. The book is well-paced and wonderfully descriptive, even in its cold starkness and foreshadowing:
“I didn’t know the song they performed at what would be the last graduation ceremony, the final graduating class; the last time the platform groaned under the risers; the last time the wind tried but could not unsettle the principal’s hair, buzzed short on his flat head.”
Wil is a fantastic character: always a loner, with a sad personal history and not much joy in her life, she’s got a lovely heart and cares for her best friend, her mom, and then literal strangers she meets as the chaos sets in. She’s able to create her own family, and that part of the story is heartbreaking and beautiful.
I highly recommend this page-turner dystopian to any fan of the genre. It’s brutal and intense, but it has moments of hope and joy. A truly good read.
April 28, 2021
Maybe 4.5? This is really well-written. The prose is beautiful and the intimacy with which we get to know the main character and her world is exceptional. This story is very character driven. There isn't much plot. When I was thinking about how to review this I was thinking how this feels like it might be on a literature syllabus some day. It feels really literary. So I started to consider it from that angle and think about what sorts of things a literature prof might point out about it. And I was really just having a joke with myself really...I was like, "What does it symbolize when Jamie finds the bag of confectioners sugar?" But then I discovered I had a believable answer, haha! So yeah, I'd say this is high quality writing/art.
It is rather grim and depressing, first in its ruthless portrayal of rural USA, and then its portrayal of a climate change apocalypse. Having grown up in rural USA myself I found the depiction believable and recognizable. This book is very enjoyable to read in the sense that it is riveting and immersive and well-written, but is pretty unenjoyable in that it is so grim. I listened to several hours of it all at once on a trip this weekend and found I needed a break after a while.
Sexual violence? Yes. Other content warnings? Death, religion, cult, drug use, violence.
You can watch my booktube review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t50E_...
It is rather grim and depressing, first in its ruthless portrayal of rural USA, and then its portrayal of a climate change apocalypse. Having grown up in rural USA myself I found the depiction believable and recognizable. This book is very enjoyable to read in the sense that it is riveting and immersive and well-written, but is pretty unenjoyable in that it is so grim. I listened to several hours of it all at once on a trip this weekend and found I needed a break after a while.
Sexual violence? Yes. Other content warnings? Death, religion, cult, drug use, violence.
You can watch my booktube review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t50E_...
September 8, 2020
This has become an unexpected favourite of mine for the year.
Road Out of Winter is a novel about the slow encroachment of winter, the result of global warming and the general screwing-up of humans. It began last year with a late spring, but now spring has simply not arrived. As resources dwindle, people become more desperate.
Wylodine, our narrator, has grown up in poverty, illegally growing weed to make ends meet. With the high-heat lights, the touch of winter hasn’t bothered her too much. But now left alone with the plants and a pouch of seeds, she begins on a journey—maybe to find her mom, maybe to escape the winter. But the icy roads and the strangers she meets along the way prove to be more treacherous than she thought…
This was just. SO GOOD. It’s strange and charming. It can feel slow at the beginning, like winter itself, but soon becomes urgent as Wil and her group fight for survival and escape. I fell in love with the writing and characters, Wil especially. She’s tenacious and determined and not afraid to fight for what she loves.
Highly, highly recommend.
An ARC was provided to me for free by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Road Out of Winter is a novel about the slow encroachment of winter, the result of global warming and the general screwing-up of humans. It began last year with a late spring, but now spring has simply not arrived. As resources dwindle, people become more desperate.
Wylodine, our narrator, has grown up in poverty, illegally growing weed to make ends meet. With the high-heat lights, the touch of winter hasn’t bothered her too much. But now left alone with the plants and a pouch of seeds, she begins on a journey—maybe to find her mom, maybe to escape the winter. But the icy roads and the strangers she meets along the way prove to be more treacherous than she thought…
This was just. SO GOOD. It’s strange and charming. It can feel slow at the beginning, like winter itself, but soon becomes urgent as Wil and her group fight for survival and escape. I fell in love with the writing and characters, Wil especially. She’s tenacious and determined and not afraid to fight for what she loves.
Highly, highly recommend.
An ARC was provided to me for free by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
April 29, 2021
This is a creeping apocalypse travel story. It won Philip K. Dick Award (2021) and I read is as a Buddy read in April 2021 at SFF Hot from Printers: New Releases group.
The story starts with an introduction of our protagonist, small by wiry Wylodine, or Wil for short. She is jus out of school and she was a recluse there: her step-father Lobo is an illegal weed grower and user since age of eleven. He loves her mother, a carefree woman, who also a drug user, and tolerates the step-daughter (but not making her life easy). Wil doesn’t smoke weed, so ‘good’ kids evaded her due to her family and she evaded ‘bad’ ones. This year she was left to tend their greenhouse in the basement, while her parents left for California, from these Ohio wastelands and depression.
The problem is that July the snow started and it become only colder as time went by. Wil kept to her farm, while other people left for warmer climates, but finally decided to leave to find her mother. The society slowly degrades around her, while she picks up ‘lame puppies’ – a guy, who broke an ankle while attempting to get some firewood in the forest and others.
As they drive on their house on wheels across the US, they witness people, who see the new lawlessness as free-for-all, as well as broken people without hope. It was noted that the book is similar to Parable of the Sower, chiefly in problems women face in a lawless society. It is dark and well-written, a worthy exemplar of the genre.
The story starts with an introduction of our protagonist, small by wiry Wylodine, or Wil for short. She is jus out of school and she was a recluse there: her step-father Lobo is an illegal weed grower and user since age of eleven. He loves her mother, a carefree woman, who also a drug user, and tolerates the step-daughter (but not making her life easy). Wil doesn’t smoke weed, so ‘good’ kids evaded her due to her family and she evaded ‘bad’ ones. This year she was left to tend their greenhouse in the basement, while her parents left for California, from these Ohio wastelands and depression.
The problem is that July the snow started and it become only colder as time went by. Wil kept to her farm, while other people left for warmer climates, but finally decided to leave to find her mother. The society slowly degrades around her, while she picks up ‘lame puppies’ – a guy, who broke an ankle while attempting to get some firewood in the forest and others.
As they drive on their house on wheels across the US, they witness people, who see the new lawlessness as free-for-all, as well as broken people without hope. It was noted that the book is similar to Parable of the Sower, chiefly in problems women face in a lawless society. It is dark and well-written, a worthy exemplar of the genre.
September 7, 2020
Finished reading: August 29th 2020
"I never realized, before last year, how dull winter was. How much the same of everything."
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and MIRA in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
August 4, 2020
Book: Road Out of Winter
Author: Alison Stine
Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars
I would like to thank the publisher, Mira Books, for sending me an ARC.
Wow! Why aren’t there more people talking about this book. I really enjoyed this and I couldn’t put it down. I love books like this. This is one of those books that very well could become true and you hope it doesn’t. This is a science fiction book that asks the question: what would happen if we were stuck in winter forever? When the weather breaks, we see a complete breakdown of life as we knew it.
Let’s go from there. So, in this book, the climate has gotten a lot colder. The first thing is that the springs are getting shorter and shorter while winter gets longer. Eventually, winter wins and the characters find themselves stuck in an enteral winter. Just stop and think about that. There weather is going to get warmer, only colder. Nothing can grow and the world is dark. There is nothing but snow and ice. Then, the technology goes. Now people are cut off completely and panicking. There are riots and people fleeing all over the place. Think: 2020 in the form of a book.
The way Alison presents all of this is just scary. Everything feels real and you find yourself thinking that this could happen and it very well could happen. It felt even more real for me because the characters are from my back door-literally. The terror of being cut off from the world and stuck on the backroads are real. The way the characters travel and the way Alison writes it made me feel like I was driving down my own road in the dead of winter. Of course, there’s no one chasing me, but still. The unknown and not knowing if you are going to make it to your destination is done so well.
Then, on top of that, Alison explores the breakdown of the supply chains, which again felt so real. it is 2020 and we are seeing shortages on certain items. So, seeing this breakdown and what could happen just made me stop and think. We see people rioting and dying. People are trying to be good, but just that panic alone and not knowing what is going to happen is enough to make anyone nervous. That, in general, is what this book does so well. The author really focuses in on that unknown and uses that as a driving force for the story. It’s done in a way that is just so good.
I also liked how she handled the characters. These characters are not developed much. There is so much about them that we just don’t know. Normally, this would bother me, but the way it is done here just works. We do slowly get to know them, but there is still so much about them that we just don’t know. I mean, these characters probably would not had worked together had it not been for what they were handed. These people are not close friends; they are people who met and are working together for the sake of staying alive. They didn’t know each other at all or all that well before the weather broke. Of course, they aren’t going to spill their life stories and be open-especially since most of them come from kind of shady backgrounds. This unknown, like with the plot, just adds to the story. It just works and makes sense to have the characters presented this way. Again, it is the unknown that really drives this book. It just works, guys, it just works.
Anyway, I had a great time reading this. This is an adult novel, even though some of the characters are on the younger side.
This book comes out on September 1, 2020.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/lHPz9Yt7xpA
Author: Alison Stine
Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars
I would like to thank the publisher, Mira Books, for sending me an ARC.
Wow! Why aren’t there more people talking about this book. I really enjoyed this and I couldn’t put it down. I love books like this. This is one of those books that very well could become true and you hope it doesn’t. This is a science fiction book that asks the question: what would happen if we were stuck in winter forever? When the weather breaks, we see a complete breakdown of life as we knew it.
Let’s go from there. So, in this book, the climate has gotten a lot colder. The first thing is that the springs are getting shorter and shorter while winter gets longer. Eventually, winter wins and the characters find themselves stuck in an enteral winter. Just stop and think about that. There weather is going to get warmer, only colder. Nothing can grow and the world is dark. There is nothing but snow and ice. Then, the technology goes. Now people are cut off completely and panicking. There are riots and people fleeing all over the place. Think: 2020 in the form of a book.
The way Alison presents all of this is just scary. Everything feels real and you find yourself thinking that this could happen and it very well could happen. It felt even more real for me because the characters are from my back door-literally. The terror of being cut off from the world and stuck on the backroads are real. The way the characters travel and the way Alison writes it made me feel like I was driving down my own road in the dead of winter. Of course, there’s no one chasing me, but still. The unknown and not knowing if you are going to make it to your destination is done so well.
Then, on top of that, Alison explores the breakdown of the supply chains, which again felt so real. it is 2020 and we are seeing shortages on certain items. So, seeing this breakdown and what could happen just made me stop and think. We see people rioting and dying. People are trying to be good, but just that panic alone and not knowing what is going to happen is enough to make anyone nervous. That, in general, is what this book does so well. The author really focuses in on that unknown and uses that as a driving force for the story. It’s done in a way that is just so good.
I also liked how she handled the characters. These characters are not developed much. There is so much about them that we just don’t know. Normally, this would bother me, but the way it is done here just works. We do slowly get to know them, but there is still so much about them that we just don’t know. I mean, these characters probably would not had worked together had it not been for what they were handed. These people are not close friends; they are people who met and are working together for the sake of staying alive. They didn’t know each other at all or all that well before the weather broke. Of course, they aren’t going to spill their life stories and be open-especially since most of them come from kind of shady backgrounds. This unknown, like with the plot, just adds to the story. It just works and makes sense to have the characters presented this way. Again, it is the unknown that really drives this book. It just works, guys, it just works.
Anyway, I had a great time reading this. This is an adult novel, even though some of the characters are on the younger side.
This book comes out on September 1, 2020.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/lHPz9Yt7xpA
August 25, 2020
Thank you to the publisher, MIRA, for providing me with an ARC of Road Out of Winter in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Gist
Truth be told, I’m struggling to write this review, and not only because since the weekend, I have found myself dealing with writer’s block. But also, because I want to give this book the review it deserves.
I’m afraid anything I’ll mention here would give away some detail of the story that is so profound in its overall message.
So, as my husband suggested I’m going to try and stick to gushing about it for the rest of this review.
The Details
I adored Wil. She is a fighter, a survivor and feels like the weight of the world is on her shoulders. She feels responsible for the people close to her.
She is selfless and a hard worker. Nobody gives her much respect. And in a world where women are seen as objects that need to be categorized into respective boxes of usefulness, Stine expertly describes the hypocrisy that is these social ideals.
Her struggle and her past trauma made her who she is, and she is trying to make the best out of what she has been given. I can identify with her and I can sympathize with her emotional state.
Road Out of Winter is not an easy book to read, yet I have to give it credit for maintaining a consistent level of melancholy without getting boring or overwhelming.
The setting of Road Out of Winter was perfect. The dystopian elements coupled with the possibility of a world that may never be the same due to a never-ending winter really grabbed my attention.
The bleak landscape, shortage of resources, and changing social structures come a little closer to home these days while the world is still fighting this global pandemic.
It should have turned me off of this story, but strangely enough, it gave me a sense of comfort.
When I wasn’t reading Road Out of Winter, I was thinking about it. and when I was reading it, I kept wondering what was in store for Wil around the next corner.
As most of you probably know by now, I’m not a huge fan of summer. Five heat waves in less than three months and continuous migraines caused by the heat have left me sometimes a little on the miserable end.
Reading a book about winter, even though this story’s winter is no laughing matter, became a mental respite for me. Also reading about a young woman trying her best gave me some encouragement to keep trying my best as well, difficult as it might be sometimes.
Stine’s writing style fit the genre of the story perfectly. Her ability to give insight into Wil’s thoughts and emotional state made her feel real. She was able to create a complex character I’m still thinking about, days after I finished the book, wondering how she is doing.
The Verdict
Overall, I had no idea what to make of Road Out of Winter when I started reading it. It surprised me. Pleasantly surprised me. It became a good contender to make my list of the top books of 2020.
I highly recommend it.
ElliotScribbles
The Gist
Truth be told, I’m struggling to write this review, and not only because since the weekend, I have found myself dealing with writer’s block. But also, because I want to give this book the review it deserves.
I’m afraid anything I’ll mention here would give away some detail of the story that is so profound in its overall message.
So, as my husband suggested I’m going to try and stick to gushing about it for the rest of this review.
The Details
I adored Wil. She is a fighter, a survivor and feels like the weight of the world is on her shoulders. She feels responsible for the people close to her.
She is selfless and a hard worker. Nobody gives her much respect. And in a world where women are seen as objects that need to be categorized into respective boxes of usefulness, Stine expertly describes the hypocrisy that is these social ideals.
Her struggle and her past trauma made her who she is, and she is trying to make the best out of what she has been given. I can identify with her and I can sympathize with her emotional state.
Road Out of Winter is not an easy book to read, yet I have to give it credit for maintaining a consistent level of melancholy without getting boring or overwhelming.
The setting of Road Out of Winter was perfect. The dystopian elements coupled with the possibility of a world that may never be the same due to a never-ending winter really grabbed my attention.
The bleak landscape, shortage of resources, and changing social structures come a little closer to home these days while the world is still fighting this global pandemic.
It should have turned me off of this story, but strangely enough, it gave me a sense of comfort.
When I wasn’t reading Road Out of Winter, I was thinking about it. and when I was reading it, I kept wondering what was in store for Wil around the next corner.
As most of you probably know by now, I’m not a huge fan of summer. Five heat waves in less than three months and continuous migraines caused by the heat have left me sometimes a little on the miserable end.
Reading a book about winter, even though this story’s winter is no laughing matter, became a mental respite for me. Also reading about a young woman trying her best gave me some encouragement to keep trying my best as well, difficult as it might be sometimes.
Stine’s writing style fit the genre of the story perfectly. Her ability to give insight into Wil’s thoughts and emotional state made her feel real. She was able to create a complex character I’m still thinking about, days after I finished the book, wondering how she is doing.
The Verdict
Overall, I had no idea what to make of Road Out of Winter when I started reading it. It surprised me. Pleasantly surprised me. It became a good contender to make my list of the top books of 2020.
I highly recommend it.
ElliotScribbles
September 29, 2020
THE DETAILS✎ ❐ A STAND-ALONE...BUT IT FELT LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE A SEQUEL ❐ SINGLE POV ❐ CLIMATE CHANGE --ENDLESS WINTER ❐ APOCALYPTIC WORLD ❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 9 HOURS, 46 MINUTES ❐ I LISTENED ON AUDIBLE
An endless winter...if I could pick one season to have as never-ending...winter would be the last one I would pick. Winter all-year-round would literally be a dystopian hellscape for me. Although, this particular hellscape feels like it could be an all too real scenario and this makes for a compelling, albeit alarming listen...one that I was completely there for.
Brittany Pressley nailed this performance as if it was written for her to perform all along. She is one of my favorites, and I'm never disappointed in her narration.
While very well written, with characters who were likable and had real depth to them, I was still ultimately put off by the ending because it didn't really have one. As if it was reaching for something that never really happened. I needed more from this story and from these indelible characters. Hopefully, there is a second book coming, but from what I could find...I don't think there is going to be.
BREAKDOWN✎
Narration ➯ 5 STARS
Plot ➯ 4.5/5
Characters ➯ 4.3/5
The Feels ➯ 4/5
Pacing ➯ 4/5
Addictiveness ➯ 4/5
Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 4.3/5
Originality/Believability ➯ 4.5/5
Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 5/5
World-Building ➯ 4.5/5
Ending ➯ 3/5
SUMMATION ➯ 4 STARS
An endless winter...if I could pick one season to have as never-ending...winter would be the last one I would pick. Winter all-year-round would literally be a dystopian hellscape for me. Although, this particular hellscape feels like it could be an all too real scenario and this makes for a compelling, albeit alarming listen...one that I was completely there for.
Brittany Pressley nailed this performance as if it was written for her to perform all along. She is one of my favorites, and I'm never disappointed in her narration.
While very well written, with characters who were likable and had real depth to them, I was still ultimately put off by the ending because it didn't really have one. As if it was reaching for something that never really happened. I needed more from this story and from these indelible characters. Hopefully, there is a second book coming, but from what I could find...I don't think there is going to be.
BREAKDOWN✎
Narration ➯ 5 STARS
Plot ➯ 4.5/5
Characters ➯ 4.3/5
The Feels ➯ 4/5
Pacing ➯ 4/5
Addictiveness ➯ 4/5
Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 4.3/5
Originality/Believability ➯ 4.5/5
Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 5/5
World-Building ➯ 4.5/5
Ending ➯ 3/5
SUMMATION ➯ 4 STARS
dnf
August 28, 2020There's nothing that I'm specifically disliking about this book 50 pages in, but it just isn't grabbing me. Probably a case of it's not you, it's me.
October 23, 2020
Rating: 6.5/10
Thanks to the publisher and author for a review copy of Road Out of Winter for review consideration. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions.
There is just something about post-apocalyptic/dystopian fiction that draws me in. I don’t know if it is because of the direction our country is headed in or seeing devastation unlike our own reality, but it is always intriguing to see the different takes authors delve into within their novels.
Stine takes a somewhat similar approach to McCarthy’s ‘The Road’, though instead of ash, the country is covered in an extraordinary amount of the white fluffy stuff. This, of course, leads to an extreme shortage of crops, which leads to an extreme shortage of meat, which leads to an extreme uptick in insanity and violence. Which, you know, is exactly the sort of chaos society is expected to fall into based on the fact that we are a fallen people.
Wylodine, our main POV, has been left behind to continue her “family business” of growing sweet sweet Mary Jane, but with Spring deciding to turn its back on everyone, winter’s bite gets deeper and deeper. She decides to journey away from home in search of her mother, and on the way, meets a few decent folks balanced out with several unsavory characters. The way she grows throughout the novel is probably my favorite part, mixed with the suspense that unfolds as they journey along south.
While I did enjoy the novel and Stine’s writing, it just didn’t blow me away. Her take on a post-apocalyptic America was definitely original, but I sort of saw everything coming from a mile away (except maybe a couple of the instances with large groups of ‘unsavories’).
If you want a fairly quick read in the vein of McCarthy and Mandel, Road Out of Winter is a pretty good place to get your kicks.
Thanks to the publisher and author for a review copy of Road Out of Winter for review consideration. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions.
There is just something about post-apocalyptic/dystopian fiction that draws me in. I don’t know if it is because of the direction our country is headed in or seeing devastation unlike our own reality, but it is always intriguing to see the different takes authors delve into within their novels.
Stine takes a somewhat similar approach to McCarthy’s ‘The Road’, though instead of ash, the country is covered in an extraordinary amount of the white fluffy stuff. This, of course, leads to an extreme shortage of crops, which leads to an extreme shortage of meat, which leads to an extreme uptick in insanity and violence. Which, you know, is exactly the sort of chaos society is expected to fall into based on the fact that we are a fallen people.
Wylodine, our main POV, has been left behind to continue her “family business” of growing sweet sweet Mary Jane, but with Spring deciding to turn its back on everyone, winter’s bite gets deeper and deeper. She decides to journey away from home in search of her mother, and on the way, meets a few decent folks balanced out with several unsavory characters. The way she grows throughout the novel is probably my favorite part, mixed with the suspense that unfolds as they journey along south.
While I did enjoy the novel and Stine’s writing, it just didn’t blow me away. Her take on a post-apocalyptic America was definitely original, but I sort of saw everything coming from a mile away (except maybe a couple of the instances with large groups of ‘unsavories’).
If you want a fairly quick read in the vein of McCarthy and Mandel, Road Out of Winter is a pretty good place to get your kicks.
January 31, 2022
A wonderfully atmospheric winter read!! I loved this dystopian/survivalist novel narrated to absolute perfection by Brittany Pressley!! Following a rag tag group of young teens who are trying to survive in a world stuck in winter. I was reminded a LOT of the television show The walking dead (but without the zombies). Definitely a fun read if you're in the mood for a wintery thriller. Highly recommended on audio!
August 30, 2020
Thank you to the publisher for reaching out/ giving me an e-copy to be a part of this blog tour! All opinions are my own.
There is something about dystopians that draw me in. Maybe it’s the way humans react to hard times. How they become animalistic. All I know is that because of the plot, this book was hard to put down!
Wylodine has been on her own for awhile so when the world starts taking a turn she is basically in her element. It’s easy for her to think rationally, which is very important when its dooms day everywhere you go.
She was an easy character to feel sorry for when it came to her circumstances. The book covers the present but there is also flashbacks to better times with her friend Lisbeth and what it was like growing up with her mom and Lobo. The flashbacks did help to bridge gaps, especially when it came to her relationships with people.
There are other characters I did like reading about like Grayson and Jamey. None of the characters in the book have had an easy time since the start of the long winter. It can get very dark real quick. One scene I was not ready for!
Although I liked the characters, the book leans towards plot driven which was fine. The character development isn’t much.
When it comes to the plot, it’s better to be surprised! I didn’t know where it would lead but it’s easy to get hooked.
I only had one issue and that was the ending. This is probably just a personal opinion but I am one that wants more closure. I want to know that everything works out and everyone is fine. This book has an open ending, which I know some enjoy, but they aren’t for me.
Overall, this is a tense book filled with the realities of human actions when it comes to survival. It’s a good book and if you enjoy dystopians I’d recommend you check this one out.
There is something about dystopians that draw me in. Maybe it’s the way humans react to hard times. How they become animalistic. All I know is that because of the plot, this book was hard to put down!
Wylodine has been on her own for awhile so when the world starts taking a turn she is basically in her element. It’s easy for her to think rationally, which is very important when its dooms day everywhere you go.
She was an easy character to feel sorry for when it came to her circumstances. The book covers the present but there is also flashbacks to better times with her friend Lisbeth and what it was like growing up with her mom and Lobo. The flashbacks did help to bridge gaps, especially when it came to her relationships with people.
There are other characters I did like reading about like Grayson and Jamey. None of the characters in the book have had an easy time since the start of the long winter. It can get very dark real quick. One scene I was not ready for!
Although I liked the characters, the book leans towards plot driven which was fine. The character development isn’t much.
When it comes to the plot, it’s better to be surprised! I didn’t know where it would lead but it’s easy to get hooked.
I only had one issue and that was the ending. This is probably just a personal opinion but I am one that wants more closure. I want to know that everything works out and everyone is fine. This book has an open ending, which I know some enjoy, but they aren’t for me.
Overall, this is a tense book filled with the realities of human actions when it comes to survival. It’s a good book and if you enjoy dystopians I’d recommend you check this one out.
April 11, 2021
This novel had an excellent set up: Wil lives in Ohio on a farm by herself and she has a talent for growing plants, particularly marijuana that her mother's boyfriend sold before leaving for California. This sets her apart. But there is a huge problem. Winter has rolled in colder than ever and it seems to not be stopping; there are no longer seasons, only a freezing never-ending winter. Wil must make her own way in the treacherous world.
I loved the "hate all men" mentality, and this book was incredibly truthful in portraying the fear that women face everyday around all men, because we cannot know which men to trust, so we must be cautious of them all. We must always be weary, as Wil is, as she knows the horrible ways that men could hurt her. This made me wonder why she was so quick to assist both Grayson and Dance (young men) and to help them immediately when they were in need despite being strangers.
Wil's personality felt conflicting at times, I had trouble knowing how she felt about things. I was also looking for much more character development in the main cast, especially in Grayson since we meet him early on. The characters felt shallow and the plot moved along too conveniently at times.
That being said, I really enjoyed the world and the way this novel was set up. I love a dystopian/apocalyptic setting, especially one that originates in Ohio, and progresses along steadily. In the beginning there is still movement in the world; people are going to school, work, businesses are open. There is a total descent into chaos and confusion as the world falls completely and irrevocably into winter. I liked that. The writing was good too, as far as the metaphors and descriptions. There was a lot I really liked there, I only wish the characters had been given more attention. I would have also liked more resolution during the ending.
I loved the "hate all men" mentality, and this book was incredibly truthful in portraying the fear that women face everyday around all men, because we cannot know which men to trust, so we must be cautious of them all. We must always be weary, as Wil is, as she knows the horrible ways that men could hurt her. This made me wonder why she was so quick to assist both Grayson and Dance (young men) and to help them immediately when they were in need despite being strangers.
Wil's personality felt conflicting at times, I had trouble knowing how she felt about things. I was also looking for much more character development in the main cast, especially in Grayson since we meet him early on. The characters felt shallow and the plot moved along too conveniently at times.
That being said, I really enjoyed the world and the way this novel was set up. I love a dystopian/apocalyptic setting, especially one that originates in Ohio, and progresses along steadily. In the beginning there is still movement in the world; people are going to school, work, businesses are open. There is a total descent into chaos and confusion as the world falls completely and irrevocably into winter. I liked that. The writing was good too, as far as the metaphors and descriptions. There was a lot I really liked there, I only wish the characters had been given more attention. I would have also liked more resolution during the ending.
June 18, 2020
I won this book in a giveaway. It starts off as a slow-paced narrative of a young woman, Wil, who finds herself alone in a world where winter has taken permanent hold. As a plant grower she naturally struggles to survive, but as she leaves her home to pursue something better the story becomes a little more interesting.
Overall I ended up feeling pretty indifferent about this book. I didn't dislike it, but it didn't excite me either. For me it was kind of interesting but forgettable. I think I started with an expectation that it was going to be more adventurous and intriguing, but it turned out to be more of a narrative, dystopian drama. It's a decent story, but I just couldn't really relate to the characters. I think that's why I didn't enjoy it more. Still glad I got to read it though.
Overall I ended up feeling pretty indifferent about this book. I didn't dislike it, but it didn't excite me either. For me it was kind of interesting but forgettable. I think I started with an expectation that it was going to be more adventurous and intriguing, but it turned out to be more of a narrative, dystopian drama. It's a decent story, but I just couldn't really relate to the characters. I think that's why I didn't enjoy it more. Still glad I got to read it though.
August 9, 2020
Road out of Winter is a celebration of character and resilience in the face of nature's harshness or rather humankind on the brink of collapse. I really had the feeling there was more than met the eye concerning the reason for the never-ending winter that suddenly fell on the world, aka nature's way of revenge against humankind's mistakes.
Anyway, this book is a must read, a real feast of psychological character development, insane choices taken when faced with cruel reality. A humane view to saving your own kind, sacrifices and friendships made due to circumstances and basic human kindness.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this arc. Book will be out in September.
Anyway, this book is a must read, a real feast of psychological character development, insane choices taken when faced with cruel reality. A humane view to saving your own kind, sacrifices and friendships made due to circumstances and basic human kindness.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this arc. Book will be out in September.
September 7, 2020
There is plenty posted elsewhere on Goodreads having to do with story / plot--one of the things that kept me reading was Stine's descriptive powers, her skill with metaphor, with language in general. For me the landscape was as much a character as any human--repetitive, vivid, precise. The monotony of snow, broken roads, and the endlessness of scrub-land and forests. I found this book compelling for the way it kept me connected page after page, by virtue of the narrator's consciousness, to the scrolling brokenness surrounding her. Every page is pitch perfect. It's quite an immersion.
February 17, 2021
One of the PKD nominees for 2021 ... the world is cooling off and for the second year in a row there's been no spring. People are fleeing south, but for many it's too late and their circumstances are too overwhelming to overcome. I liked the matter-of-fact portrayal of crushing poverty and what it does to a society, and the background idea that at it's base, marijuana is just another plant and a green thumb is a crucial skill. It fell apart for me after a couple of waaaaay too convenient plot points that were unbelievable. Still, I would read more from the author.
September 14, 2020
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for an e-arc of this book.
After finishing this book, I think it would be good for book discussion groups. I can see where it would be a lively talk. The idea for the story is good, but I wanted more...more backstory, more character development, more substance. There was so much more the author could have done to develop the story and add more suspense to it. All in all, it just felt a little rushed to me.
After finishing this book, I think it would be good for book discussion groups. I can see where it would be a lively talk. The idea for the story is good, but I wanted more...more backstory, more character development, more substance. There was so much more the author could have done to develop the story and add more suspense to it. All in all, it just felt a little rushed to me.
December 27, 2020
A well-crafted book with vivid descriptions of the setting and characters. It was very relatable considering the environmental threats we often hear about but don’t fully contemplate with seriousness. Also it focuses on the disenfranchised in poor areas common to every state, not just those mentioned. Highly recommended. I am now following this author with plans to read more of her books.
February 8, 2022
The concept was more interesting than the execution. I like the idea of a climate change influenced apocalypse story, but the cast of characters weren’t strong or felt real enough to carry the plot. The book comps to The Road and Station Eleven don’t really hit the mark either.
August 30, 2020
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
I read Road Out of Winter during an incredible heatwave, and remember saying that I really don't love the idea of the heatpocalypse. It just doesn't sound fun. But then reading this book, I realized I would also not love the coldpocalypse. So basically, no apocalypse will be great, which... I guess I should have already known but here we are. So let us talk about what I liked and what left me wanting more!
The Things I Loved:
►Felt so realistic! Things start out messed up and then.... slowly devolve into complete anarchy. Sounds legit, right? At first, it felt eerily similar to the pandemic response: people were buying out stores, panic hoarding, etc. But then when all the stocks were depleted, they started fully panicking and running for... well, who knows what a person runs from when the end is near, but run they do. In this case, I suppose the hope of a more temperate climate, but I assume that would present its own problems? There's the fun though, right?
►Loved the characters. Not a one of them was perfect. They all had a ton of baggage and flaws, and that is what made me appreciate their end of the world struggles. Because you still have to deal with your actual life crap while trying to survive, and I love that the author highlighted that through family and relational issues, stereotypes that were still going strong even as the world collapsed, and past mistakes.
►I love a road trip! I mean, this wasn't a happy time adventure, but it was still a road trip. And they brought a tiny house along! I have a real thing for tiny houses, so this was just extra fun. Plus I love the extra excitement that a road trip brings to a book. Especially in an apocalyptic situation.
►It was absolutely a high stakes adventure. Speaking of, there was a lot going on in this book! The gang met some unsavory folks along the way, and things got pretty chaotic. I loved it both for plot purposes, and the fact that there will undoubtedly be a lot of terrible people at the end of the world, and I liked that this book highlighted that.
The One Thing I Struggled With:
►The ending was kind of open and I wanted to know more stuff! Because the perspective was limited to Wil's knowledge, it made sense that we didn't have much of an idea what was going on outside of her area. Which was fine, I enjoyed finding out as she did! But gosh, I want to know more, so much more! I am really keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel.
Bottom Line: Coldpocalypse is a mess and so are humans. An exciting adventure that feels eerily plausible, I definitely recommend!
I read Road Out of Winter during an incredible heatwave, and remember saying that I really don't love the idea of the heatpocalypse. It just doesn't sound fun. But then reading this book, I realized I would also not love the coldpocalypse. So basically, no apocalypse will be great, which... I guess I should have already known but here we are. So let us talk about what I liked and what left me wanting more!
The Things I Loved:
►Felt so realistic! Things start out messed up and then.... slowly devolve into complete anarchy. Sounds legit, right? At first, it felt eerily similar to the pandemic response: people were buying out stores, panic hoarding, etc. But then when all the stocks were depleted, they started fully panicking and running for... well, who knows what a person runs from when the end is near, but run they do. In this case, I suppose the hope of a more temperate climate, but I assume that would present its own problems? There's the fun though, right?
►Loved the characters. Not a one of them was perfect. They all had a ton of baggage and flaws, and that is what made me appreciate their end of the world struggles. Because you still have to deal with your actual life crap while trying to survive, and I love that the author highlighted that through family and relational issues, stereotypes that were still going strong even as the world collapsed, and past mistakes.
►I love a road trip! I mean, this wasn't a happy time adventure, but it was still a road trip. And they brought a tiny house along! I have a real thing for tiny houses, so this was just extra fun. Plus I love the extra excitement that a road trip brings to a book. Especially in an apocalyptic situation.
►It was absolutely a high stakes adventure. Speaking of, there was a lot going on in this book! The gang met some unsavory folks along the way, and things got pretty chaotic. I loved it both for plot purposes, and the fact that there will undoubtedly be a lot of terrible people at the end of the world, and I liked that this book highlighted that.
The One Thing I Struggled With:
►The ending was kind of open and I wanted to know more stuff! Because the perspective was limited to Wil's knowledge, it made sense that we didn't have much of an idea what was going on outside of her area. Which was fine, I enjoyed finding out as she did! But gosh, I want to know more, so much more! I am really keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel.
Bottom Line: Coldpocalypse is a mess and so are humans. An exciting adventure that feels eerily plausible, I definitely recommend!
September 16, 2020
It's been winter for way too long, but Wylodine is surviving. Her mother and her best friend have both left the town she has lived in for so long, to find some place warmer. When she receives a post card from her mother in California, she feels like she has nothing to lose, and so she hooks her tiny house up to her truck and sets out. Along the way she picks up a few people, who could help or hinder her journey. As they make the trek, they meet people who have different ideas on how to survive the never ending winter. Will, Wylodine make it to her mother or have to succumb to the cold?
Thank you to MIRA & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
When this book started out, I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to go. I like it when the weather is cold, but I don't know if I could stand a never ending winter. What do you do when everything starts to shut down because it's too cold to function. Food trucks and gas trucks can't get through to stock stores because it never stops snowing and the roads are always terrible. People have taken over parks and stadiums and made it their home and will defend it at any cost.
This is the first cli-fi book I have read. A climate change fiction book. I think I would read another one in this genre, as long as it stayed in a world I could see myself living in. I'm not really big into science fiction and this book could be during any part of time, past, present or future. Although it couldn't be too far in the past since they are using cell phones in this book. I will definitely read something by this author again.
Thank you to MIRA & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
When this book started out, I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to go. I like it when the weather is cold, but I don't know if I could stand a never ending winter. What do you do when everything starts to shut down because it's too cold to function. Food trucks and gas trucks can't get through to stock stores because it never stops snowing and the roads are always terrible. People have taken over parks and stadiums and made it their home and will defend it at any cost.
This is the first cli-fi book I have read. A climate change fiction book. I think I would read another one in this genre, as long as it stayed in a world I could see myself living in. I'm not really big into science fiction and this book could be during any part of time, past, present or future. Although it couldn't be too far in the past since they are using cell phones in this book. I will definitely read something by this author again.
August 4, 2020
The world is at the brink of dying as winter stretches longer and longer. Wil's parents have left her alone on their marijuana farm, and all around her people are abandoning the Ohio small town for warmer cities. Wil decides to leave as well, with a small ragtag group of other young adults living on the edge of society. She wants to go to California, to be with her mother, but the chances of making it there seem slim.
Like all good dystopian fiction, there are cults and violent enclaves everywhere, and Wil and her friends escape one only to land in another. The landscape of frozen Appalachia was both chilling and realistic, and I respected Wil's unsentimental, anti-maudlin character. I also loved that there was zero romance here, besides fleeting memories of an old friend, and even that was in no way rose-colored.
I know that in the midst of a pandemic, it's sometimes hard to reach for a dystopian novel, especially when everything in real life seems pretty darn dystopian. Is Road Out of Winter worth reading? I really do think it is. While grim, this book shows us the strengths and weaknesses that exist in all of us. Wil's ability to grow plants, and nurture them through even the rockiest of beginnings, was a spark of hope running through the novel.
Like all good dystopian fiction, there are cults and violent enclaves everywhere, and Wil and her friends escape one only to land in another. The landscape of frozen Appalachia was both chilling and realistic, and I respected Wil's unsentimental, anti-maudlin character. I also loved that there was zero romance here, besides fleeting memories of an old friend, and even that was in no way rose-colored.
I know that in the midst of a pandemic, it's sometimes hard to reach for a dystopian novel, especially when everything in real life seems pretty darn dystopian. Is Road Out of Winter worth reading? I really do think it is. While grim, this book shows us the strengths and weaknesses that exist in all of us. Wil's ability to grow plants, and nurture them through even the rockiest of beginnings, was a spark of hope running through the novel.
February 6, 2021
I know not every young adult "dystopian" survival book can be/needs to be a sprawling adventure where characters learn lessons, grow from trauma and triumph in a world crumbling around them, but,
-this book is fucking depressing. Wil, the narrator, never seems to grasp the gravity of the situation she's in, never really relenting on her quest to reconcile childhood trauma and never being able to let go of an unrequited crush. It's a boring and sometimes horrifying inflexibility that drives the story while more interesting characters and situations are given time on the periphery.
-this book is fucking depressing. Wil, the narrator, never seems to grasp the gravity of the situation she's in, never really relenting on her quest to reconcile childhood trauma and never being able to let go of an unrequited crush. It's a boring and sometimes horrifying inflexibility that drives the story while more interesting characters and situations are given time on the periphery.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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