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Fragile
A man responsible for keeping New York City alive falls for an enigmatic underground activist in this darkly captivating novel about love, loss, and resilience in times of ecological upheaval.
In 2057, New York is a divided metropolis. Sheltered by enormous seawalls, Manhattan is green, clean, and thriving, but Brooklyn and Queens have been given up to the storms and the rising Atlantic, their communities abandoned. The evacuation zones along the coast have become hotbeds for illegal meat farming ever since industrial animal agriculture was outlawed to save the last functional antibiotics and fight one more losing battle against the rapidly changing climate.
Jake Alvaro works a brutal job at Homeland Security because he is brilliant at securing critical medical drugs for Manhattan in a frantic global market running out of everything. Lately, though, he has grown terrified of his choices, whatever he does a death knell for hundreds or thousands, so he is looking to change the system from within. Surviving on pep pills and connected to work via the Spine, a digital interface implanted in his body, Jake cannot afford to care for anyone, least of all the headstrong woman at his local coffeeshop who is keeping secrets from him.
Shavir Tayard is a savvy barista who abides by the system during the day and fights for equal access to food and medical care as a member of Roots, a collective farm in Brooklyn whose members risk charges of ecoterrorism for their nocturnal animal liberation raids in the evacuation zone. The last thing Shavir needs in her life is a disillusioned Homeland Security guy, but when she takes Jake across the East River to the ravaged communities he was ordered to ignore, he discovers that the world may need something more urgent—and dangerous—than slow change.
In 2057, New York is a divided metropolis. Sheltered by enormous seawalls, Manhattan is green, clean, and thriving, but Brooklyn and Queens have been given up to the storms and the rising Atlantic, their communities abandoned. The evacuation zones along the coast have become hotbeds for illegal meat farming ever since industrial animal agriculture was outlawed to save the last functional antibiotics and fight one more losing battle against the rapidly changing climate.
Jake Alvaro works a brutal job at Homeland Security because he is brilliant at securing critical medical drugs for Manhattan in a frantic global market running out of everything. Lately, though, he has grown terrified of his choices, whatever he does a death knell for hundreds or thousands, so he is looking to change the system from within. Surviving on pep pills and connected to work via the Spine, a digital interface implanted in his body, Jake cannot afford to care for anyone, least of all the headstrong woman at his local coffeeshop who is keeping secrets from him.
Shavir Tayard is a savvy barista who abides by the system during the day and fights for equal access to food and medical care as a member of Roots, a collective farm in Brooklyn whose members risk charges of ecoterrorism for their nocturnal animal liberation raids in the evacuation zone. The last thing Shavir needs in her life is a disillusioned Homeland Security guy, but when she takes Jake across the East River to the ravaged communities he was ordered to ignore, he discovers that the world may need something more urgent—and dangerous—than slow change.
330 pages, Paperback
Published January 7, 2023
52 people are currently reading
11778 people want to read
About the author
Alexa Weik von Mossner
9 books54 followersAlexa Weik von Mossner is an award-winning novelist, scriptwriter, and film scholar. She holds a PhD in Literature from UC San Diego and is currently an associate professor of American Studies at the University of Klagenfurt and a visiting professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Freiburg. On the fiction side, she has penned over 160 episodes of the German TV drama series FABRIXX. Her short fiction has appeared in American literary magazines such as Orca, Delmarva Review, and The Dillydoun Review. Her first novel, Fragile, was published in 2023 by Elzwhere Press.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
November 2, 2023
In the past year I’ve read three books set in North America in post-apocalyptic landscapes, including Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and Severanceby Ling Ma. I enjoyed both, but Fragile had me spellbound. I was completely pulled in by the depth of Alexa Weik von Mossner’s descriptions of a devastated society that seems all too real.
Realistic dystopia
If I had read this book a few years ago, I would have labelled it as scaremongering but realistic dystopian fiction. None of it feels far-fetched after the last couple of years of pandemic, with its PPE shortages and panic buying and the climate disasters of heatwave, wildfires and flooding. It feels all too close for comfort. We even had shortages of common medicines such as the contraceptive pill in Europe because of a rejected batch from China, and one container ship blocking the Suez Canal caused major logistical backlogs worldwide. Alexa Weik von Mossner has definitely being paying attention and incorporated these issues into her novel.
The year is 2057. The world has been irrevocably changed by rising temperatures and rising sea levels. There are no more farm animals, and legal meat production has been shut down to preserve stocks of antibiotics and reduce carbon emissions. Meat substitute is called art-meat, with the slogan ‘Better than nature!’ However, people want real meat, so illegal puppy farms produce dogs for human consumption.
It certainly raises an interesting question for meat lovers: how far would you go to taste meat? And would you eat man’s best friend if that was the only option? Especially if cultivated/cultured meat (i.e. tissue culture in a lab) was readily available. As a pescatarian/vegetarian, my son has already asked me whether I would eat cultivated meat and I don’t really feel the need.
The first scene is a group of activists rescuing puppies from a horrific meat farm on the Atlantic coast of the USA. One of these activists is Shavir, a young woman who works in a coffee outlet by day, but spends her spare time volunteering with Roots, a counterculture group started during the early 2050s Global Supply Crisis, living in makeshift cubicles in abandoned office buildings, tending an urban farm on the roof. She has recently left a rather one-sided relationship with a rich idealist and garden designer who helps sponsor Roots, Finn Larsen.
In the second scene, Jake is watching a holographic news report on his Spine, an embedded device that make mobile phones and televisions obsolete. He is watching news about sweatshop workers in Cambodia who are rioting because their houses are being demolished to build a sea wall to protect not their homes, but factories. They shake their fists at the drone cameras, angry at the western world that caused the environmental catastrophe. This will affect Jake personally because he works for SAFE: Special Agency For Essentials, responsible for sourcing medicines and other essentials. Many medical supplies are normally shipped from Cambodia for the City of New York: antibiotics, antivirals, anticoagulants.
On behalf of New York City, Jake’s job is to solve the logistical nightmare that is the global supply chain in the face of unpredictable weather and shortages of antibiotics and other lifesaving medications. Without antibiotics, no surgery can take place. As he is fully aware, distribution of the food and medications they secure is uneven, biased in favour of the rich area of Manhattan. And it is distributed according to an impenetrable AI system that only its creator understands. Overriding it is not an option, even in an emergency, when hospitals run out of the antibiotics they need to perform surgery. The system will only allow them to reallocate resources once a state of emergency has been declared.
To add to the chaos, the city is undergoing a serious heatwave over and above the 2°C raise in global temperatures. The only way many people cope is to take an emotion regulating drug called Emovia. Now the supply of this is also failing and could lead to major civil unrest. What is more, it is not deemed to be a critical medication, whatever the consequences if it runs out. Jake will have to cheat the system to ensure supplies and prevent revolution.
Jake and Shavir know each other by sight as Jake takes a detour every day to buy his morning coffee from her as he is so attracted to her. In spite of their different backgrounds, they form a relationship which will test their loyalties and provoke many heated discussions.
It's an indication of how immersive this is that I scarcely wrote any notes about this book. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who enjoys speculative fiction and climate fiction (cli-fi). Ten out of ten.
Disclaimer: My thanks to NetGalley for a free e-book for review. This is my honest review after reading.
Realistic dystopia
If I had read this book a few years ago, I would have labelled it as scaremongering but realistic dystopian fiction. None of it feels far-fetched after the last couple of years of pandemic, with its PPE shortages and panic buying and the climate disasters of heatwave, wildfires and flooding. It feels all too close for comfort. We even had shortages of common medicines such as the contraceptive pill in Europe because of a rejected batch from China, and one container ship blocking the Suez Canal caused major logistical backlogs worldwide. Alexa Weik von Mossner has definitely being paying attention and incorporated these issues into her novel.
The year is 2057. The world has been irrevocably changed by rising temperatures and rising sea levels. There are no more farm animals, and legal meat production has been shut down to preserve stocks of antibiotics and reduce carbon emissions. Meat substitute is called art-meat, with the slogan ‘Better than nature!’ However, people want real meat, so illegal puppy farms produce dogs for human consumption.
It certainly raises an interesting question for meat lovers: how far would you go to taste meat? And would you eat man’s best friend if that was the only option? Especially if cultivated/cultured meat (i.e. tissue culture in a lab) was readily available. As a pescatarian/vegetarian, my son has already asked me whether I would eat cultivated meat and I don’t really feel the need.
The first scene is a group of activists rescuing puppies from a horrific meat farm on the Atlantic coast of the USA. One of these activists is Shavir, a young woman who works in a coffee outlet by day, but spends her spare time volunteering with Roots, a counterculture group started during the early 2050s Global Supply Crisis, living in makeshift cubicles in abandoned office buildings, tending an urban farm on the roof. She has recently left a rather one-sided relationship with a rich idealist and garden designer who helps sponsor Roots, Finn Larsen.
In the second scene, Jake is watching a holographic news report on his Spine, an embedded device that make mobile phones and televisions obsolete. He is watching news about sweatshop workers in Cambodia who are rioting because their houses are being demolished to build a sea wall to protect not their homes, but factories. They shake their fists at the drone cameras, angry at the western world that caused the environmental catastrophe. This will affect Jake personally because he works for SAFE: Special Agency For Essentials, responsible for sourcing medicines and other essentials. Many medical supplies are normally shipped from Cambodia for the City of New York: antibiotics, antivirals, anticoagulants.
On behalf of New York City, Jake’s job is to solve the logistical nightmare that is the global supply chain in the face of unpredictable weather and shortages of antibiotics and other lifesaving medications. Without antibiotics, no surgery can take place. As he is fully aware, distribution of the food and medications they secure is uneven, biased in favour of the rich area of Manhattan. And it is distributed according to an impenetrable AI system that only its creator understands. Overriding it is not an option, even in an emergency, when hospitals run out of the antibiotics they need to perform surgery. The system will only allow them to reallocate resources once a state of emergency has been declared.
To add to the chaos, the city is undergoing a serious heatwave over and above the 2°C raise in global temperatures. The only way many people cope is to take an emotion regulating drug called Emovia. Now the supply of this is also failing and could lead to major civil unrest. What is more, it is not deemed to be a critical medication, whatever the consequences if it runs out. Jake will have to cheat the system to ensure supplies and prevent revolution.
Jake and Shavir know each other by sight as Jake takes a detour every day to buy his morning coffee from her as he is so attracted to her. In spite of their different backgrounds, they form a relationship which will test their loyalties and provoke many heated discussions.
It's an indication of how immersive this is that I scarcely wrote any notes about this book. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who enjoys speculative fiction and climate fiction (cli-fi). Ten out of ten.
Disclaimer: My thanks to NetGalley for a free e-book for review. This is my honest review after reading.
May 3, 2023
Fragile is a dystopian novel set in the near future which is frighteningly too realistic and too imaginable. Political corruption, climate change and civil unrest make for a very volatile NYC, where other boroughs suffer supply chain issues and the elite of Manhattan get it all. In the midst of all this chaos, the relationship between the two main characters develops, showing the struggle to fall in love when the world around you is falling apart.
I found this book to be extremely well written and the world building phenomenal. If you’re looking for a dystopian novel that is thought provoking, engaging and entertaining at the same time, I definitely recommend reading Fragile.
I found this book to be extremely well written and the world building phenomenal. If you’re looking for a dystopian novel that is thought provoking, engaging and entertaining at the same time, I definitely recommend reading Fragile.
January 7, 2023
Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. I absolutely loved it from start to finish, amazing read. I’m a big fan of Dystopian and this book didn’t disappoint. I could not put it down and read it in one sitting! The story primarily focuses on a future world suffering the effects of climate change but also the personal experiences of the main characters Jake and Shavir. This book is for everyone not just Dystopian fans and I can’t recommend it highly enough. A massive 5 stars from me.
January 5, 2024
This is a really enjoyable read! A climate & animal welfare theme running through out with interesting characters & ideas. The world is drowning & now dogs are bred for meat! Scary idea! This is not a high tension novel but still has a good pace, there is a little romance as well mixed in. An overall good dystopian read & I would like to read more by this writer!
December 3, 2023
*4.5 stars*. Wow, talk about a very timely book-drug & food shortages, climate destruction, political corruption, a surveillance state, medical deserts, drug addiction, the rich vs the poor-everything that our future holds and is starting to happen now. I special ordered “Fragile” based on the book description and I was not disappointed. Fantastic world building and characters and completely engrossing story. The only thing I could have lived without was the romance but that was not really a big deal. Definitely a MUST READ for everyone. Top book!
(From the book blurb): “New York in 2057—a metropolis divided. Sheltered by enormous seawalls, privileged Manhattan is green, clean, and thriving while the eastern boroughs have been given up to the hurricanes and the rising Atlantic. But no one is safe in a world of cascading disasters causing a global scarcity of medical drugs, food, and other essentials for survival.
Shavir Tayard, barista and community farmer by day, rescuer of animals by night, sustains an injury in the coastal evacuation zone of Brooklyn that changes her relationship with the cute regular at her coffee shop—and her life.
Jake Alvaro is a Homeland Security agent tasked with securing medical drugs for New York in a world running out of everything. His view of whose lives must be saved and who can be sacrificed is challenged when Shavir takes him across the East River to the people he was told to ignore. Soon, he begins to question the fragile truths he built his life upon.”
(From the book blurb): “New York in 2057—a metropolis divided. Sheltered by enormous seawalls, privileged Manhattan is green, clean, and thriving while the eastern boroughs have been given up to the hurricanes and the rising Atlantic. But no one is safe in a world of cascading disasters causing a global scarcity of medical drugs, food, and other essentials for survival.
Shavir Tayard, barista and community farmer by day, rescuer of animals by night, sustains an injury in the coastal evacuation zone of Brooklyn that changes her relationship with the cute regular at her coffee shop—and her life.
Jake Alvaro is a Homeland Security agent tasked with securing medical drugs for New York in a world running out of everything. His view of whose lives must be saved and who can be sacrificed is challenged when Shavir takes him across the East River to the people he was told to ignore. Soon, he begins to question the fragile truths he built his life upon.”
January 4, 2023
The realities that not only the characters of this novel but humanity itself faced are a stark reminder of not only where humanity is headed but one of where we already are, albeit on a lesser scale than in the novel.
The story is set on a believable trajectory of where humankind could very well end up in 2057, especially when it comes to Jake’s side of the story with his role in securing vital medication for New York City. Shavir, the female lead, also deals a believable threat to animals with herself and her crew under constant threat of being arrested for domestic terrorism due to their part in their midnight raids to rescue dogs from being farmed for meat in a world where livestock don’t exist anymore. Their lives intertwine while simultaneously unraveling.
I found myself more interested in Jake’s more morally grey character despite the sense that he’s generally being pushed forward by the narrative as being a good guy. Whereas I feel that Shavir has her heart in the right place, her character can be too impulsive to be believable at times and puts those around her at enormous risk with little thought. And although both those two main characters, whose POV’s we switch between, have previous trauma they need to work through, it can get frustrating when that past trauma seems to the main driving force behind their the majority of their current actions which made them predictable.
Having said that though, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it’s world building was top notch! As it always is with a good book, I was sad the leave these characters behind. I certainly wouldn’t mind visiting their world again, even if to find out more about the enigmatic Finn and his motivations.
Thank you to BookSirens and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review!
The story is set on a believable trajectory of where humankind could very well end up in 2057, especially when it comes to Jake’s side of the story with his role in securing vital medication for New York City. Shavir, the female lead, also deals a believable threat to animals with herself and her crew under constant threat of being arrested for domestic terrorism due to their part in their midnight raids to rescue dogs from being farmed for meat in a world where livestock don’t exist anymore. Their lives intertwine while simultaneously unraveling.
I found myself more interested in Jake’s more morally grey character despite the sense that he’s generally being pushed forward by the narrative as being a good guy. Whereas I feel that Shavir has her heart in the right place, her character can be too impulsive to be believable at times and puts those around her at enormous risk with little thought. And although both those two main characters, whose POV’s we switch between, have previous trauma they need to work through, it can get frustrating when that past trauma seems to the main driving force behind their the majority of their current actions which made them predictable.
Having said that though, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it’s world building was top notch! As it always is with a good book, I was sad the leave these characters behind. I certainly wouldn’t mind visiting their world again, even if to find out more about the enigmatic Finn and his motivations.
Thank you to BookSirens and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review!
February 12, 2023
New York, 2057 - a metropolis divided. Sheltered by sea walls, Manhattan is green, clean and thriving, but the eastern boroughs have been given up to the Atlantic. Ravaged by climate change, pharmaceuticals and other essentials needed for survival are scarce. Shavir, barista and urban farmer by day, dog rescuer by night, sustains an injury that changes her relationship with the cute regular at her coffee shop - and her life. Jake is a troubled Homeland Security agent tasked with securing medicines for a New York which is running out of everything. His view of whose lives must be saved is challenged when Shavir takes him across the East River to the people he was told to ignore. Soon, he begins to question the fragile truths he built his life upon.
I really enjoyed this book. The setting was very interesting - it really made me think about what the world could be like in the future. I really liked both Shavir and Jake. Shavir was committed to saving the dogs that were being bred for slaughter, and I really admired her for it. I did feel she gave Jake a hard time in the beginning, simply for doing his job, and I struggled to see how their relationship would work, but I got more and more drawn in as the book progressed. I really wasn’t sure how the book was going to end, but it was definitely satisfying, especially as we see one minor character getting what they deserve.
Massive thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC!
I really enjoyed this book. The setting was very interesting - it really made me think about what the world could be like in the future. I really liked both Shavir and Jake. Shavir was committed to saving the dogs that were being bred for slaughter, and I really admired her for it. I did feel she gave Jake a hard time in the beginning, simply for doing his job, and I struggled to see how their relationship would work, but I got more and more drawn in as the book progressed. I really wasn’t sure how the book was going to end, but it was definitely satisfying, especially as we see one minor character getting what they deserve.
Massive thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC!
March 4, 2023
Many thanks to Alexa for the copy!
I think this would be a great book to be taught in high schools. It could inspire really interesting analysis and important discussion.
Author Alexa Weik von Mossner has created what I think is the best prediction of a dystopian future. The characters navigate a New York City that has been deeply affected by climate change. But as much as the city, and more broadly the world, has been changed from the city and world we are living in now, there is still a lot that is familiar to us. Hauntingly familiar, even. Constant surveillance, ubiquitous technology, irrational weather, a police state, stratified social statuses, food and drug shortages, rampant substance abuse, medical deserts… all of these are just part of the world Weik von Mossner has built. It’s chilling at some points.
All of this is the backdrop to a romance, and that’s the only thing I found tedious. It’s totally personal. It’s not you, Fragile, it’s me. I’m not a romance reader, but I know a lot of readers love romances, so I highly recommend this book to those readers who are also down for some dystopia.
I think this would be a great book to be taught in high schools. It could inspire really interesting analysis and important discussion.
Author Alexa Weik von Mossner has created what I think is the best prediction of a dystopian future. The characters navigate a New York City that has been deeply affected by climate change. But as much as the city, and more broadly the world, has been changed from the city and world we are living in now, there is still a lot that is familiar to us. Hauntingly familiar, even. Constant surveillance, ubiquitous technology, irrational weather, a police state, stratified social statuses, food and drug shortages, rampant substance abuse, medical deserts… all of these are just part of the world Weik von Mossner has built. It’s chilling at some points.
All of this is the backdrop to a romance, and that’s the only thing I found tedious. It’s totally personal. It’s not you, Fragile, it’s me. I’m not a romance reader, but I know a lot of readers love romances, so I highly recommend this book to those readers who are also down for some dystopia.
May 15, 2025
Good story......
The story line was great but the ending left me hanging. Hopefully there will be another one coming out that continues the story.
The story line was great but the ending left me hanging. Hopefully there will be another one coming out that continues the story.
February 2, 2025
Entertaining, but a disappointing ending that leaves readers hanging. Don't like books that set up a series rather than stand on their own merit.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2023
Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. I absolutely loved it from start to finish, amazing read. I’m a big fan of Dystopian and this book didn’t disappoint. I could not put it down and read it in one sitting! The story primarily focuses on a future world suffering the effects of climate change but also the personal experiences of the main characters Jake and Shavir. This book is for everyone not just Dystopian fans and I can’t recommend it highly enough. A massive 5 stars from me.
December 20, 2022
I will start off by saying I don't typically read most post-apocalyptic or fantasy type books, but this one had me.
It's set in the future, but in a way that sounds like it could actually happen. It had me engaged from the beginning and I had to keep reading to find out what happened next.
I will definitely look for more books by this author.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
It's set in the future, but in a way that sounds like it could actually happen. It had me engaged from the beginning and I had to keep reading to find out what happened next.
I will definitely look for more books by this author.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
January 10, 2023
I absolutely LOVED this story.
Set in the world that is coming due to climate change, people finding each other.
I just reviewed Fragile by Alexa Weik von Mossner. #Fragile #NetGalley
Set in the world that is coming due to climate change, people finding each other.
I just reviewed Fragile by Alexa Weik von Mossner. #Fragile #NetGalley
April 28, 2025
A realistic dystopian novel about climate change
Welcome to the no-longer-United States of America. Half of Florida lies underwater, and the West Coast is burning and choked with smoke. “Where JFK Airport’s big pool of light used to be, broken terminals and flooded runways” lie hidden in the heat. It’s now a permanent evacuation zone, a prime result of “the epic disaster of Hurricane Shelby that had washed it all away.” In the inner boroughs, temperatures rarely dip below 100 degrees Fahrenheit. There, the Global Supply Crisis of the early 2050s has given rise to SAFE, the Special Agency for Essentials, to secure life-saving pharmaceuticals from a shrinking list of suppliers worldwide. At SAFE, Dr. Jake Alvaro passes one sleepless night after another chasing the antibiotics and other drugs New Yorkers need to survive. It’s a thankless and probably futile task. This is the set-up in Alexa Weik von Mossner’s realistic dystopian novel, Fragile.
A set-up for an unlikely romance amid the ruins
The book’s title may refer to the state of American society as the ravages of climate change make life steadily less livable. But the name of the story’s other protagonist, Shavir, also translates as “fragile” from the Hebrew. It reflects one of the strands in her complex, multiethnic heritage. Shavir is a member of Roots, an urban farming collective that raises copious quantities of vegetables on three linked rooftops in Brooklyn.
By night, however, Shavir and some of her colleagues raid illegal facilities across Brooklyn and Queens where crooks are fattening puppies for slaughter as meat. They are all fanatical animal-rights activists who equate the value of animals’ lives with those of humans. Shavir looks on the puppies they rescue as “friends who are blessed with much shorter lifespans.” And this sets up a fierce conflict between Shavir and Jake when eventually they meet and attempt to build a loving relationship.
Crisis piles on crisis as the storms worsen and New Yorkers grow more desperate for drugs
As Shavir and Jake grow closer, superstorms are wreaking havoc on his efforts to secure antibiotics and other essential drugs for New York City. First, a supertyphoon prevents a huge shipment of drugs from leaving Cambodia. Then, eventually moving the drugs at great cost to Hong Kong, Jake finds that yet another typhoon has closed off shipping from that port, too.
Meanwhile, his boss, David, has become addicted to a popular mood-altering drug called Emovia, and his life is coming apart at the seams. Jake is already grossly overworked but now must take on new responsibilities as well. And all the time he has begun to learn about Shavir’s illegal nightlife, which threatens her with a lifetime sentence to prison, or worse. At the same time, the supply of drugs in the city continues to shrink, placing them out of reach of huge numbers of New Yorkers. And now, in what’s left of Brooklyn and Queens, riots are beginning to break out. New York’s future looks bleak, indeed.
How realistic is this novel?
Fragile takes its place among a growing body of novels that portray the effects of climate change. But most focus exclusively on one aspect of the phenomenon, such as the rising level of the seas. By contrast, Von Mossner envisions the impact of several foreseeable consequences of global warming. Not just the rising waters, which have occasioned the construction of huge sea walls protecting the island of Manhattan. But the much increased frequency of superstorms and forest fires. And she doesn’t stop there.
In Fragile, we view the consequences for global commerce, the loss of land previously given over to farming, the outbreak of epidemics as drugs become less available, and the increasing instability of government institutions. The only major aspect of climate change that’s missing here is the flood of climate refugees that is certain to follow the unsustainable rise in temperatures in so many regions of the world. And, given the author’s assumption about the high cost and shrinking availability of transportation across borders, it would be unrealistic to expect a continuing flood of refugees into the United States, given that the country is becoming unlivable, too.
About the author
Alexa Weik von Mossner is an associate professor of American Studies at the University of Klagenfurt in Austria. She holds a PhD in Literature from the University of California, San Diego. Von Mossner is a film scholar and has written more than 100 episodes for a drama series on German television. Fragile is her first novel, although she has also written four nonfiction books, mostly about ecology.
Welcome to the no-longer-United States of America. Half of Florida lies underwater, and the West Coast is burning and choked with smoke. “Where JFK Airport’s big pool of light used to be, broken terminals and flooded runways” lie hidden in the heat. It’s now a permanent evacuation zone, a prime result of “the epic disaster of Hurricane Shelby that had washed it all away.” In the inner boroughs, temperatures rarely dip below 100 degrees Fahrenheit. There, the Global Supply Crisis of the early 2050s has given rise to SAFE, the Special Agency for Essentials, to secure life-saving pharmaceuticals from a shrinking list of suppliers worldwide. At SAFE, Dr. Jake Alvaro passes one sleepless night after another chasing the antibiotics and other drugs New Yorkers need to survive. It’s a thankless and probably futile task. This is the set-up in Alexa Weik von Mossner’s realistic dystopian novel, Fragile.
A set-up for an unlikely romance amid the ruins
The book’s title may refer to the state of American society as the ravages of climate change make life steadily less livable. But the name of the story’s other protagonist, Shavir, also translates as “fragile” from the Hebrew. It reflects one of the strands in her complex, multiethnic heritage. Shavir is a member of Roots, an urban farming collective that raises copious quantities of vegetables on three linked rooftops in Brooklyn.
By night, however, Shavir and some of her colleagues raid illegal facilities across Brooklyn and Queens where crooks are fattening puppies for slaughter as meat. They are all fanatical animal-rights activists who equate the value of animals’ lives with those of humans. Shavir looks on the puppies they rescue as “friends who are blessed with much shorter lifespans.” And this sets up a fierce conflict between Shavir and Jake when eventually they meet and attempt to build a loving relationship.
Crisis piles on crisis as the storms worsen and New Yorkers grow more desperate for drugs
As Shavir and Jake grow closer, superstorms are wreaking havoc on his efforts to secure antibiotics and other essential drugs for New York City. First, a supertyphoon prevents a huge shipment of drugs from leaving Cambodia. Then, eventually moving the drugs at great cost to Hong Kong, Jake finds that yet another typhoon has closed off shipping from that port, too.
Meanwhile, his boss, David, has become addicted to a popular mood-altering drug called Emovia, and his life is coming apart at the seams. Jake is already grossly overworked but now must take on new responsibilities as well. And all the time he has begun to learn about Shavir’s illegal nightlife, which threatens her with a lifetime sentence to prison, or worse. At the same time, the supply of drugs in the city continues to shrink, placing them out of reach of huge numbers of New Yorkers. And now, in what’s left of Brooklyn and Queens, riots are beginning to break out. New York’s future looks bleak, indeed.
How realistic is this novel?
Fragile takes its place among a growing body of novels that portray the effects of climate change. But most focus exclusively on one aspect of the phenomenon, such as the rising level of the seas. By contrast, Von Mossner envisions the impact of several foreseeable consequences of global warming. Not just the rising waters, which have occasioned the construction of huge sea walls protecting the island of Manhattan. But the much increased frequency of superstorms and forest fires. And she doesn’t stop there.
In Fragile, we view the consequences for global commerce, the loss of land previously given over to farming, the outbreak of epidemics as drugs become less available, and the increasing instability of government institutions. The only major aspect of climate change that’s missing here is the flood of climate refugees that is certain to follow the unsustainable rise in temperatures in so many regions of the world. And, given the author’s assumption about the high cost and shrinking availability of transportation across borders, it would be unrealistic to expect a continuing flood of refugees into the United States, given that the country is becoming unlivable, too.
About the author
Alexa Weik von Mossner is an associate professor of American Studies at the University of Klagenfurt in Austria. She holds a PhD in Literature from the University of California, San Diego. Von Mossner is a film scholar and has written more than 100 episodes for a drama series on German television. Fragile is her first novel, although she has also written four nonfiction books, mostly about ecology.
February 24, 2023
Allow me to begin by saying as a reader, I would not by choice read dystopian or post-apocalyptic fiction. I am a hardcore and voracious romance reader. But I do love a good story, no matter the genre, and a brilliant story with a powerhouse message? Absolutely.
Fragile was recommended to me and while I was skeptical, from page one I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. It is action packed and gripping from the first page to the last with a slap across the face message. I even found myself in tears several times. In other words, the best kind of novel.
Fragile takes place in 2057 in a divided New York city devastated by climate change, with severe food, and pharmaceutical shortages. Acquiring food, medical supplies, and basic survival necessities are near impossibilities after “the Crisis.”
With the world on the brink of collapse we see the two different sides depicted through the POVs of our hero Jake, a somewhat desensitized Homeland Security agent, and our driven heroine Shavir, the local barista, farmer / animal activist. The two characters represent the two very different sides of the dystopian world depicted in the book.
What I loved about Fragile is that in the midst of trying to save what they can of a desolated world and also save both human and animal lives against the greatest odds, their relationship represents hope. I’m not going to give anything away, but Jake and Shavir are on opposite sides of this fight for survival. They have two different world views. However, both come to see each other in a different light and learn from the other in a highly volatile and struggling environment.
Alexa Weik von Mossner writes with precision imagery, putting you smack in the middle of Fragile’s collapsing world. You can see the destruction as if you were there, feel the scorching heat on the streets where Shavir and Jake walk, and hurt from the pain experienced by both humans and animals through her vivid descriptions and engaging storytelling. There’s so much more I want to say, but you need to read, experience, this book for yourself because it is an experience.
Fragile was a far cry from anything I’ve read before, and I am grateful I took a chance and read this book. I’ll also say this, Fragile made me more aware of global issues that I’ve been either been too consumed with my own life trials to think about or didn’t really know much about. This novel brought both enlightenment and awareness to my life.
I will read anything and everything written by Weik von Mossner in the future. I will be telling everyone I know to buy this book. BRILLIANT!
Fragile was recommended to me and while I was skeptical, from page one I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. It is action packed and gripping from the first page to the last with a slap across the face message. I even found myself in tears several times. In other words, the best kind of novel.
Fragile takes place in 2057 in a divided New York city devastated by climate change, with severe food, and pharmaceutical shortages. Acquiring food, medical supplies, and basic survival necessities are near impossibilities after “the Crisis.”
With the world on the brink of collapse we see the two different sides depicted through the POVs of our hero Jake, a somewhat desensitized Homeland Security agent, and our driven heroine Shavir, the local barista, farmer / animal activist. The two characters represent the two very different sides of the dystopian world depicted in the book.
What I loved about Fragile is that in the midst of trying to save what they can of a desolated world and also save both human and animal lives against the greatest odds, their relationship represents hope. I’m not going to give anything away, but Jake and Shavir are on opposite sides of this fight for survival. They have two different world views. However, both come to see each other in a different light and learn from the other in a highly volatile and struggling environment.
Alexa Weik von Mossner writes with precision imagery, putting you smack in the middle of Fragile’s collapsing world. You can see the destruction as if you were there, feel the scorching heat on the streets where Shavir and Jake walk, and hurt from the pain experienced by both humans and animals through her vivid descriptions and engaging storytelling. There’s so much more I want to say, but you need to read, experience, this book for yourself because it is an experience.
Fragile was a far cry from anything I’ve read before, and I am grateful I took a chance and read this book. I’ll also say this, Fragile made me more aware of global issues that I’ve been either been too consumed with my own life trials to think about or didn’t really know much about. This novel brought both enlightenment and awareness to my life.
I will read anything and everything written by Weik von Mossner in the future. I will be telling everyone I know to buy this book. BRILLIANT!
February 3, 2024
Fragile takes place in 2057 Manhatten, in "a broken world running out of everything." The focus is on Jake (who works for NY SAFE, which tries to secure critical goods for New York and is also part of Homeland Security) and Shavir (an animal activist who lives and works on an urban farm), two individuals who appear to have little common ground between them but find themselves drawn to each other anyway. The world-building is excellent. Part of the pleasure of reading Fragile is exploring a near-future world that's treated with such detailed realism. Just a few of those details: spine computer implants (and the divide between people who have them and people who don't); our sleep and wakefulness regulated by uppers, downers and "sleepers"; bionic lenses; "better than nature" lab meat; the havoc of frequent megastorms; industrial meat farming, outlawed to save the last functioning antibiotics; the illegal puppy mills that produce black-market meat; the oasis of rooftop gardens; and taking walks along the Manhattan sea wall.
The focus on the international supply chain, particularly the delivery of antibiotics but also other medications, including an over-the-counter mood enhancer, was fascinating to me. Though scarcity--and the havoc and devastation it causes--does appear in other climate fiction, I haven't seen the issue explored in such depth.
With the supply chain as a jumping off point, the book is then able to raise complex ethical questions: should a country deserve priority when there is a limited supply of....everything? What about cities and groups of people within that country -- who deserves priority then? If only a certain number of people can live due to limited supply, how do we decide who lives-- and should we decide this?
I'm very interested in reading climate fiction, but I think this book would honestly interest anyone. There's a fun framework of romance, and it's a bit of a page-turner--at one point I had to flip ahead and see what was going to happen, which is always a good indication that I'm hooked.
I also appreciated the government employees weren't simply painted as bad and the activists painted as good. There's a sympathetic policeman who is trying to do his job. Jake and his government co-workers are complicated people (as is Shavir). There are no villains, only messy humans. I enjoyed this book a lot.
The focus on the international supply chain, particularly the delivery of antibiotics but also other medications, including an over-the-counter mood enhancer, was fascinating to me. Though scarcity--and the havoc and devastation it causes--does appear in other climate fiction, I haven't seen the issue explored in such depth.
With the supply chain as a jumping off point, the book is then able to raise complex ethical questions: should a country deserve priority when there is a limited supply of....everything? What about cities and groups of people within that country -- who deserves priority then? If only a certain number of people can live due to limited supply, how do we decide who lives-- and should we decide this?
I'm very interested in reading climate fiction, but I think this book would honestly interest anyone. There's a fun framework of romance, and it's a bit of a page-turner--at one point I had to flip ahead and see what was going to happen, which is always a good indication that I'm hooked.
I also appreciated the government employees weren't simply painted as bad and the activists painted as good. There's a sympathetic policeman who is trying to do his job. Jake and his government co-workers are complicated people (as is Shavir). There are no villains, only messy humans. I enjoyed this book a lot.
December 22, 2022
There were elements of this story which really grabbed my attention and made me feel tense and distracted .The dystopian world set in a future of climate change and after a big economic global catastrophe felt very real and possible .The supply chain issues faced by the make lead as he worked for homeland agency ensuring access to vital food and medicine was totally believable .We’ve all seen this year the global energy prices zooming ever upwards and supply chain issues during times of pandemic .What happening in this novel is not too many steps away from our reality .This makes the story more upsetting I could imagine myself as a parent trying to find medication for me family
The bit I failed to really get interested in was the female leads supposed eco terrorism that involved rescuing puppies from meat farms and rejoining them .I felt this stretched credulity too much for me .They were clearly risking their lives in times of violent crisis and I found I didn’t really care enough .
I cared more for the stress felt by the homeland agent I felt this deeply .The mood stabilisers large portions of the population were taking and what might happen if supplies of these were suddenly cut off was deeply threatening
I personally wasn’t very interested in the love story between the 2 main characters
I felt the end of the book was disappointing the story fizzled out leaving me feeling unsatisfied
I read an early copy on NetGalley Uk the book is published in the Uk by Elzware Press on 7 January 2023
The bit I failed to really get interested in was the female leads supposed eco terrorism that involved rescuing puppies from meat farms and rejoining them .I felt this stretched credulity too much for me .They were clearly risking their lives in times of violent crisis and I found I didn’t really care enough .
I cared more for the stress felt by the homeland agent I felt this deeply .The mood stabilisers large portions of the population were taking and what might happen if supplies of these were suddenly cut off was deeply threatening
I personally wasn’t very interested in the love story between the 2 main characters
I felt the end of the book was disappointing the story fizzled out leaving me feeling unsatisfied
I read an early copy on NetGalley Uk the book is published in the Uk by Elzware Press on 7 January 2023
December 31, 2022
arc provided by the author; official release date Jan. 7, 2023
This was one of the first dystopian novels I've read that I could actually see happening in the near future. Effects of climate change, corruption in the government, and political/civil unrest all come together to create this post-apocalyptic New York. The world building in this book was exceptional, with extremely vivid descriptions of both the setting and the characters.
Shavir's story honestly didn't captivate me as much as I thought it would. The fact that she saves dogs from being sold on the meat market is dope, but I also just didn't really like her as a character. I thought she was reckless and honestly a little annoying at times. Her romance with Jake was meh, and I never really felt drawn to them as a couple.
Jake's story was by far my favorite part of this book. As a government worker, his emotions and morals are always stretched in a million different directions -- whether he's trying to help out his cousin and niece, or trying to do right by Shavir, or just trying to keep his job. I really sympathized with him and loved his character arc.
This was one of the first dystopian novels I've read that I could actually see happening in the near future. Effects of climate change, corruption in the government, and political/civil unrest all come together to create this post-apocalyptic New York. The world building in this book was exceptional, with extremely vivid descriptions of both the setting and the characters.
Shavir's story honestly didn't captivate me as much as I thought it would. The fact that she saves dogs from being sold on the meat market is dope, but I also just didn't really like her as a character. I thought she was reckless and honestly a little annoying at times. Her romance with Jake was meh, and I never really felt drawn to them as a couple.
Jake's story was by far my favorite part of this book. As a government worker, his emotions and morals are always stretched in a million different directions -- whether he's trying to help out his cousin and niece, or trying to do right by Shavir, or just trying to keep his job. I really sympathized with him and loved his character arc.
January 6, 2023
This dystopian novel imo reads more like horror with that said I was pleasantly surprised by how much I absolutely loved it & could not put it down !!
It's pretty much a future glimpse of our world.
This book touches on SOO many issues that our country is dealing with right now :
Supply chain issues
Government control
People in general unable to sustain basic life needs .. 😐
Rich people thrive where the poor gets ignored
Sounds too familiar & a bit spooky but sadly that's our society now .. but with that said I LOVED this book !!! & Totally recommend it .
It may be a bit depressing, hence the topic but I love how in the end everyone comes together for one common goal : human kind ❤️
Thank you Netgalley for this ArC!!
I love finding new authors
It's pretty much a future glimpse of our world.
This book touches on SOO many issues that our country is dealing with right now :
Supply chain issues
Government control
People in general unable to sustain basic life needs .. 😐
Rich people thrive where the poor gets ignored
Sounds too familiar & a bit spooky but sadly that's our society now .. but with that said I LOVED this book !!! & Totally recommend it .
It may be a bit depressing, hence the topic but I love how in the end everyone comes together for one common goal : human kind ❤️
Thank you Netgalley for this ArC!!
I love finding new authors
January 8, 2023
I received this book as a giveaway.
Positives:
I was blown away by the writer's style and pacing.
The story felt realistic and like it could be one that happens in our future. There were multiple strands woven throughout that compiled into an incredibly believable scenario.
The story was engaging and interesting. It felt very tense when I was reading it, particularly in Jake's sections.
Jake's character and dilemmas were interesting and engaging. His helplessness was palpable.
Criticisms:
I felt the ending was a little abrupt and unexpected. It snuck up on me.
The relationships in the story didn't feel realistic to me.
Most of the characters existed only to further plot points and didn't feel completely real.
Positives:
I was blown away by the writer's style and pacing.
The story felt realistic and like it could be one that happens in our future. There were multiple strands woven throughout that compiled into an incredibly believable scenario.
The story was engaging and interesting. It felt very tense when I was reading it, particularly in Jake's sections.
Jake's character and dilemmas were interesting and engaging. His helplessness was palpable.
Criticisms:
I felt the ending was a little abrupt and unexpected. It snuck up on me.
The relationships in the story didn't feel realistic to me.
Most of the characters existed only to further plot points and didn't feel completely real.
May 27, 2025
Just okay. The dystopian novel is a little too real for liking these days. My main problems were I totally did not believe that Jake and Shavir would be a couple. Different "side of the tracks" thing aside. Also, the dogs for meat, when meat is illegal? But, they will rescue dogs for pets, but they are outrageously regulated? That would seem like fiction or I guess, in what this current administration would do! So - revised and I guess 3 ⭐
Also Ending... guess there is a sequel, not for me.
Also Ending... guess there is a sequel, not for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2025
I enjoyed reading this book, though I found some aspects of it didn’t make too much sense and the relationship between the two main characters wasn’t believable enough. I would have given it 4 stars were it not for the ending. It feels as if the author is planning a sequel as there was no real conclusion to the story. Very annoying.
January 5, 2023
Realistic and well done, this held my attention and is well executed. This author has a good imagination and writing style, and I look forward to her future work.
I really appreciate the free ARC for review!!
I really appreciate the free ARC for review!!
January 13, 2023
Forced words
I like the idea of the storyline; however, I found the writing in this book to be very forced. It was almost painful to read. I also didn't get much depth from the characters. The characters all seemed to have "one voice", which was the authors.
I like the idea of the storyline; however, I found the writing in this book to be very forced. It was almost painful to read. I also didn't get much depth from the characters. The characters all seemed to have "one voice", which was the authors.
August 27, 2024
This piece of climate fiction demonstrates how close we are to the crisis as much of this novel, from the floods to scarce antibiotics, feels pulled from current headlines. I appreciated, though, how the novel depicts moments of hope, love, and friendship in the midst of crisis.
October 2, 2024
A good read about a possibility that could happen to the world in the future with a pair of almost star crossed lovers who end up finding each other. I’m hoping the author will turn this into a series as I would love to follow their journey further. #goodreadsgiveaway
March 17, 2025
Hard to put down
Very believable look toward Earth, in particular NYC and how it may look in 40-50 years. Page turner with social, political, and very human realities. Plan for small nighter.
Very believable look toward Earth, in particular NYC and how it may look in 40-50 years. Page turner with social, political, and very human realities. Plan for small nighter.
July 1, 2025
Such an interesting book! I’m usually not one who reads many books set in the future, but the summary was intriguing so I gave this one a try. I’m so glad I did. The plot was engaging and believable; the characters well-developed. I really enjoyed the book.
August 2, 2025
I don’t normally read this type of novel, but it was really good. Sort of scary that we’re only in 2025 and experiencing some of the things portrayed in 2050.
Thank you to both the author and publisher for the Kindle copy I won in a giveaway.
Thank you to both the author and publisher for the Kindle copy I won in a giveaway.
February 16, 2024
3.75 stars
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