Play Book Tag discussion

The animals are dying. Soon we will be alone here.

I finished reading this just after the Winter Solstice - the longest night of the year - had started. I don't know if it was fate or my subconscious that arranged that timing because I was at about 75 pages to finish for 3 or 4 days but never found time from work and holiday prep to finish it until the Solstice. It was the perfect timing for this novel of extinction, loss, and survival. It's going to live with me for a long while.

We meet Franny in Greenland as she's finishing tagging an artic tern just before the last flock of arctic turns starts their migration to Antartica. She heads off to find a ship, preferably a fishing vessel, to take her onboard and to follow the last migration. The fish in the sea are nearly extinct and without a food source, the arctic terns are expected to become extinct as well, thus making this the last migration of the arctic tern. It is clear from the very beginning that Franny has dark secrets, is damaged, and there is another purpose to this journey though she says that she is doing it because the arctic tern makes the longest most difficult migration twice each year, surviving brutally difficult environmental conditons, something may be learned that can save them and other species. What follows is a dystopian adventure set in the near future where all animal life, from insects to fish to birds, is extinct or on the very edge of total extinction. It's not a happy-go-lucky journey.

A life’s impact can be measured by what it gives and what it leaves behind, but it can also be measured by what it steals from the world.

Nor is the emotional and psychological journey that we soon see is Franny's personal migration, one that is revealed bit by bit, sometimes in memory flashbacks, sometimes through words said by Franny to others. More than the story of a world where all wildlife is on the irreversible edge of extinction, this is a story of a damaged woman, who has suffered greatly and has caused much harm and suffering as well, one that takes her to the edge of complete self-destruction. It's an exploration of survival, redemption and reclamation - of Franny, others, flora and fauna. It's exploring the need to face truth head on rather than hide behind 'it's my nature' or 'I have wandering feet' or 'humankind needs to survive', accepting and growing stronger from doing so.

I could not help thinking about Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel as I read this, another dystopian novel based in a near realistic future.
Moby-Dick or, the Whale came to mind too, especially as to Ennis and his crew.

There is very much an underlying toll of a bell of doom underneath this story, even though it's lightly written, with touches of thriller, mystery, even fantasy. It's a brilliant accomplishment by McConaghy. Franny may not always be likable or believable or sympathetic, yet she and the story told are compelling. I also like the way McConaghy wove in the differing perspectives on preventing or more likely reversing extinction. I also liked the fact that McConaghy did not drown us in science, politics, or info dumps. I had a fine time going down Google rabbit holes as I read this in ebook, including maps showing the arctic tern migration patterns. I liked the near-future feeling without being too precise as a way to reinforce that this could occur in our lifetime. I have very mixed feelings though about the use of flashbacks to reveal Franny's dark past slowly, oh so slowly, and the real reason she is following the arctic tern migration is made clear. It felt too disjointed to me sometimes, too disruptive to the story. Ultimately I decided that the mysteries and journey of the story required them, as did the underlying darkness to the plot that sometimes filled me with dread. This is where McConaghy's use of the mystery structure, with the grand reveal at the end, is so effective. Even though one of the big reveals is one I'd guessed quite early on, other parts I had not even suspected would turn as it did. I liked the unpredictability and also that everything was not tied up in a bow -- by not tying up every single bit of plotting, McConaghy brings us back to the real story here, that of Franny's migration.

Excellent review. So enjoyed reading this with you.

I loved reading this with you! Thanks for joining in! We compliment each other well.

I felt quite close to and proud of Franny in the end.

Theresa wrote: "I loved reading this with you! Thanks for joining in! We compliment each other well.

I felt quite close to and proud of Franny in the end."

I have to say that I was worried about the ending, but was delighted with how it turned out.

It did save the day for my Trim the TBR as well because I decided to ditch The Shining Girls as I wasn't enjoying really evil villains right at the moment.