Thursday, February 10, 2022

Review: Clean Air by Sarah Blake

Clean Air
by Sarah Blake

Publisher: Algonquin
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  The climate apocalypse has come and gone, and in the end it wasn’t the temperature climbing or the waters rising. It was the trees. The world became overgrown, creating enough pollen to render the air unbreathable.

In the decade since the event known as the Turning, humanity has rebuilt, and Izabel has gotten used to the airtight domes that now contain her life. She raises her young daughter, Cami, and attempts to make peace with her mother’s death. She tries hard to be satisfied with this safe, prosperous new world, but instead she just feels stuck.

And then the peace of her town is shattered. Someone starts slashing through the domes at night, exposing people to the deadly pollen—a serial killer. Almost simultaneously, Cami begins sleep-talking, having whole conversations about the murders that she doesn’t remember after she wakes. Izabel becomes fixated on the killer, on both tracking him down and understanding him. What could compel someone to take so many lives after years dedicated to sheer survival, with humanity finally flourishing again?


Kritters Thoughts:  We are in a time after the Turning where trees and pollen are at a deadly level and one must where an extensive mask just to go out in public to do the things that one must every day.  There are more robots doing tasks while humans can work from home and operate these robots and keep everyone safe.  

I don't read a ton in this genre, but I can enjoy a look at our world at a different time with different perimeters and "rules."  It felt really odd to read a book about how you must were a mask to survive when we are still debating about if they help with keeping COVID from spreading.  

The basic plot of the book worked for me, but the serial killer aspect was just ok.  I loved the look at how the environment can take over and while we can debate climate change - but not here on a book blog!  I wish the book had dove more into the debate about climate and its affects and how that is changing people's lives in this book.  

My first Sarah Blake book and I am hoping to break into her backlist soon and see what else she has.    


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2022 Challenge: 7 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Algonquin.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.


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