Title: Clean Air

Author: Sarah Blake

Publisher: Algonquin Books 2022

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 320

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

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. They created enough pollen to render the air unbreathable, and the world became overgrown.

In the decades since the event known as the Turning, humanity has rebuilt, and Izabel has grown 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 tranquility of her town is shattered. Someone—a serial killer—starts slashing through the domes at night, exposing people to the deadly pollen. At the same time, 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 society finally flourishing again?

A bit of mixed bag with this one. I was intrigued by the post-apocalypse setup and was intrigued by the murder mystery aspect of it. I love good disaster dystopian novel and this one seemed to fit the bill. I enjoyed the world-building and the murder mystery aspects. I was on the edge of my seat to figure out exactly who was killing people in the neighborhood. Those sections were done well. I was less interested with Isabel and her reactions to life and the murders. Her constant cycling through apathy and anxiety left me tired. It felt odd to me to follow someone who is having very PTSD-like symptoms ten years after the inciting events. I had a hard time connecting to her and her actions. I almost wish that we had either focused on the murders or the adjustment to a new way of life. Izabel was not the person that I wanted to follow on this journey.

Next up on the TBR pile: