Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced readers copy. All opinions are honest and my own.

Thank you for the opportunity to review - this was really quite new and creative! Would definitely seek out more titles from this author.

Atmospheric setting, poetic prose, dry plot. I felt like I was reading a rough draft of a future novel. Nonetheless, I'm interested in reading a longer form work by this author.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this opportunity to read this novel. The writing was fantastic. The metaphors throughout the novel about motherhood and the waters and the baby walking was not something I have ever thought about until reading. I just felt like each instance in which the narrator brings the reader through though leaves them hanging, wanting more.

This book was one I wanted to loved. I loved the story of the main character and her baby. But the climate change story felt secondary.

I recently read Megan Hunter's novella The Harpy and became not so mildly obsessed with it. This reminded me that I had a copy of Hunter's prizewinner, The End We Start From, hidden away in my TBR. I'll explain below why it took me a time to get through to it, but also why I have now absolutely fallen in love with it. Megan Hunter is becoming an instant-read author for me! Thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My sincere apologies for the long delay in reviewing!

So why did I not read The End We Start From straightaway? I was absolutely intrigued by the premise and by the hype around it, and yet the latter kind of scared me off. I'm a bit stubborn and really want to be able to make up my own mind about a book, so I often need to create a little distance between myself and the hype before I can read a popular book. In the case of The End We Start From that meant that I waited a little too long, and then an actual pandemic hit, a disaster which felt like the end of the world and it also didn't feel like the right time. But thanks to The Harpy I knew I should stop coming up with excuses and face the proverbial music. The End We Start From is a heartbreakingly beautiful and sad novella, one which both inspires and fills one with fear. In a sense I'm glad I waited until now, as I don't know I would have appreciated it as much in 2017. (Still, my apologies for the delay.)

A woman is about to give birth, while her husband is out fishing. But this isn't her biggest problem, as catastrophic floods submerge London. She manages to flee with her son Z and her husband R to his parents' house, but the floods bring with them other challenges. As the mother's world shrinks to her husband and son, and then just her son, The End We Start From tells a fractured but heartfelt tale of birth and rebirth, life and death, the beauty of small things, and the incomprehensibility of the complex, amid a natural disaster. Our female narrator is never named, and all other characters are only referred to by a single letter. It creates a kind of distance, on the one hand, and yet, on the other, also feels very intimate, as if you're familiar enough with them to use nicknames. No need for formal introductions here. The intimacy continues throughout the novella as the narrator opens up her life to the reader, however limited it has become.

What I enjoyed about The Harpy is also true for The End We Start From. The story is told in short, brief, snatches which do not always connect directly. Between these, we get small glimpses at what seem to be apocalyptic texts, lines from what could be prayers for a new, Edenic world, and more. As far as I'm aware, these stem from the Book of Genesis, but even if they don't resonate in a Biblical way, they resonate on a mythical level. It adds am extra layer of depth to what would otherwise be, technically, a straightforward tale of a new mother trying to survive in a changed and hard world. Because this central tale isn't told in an expansive way, though, it also remains mysterious and full of question marks. Rather than paint a full picture, Hunter gives the reader brief glimpses, sneak peeks at a complexity of feelings and events which cannot be put into words. For some readers the plot may be a little too lean, which is understandable. I, however, very much reveled in the silences Hunter places throughout her story. As I have found in my own literary research, sometimes silences do speak louder than words, and the things Hunter leaves unsaid, the things that cannot be discussed, for which no words exists, echo throughout The End We Start From. Whether it is the woman's enormous love for her son, her wonder at this new world, her conflicted feelings towards her husband, we get to see some of it, but much is also left to our own imagination. If that's something you enjoy, The End We Start From is absolutely for you.

The End We Start From is, for me, all the things the critics said. It is a lyrically precise tale of motherhood, renewal, destruction, loss, and love, in which Hunter manages to create depth through silence.

A short, intense step into a dystopian world that we are closer to than we want to imagine. Provocative and surprising, pulling out many layers of the consequences of the climate crisis

This felt like a nice short story. Interesting as I listened to it but will quickly leave my mind. I liked the POV of a mother in the apocalypse that we got in this story. I just think there wasn't enough there to make a long lasting impression.

This was a strange little book and an odd reading experience. Set in the present day, an unnamed narrator has just given birth as London is experiencing catastrophic flooding. Conditions become increasingly dire and she, her husband R and baby Z are forced to evacuate their apartment. (One of the first oddities about this novel is that all the characters are only identified by their first initial.) They live in their car, then a refugee camp, and the sense of panic and despair is palpable. All the while, Z continues to grow and meet all of his developmental milestones.

The contrast between the utter loss of life and the growth and promise of a new one is well done, as are the themes of self-reliance and community. Hunter’s writing is sparse, emotional, and poetic. There’s a detachment from the characters (maybe because of only knowing their first initials) but you do care about them and what happens to them.

At only 136 pages, this is definitely a book that can be read in one sitting. I would not recommend audio. I started it on audio but the narrator speaks in a bit of a monotone — probably to reflect the shell-shocked nature of the fictional narrator, which makes sense — but it was hard to follow. Reading it was better and helped me get more into the story.

It’s hard to rate this. On one hand, I really didn’t like not knowing the characters’ full names. That was a bit annoying. And sometimes the prose would feel a little lofty. But the story itself was extremely relatable and very timely given climate change and all that we’ve gone through with the pandemic. I really liked Megan Hunter’s novel, The Harpy (published in 2020) and think she is a writer to watch. 3.5 of 5 stars.

was excited about this book, but it ended up being a bit forgettable. The writing was simple in a good way, and I enjoyed the mother-child bonds within the story, but otherwise, this fell flat for me.

Refugee stories might have similar themes, but this one does not seem formulaic for phony. It is authentic and the voice is strong and real. Very moving.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I almost feel like I didn’t ‘get’ what it was trying to do.

For one thing, I can’t work out the significance of referring to all the characters by an initial instead of a name??

It was also quite confusing and hard to follow, as the writing was quite convoluted. I imagine it was meant to be lyrical and poetic, it I just ended up feeling lost. It was also highly unemotional for a story about the end of the world, and the worry of your new born baby and husband.

Thankfully it was a very quick read, or I feel I might’ve DNF’d it.

I was excited about this book, but it ended up being a bit forgettable. The writing was simple in a good way, and I enjoyed the mother-child bonds within the story, but otherwise, this fell flat for me.

I really had no idea what to expect when I started this one, but I always tend to enjoy books where the world is falling apart. The End We Start From has a scarily possible premise, and is often very moving. The writing is sparse, and often lovely.

Trying to read this in the middle of a pandemic, just after giving birth to my second child was a little too much... this is on my DNF pile, but I hope to return to it in a few months... when the end of the world isn't so much of a reality.

It was an intriguing story line presented in a completely different writing style. All characters remained nameless and this made you as the reader feel an outsider. It almost felt as if you are on the outside looking in. It sure created an atmosphere of desolation. Especially with the occurring catastrophic events happening in this novella.

I do believe that this book will fare very well with the right audience and the writing style is definitely worth mentioning. Superb.

This book was fantastic. I found it's portrayal of motherhood with a slightly dystopian feel very interesting.It also feels quite apt considering the world we're currently in.

Riveting, sparse, a big story contained in a small book. Memorable & well written.
Well developed characters, considering the length.

Fascinating premise, particularly given these precarious times. It's a warning cry for the future - and a future that seems inevitable.

Yet it is also a deeply humane and relatable read - stripping the characters of individual names (beyond initials) helped to apply a universality to the narrative.

I enjoyed the experimental style and the inclusion of biblical passages. There was a disorientation in reading such a sparse and fragmentary novel, no doubt a stylistic choice to mirror the disorientation we feel in the wake of catastrophe.

An important and timely read.

A spare, beautiful dystopian novel set in London, this captivated me. I also enjoyed the book After the Flood, which has similar themes of motherhood and climate change.i am so glad more authors are tackling this important subject in fiction.