The Lightest Object in the Universe by Kimi Eisele will satisfy those who want a hopeful dystopian novel.

I liked some of the ideas of a community working together to salvage what they can in a world gone horribly wrong and to adjust to the changes forced upon them by the lack of electricity, a population decimated by a virulent flu, and the collapse of government.

Beatrix, however, was annoying and almost everything connected to her part of the story was more than a little pedantic. Much of the time, I wanted to shake her sense of righteousness. (Obviously, if she and her activist friends had been in charge, the world would never have descended into to chaos.)

I'm happy that there are people who stand up for their beliefs (many of which I agree with), but ugh--the smug, condescending attitude of the Beatrix before and after the collapse is irritating.

Beatrix has good qualities, but the author's attempt to give her this activist background has such a holier-than-thou feeling. Being committed to a cause is one thing; being smug and condescending is another.

Carson's journey on foot across the continent to find Beatrix has him meeting more good and generous people than dangerous ones. I love the idea that people would be so generous, sharing the little they have with others, and I know that this could be the saving grace of humanity in such a situation--it might be hopeful to expect such generosity from so many.

I don't regret reading The Lightest Object and the writing is excellent, but especially with what is going on in our society today, it may be too optimistic.

NetGalley/Algonquin Books
Dystopian. July 9, 2019. Print length: 329 pages.

I’m going back and forth with my feelings on THE LIGHTEST OBJECT IN THE UNIVERSE. I’m always on board with dystopian futures, but this one was just a little too close to home and made me a bit uncomfortable. Unfortunately the plot and writing didn’t make up for the anxiety the description of what happens when electricity goes out for good and the world falls apart gave me.

There is also an underlying love story, which was certainly the beat part of the book to me. Carson is in love with Beatrix, who is on the other side of the country, and so he decides to walk the through the States to find her. Cults, vandals, and lack of food make this a hard journey, of course. However, I do wish I cared a bit more for the two characters. A little more heart would have made me much more invested, though I did appreciate the sentiment that love and community will soldier on despite the worst odds.

I've been really excited to read this one! What I didn't realize was how much the story goes back and forth between the two main characters. I'm not a huge fan of books with multiple characters narrating, and I felt this one was a little too disorganized in that method. I really love the concept, just not the execution.

I DNF’d this around halfway, because nothing substantial had happened to make me feel compelled to finish it. I found the format of the book itself a bit frustrating - every chapter switched between the two main characters multiple times and it felt like just as I was interested in something the focus would shift to the other character. This book didn’t have enough action and it didn’t make up for it with beautiful writing or well-developed characters. I think a lot of people will like this book for what it is, but to me it was just okay.

It’s getting harder to write dystopian novels, I think. The writing here is as beautiful but the story itself didn’t capture me the way I thought it would. The back and forth between the stories of the two main characters seemed abrupt and I never really got the sense of wanting them to find each other.

The Lightest Object in the Universe by Kimi Eisele is a recommended post-apocalyptic novel.

A flu pandemic sweeps the world, twice. Protests are already tearing the country apart when society completely breaks down after a cyber attack takes out the electrical grid, along with the global economy and everything else. What is left is a world of individuals on their own who must know how to survive by their own wits and means. Carson is living on the East Coast when the collapse happens, while the woman he has been having a long-distance relationship with, Beatrix, lives on the West Coast. While Beatrix finds herself trying to work with her neighbors to create a cooperative community, set up a radio station, and watch out for the gangs of unruly teenagers on bikes who call themselves T-Rizers, Carson sets out to cross the country on foot to find Beatrix.

The narrative alternates between Carson and Beatrix's point-of-view, with a few sections told through teenage Rosie's eyes. Along Carson's journey he encounters a wide variety of people, most of which are adapting to the new world, mostly helpful. Many are heading toward the compound of a man called Jonathan Blue and the Center he leads in Wyoming. He has taken over the radio frequencies and offers food and community for all who come and join his self-styled religious cult. People across the country are headed toward his group, while others stay in place and try to survive by their own strength and wits.

I would probably scoff at this kinder, gentler post-apocalyptic novel, except for the absolutely exceptional writing - and the quality of the writing is exquisite. She also delves deep into her characters, who are good people. You will want the best to happen to them, even if you, like me, doubt the vision created here. There is also a little too much implied finger-pointing about the "various evil whatever entities that brought us to this horrid path, but look at how we can overcome" going on.

Eisele has envisioned a collapse of society that is actually somewhat optimistic. One would imagine that the actual violence is taking place somewhere off the page, because this novel is more about hope, community efforts, and a new beginning, which is kind of nice, but not highly likely in reality. If people can't get along when they are living (generally, in comparison) comfortable lives, how would the end of society suddenly make them try? Beatrix scoffs at armed guards protecting her neighborhood. Really? Digging composting toilets with your neighbors doesn't necessarily bring people together and make them want to share all they have with others. I also found the idea that thousands of people would head off to a cult located in Wyoming a fantastical fabrication.

In the final analysis, suspend your disbelief and read this novel for the determination of Carson to get to Beatrix. 3.5

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2019/07/the-lightest-object-in-universe.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2886682794
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An optimistic book about the end of the world? Yes! Not since Station Eleven have I read such a hopeful book about the destruction of life as we know it. Kimi Eisele's wondrous The Lightest Object in the Universe is, at its heart, a love story of two 30 somethings separated by distance and circumstances. But is is so much more than that - a cross-country journey of survival; the faith and strength of a small community struggling to survive and the terror of a savage and uncivilized society.

Carson, on the East Coast, is desperate to find Beatrix, a woman on the West Coast (who he met briefly). He starts out on an amazing journey encountering madmen and survivalists, gangs of all sorts, religious fanatics, destroyed cities, and desolate landscapes, all the while hoping to find Beatrix.

Meanwhile, Beatrix and her neighbors begin to construct a cooperative community, complete with animals, a vegetable garden and lots more. Optimistic for the future and excited to be starting over, they plan to survive, doing whatever it takes to build home.

Like Station Eleven, this is a book about the need for and importance of community, and for connection, This is a book about the desire to survive the unimaginable and to find your heart. Kin Eisele does a beautiful job of bringing us into the devastated world through her lyrical writing. Alternating between Carson's story and Beatrix's, she keeps the suspense and sense of doom building, but finishes with a gentleness and a hope for the future. Give this book some time to grow on you, be willing to suspend your disbelief (I am not optimistic about society's ability to come together and rebuild so quickly) and you will be rewarded with a good read.

I count dystopian or post-apocalyptic novels among my favorites, but having read quite a few of them over the years I’ve started to realize that finding something even a little different in the genre is not easy – not that I’m going to let that keep me from trying. Kimi Eisele’s The Lightest Object in the Universe is one dystopian novel that does manage to stand out from the crowd a bit. And that’s both the good news and the bad news.

When the world economy finally crashes from all the abuses it’s suffered at the hands of incompetent and criminal manipulators over the decades, it drags governments and the whole power grid down with it. The United States, it seems, is particularly hard hit by the implosion. Suddenly, cell phones, personal computers, tablets, and smart watches are little more than plastic bricks of various sizes and shapes. Mass communication is a thing of the past. Ready or not, everyone is on his own, and survival is something that will have to be worked at every day for the rest of your life. And it won’t be easy.

Carson and Beatrix are on opposite ends of the country when it happens. The pair met just days before the collapse, but both of them remember the sparks that flew during the little time they were able to share together before Beatrix had to return to the West Coast. Now, Carson is determined somehow to make his way from one coast to the other – and he is prepared to walk all the way even without knowing whether or not Beatriz will be there when, or if, he finally gets there.

What makes The Lightest Object in the Universe different from most novels of its type is its ever-present sense of optimism and goodwill, a feeling that the good people in the world so overwhelmingly outnumber the bad ones that things will work out in the end. Everywhere our main characters turn they are met with people willing to share their expertise or whatever else they can spare. Oh, sure, there are some bad guys out there who will gladly kill and rape at the drop of a hat, but they never seem to get the upper hand for long. But this brings us to the “good news-bad news” scenario I mentioned earlier.

I suppose that Kimi Eisele’s novel exposes me as being more a cynic than an optimist because I was never able to get completely comfortable with an apocalyptic world in which the crime rate is seemingly lower now than it was in the world that preceded it. This is a world, in fact, in which most of the crime - and even that is mostly theft and relatively minor assault - is perpetrated by pre-teens and teens on bicycles. If already dangerous neighborhoods and large cities are violently tearing themselves apart, it is all happening behind the scenes. This allows the overall sense of optimism to be maintained, but it kept me wondering what was happening elsewhere, and how long it would be before those worlds would collide with this one. That’s the bad news – at least for more cynical readers like me.

The good news is that this is an uplifting novel, one filled with hope and confidence in human nature, that I enjoyed reading despite my occasional twinges of doubt. It is more a story about the creation of a new world than it is one about the destruction of an old world.

And that just may be exactly what you need right now, so take a look.

Everything has fallen apart but Carson is determine to cross the US to find Beatrix, a woman he's in love with despite having spent only a few days with her. Beatrix returns to the US from Mexico to find her colleagues gone, her neighborhood completely different, and a new purpose. Rosie, the teen who lives downstairs from Beatrix is desperate to keep her grandmother from forcing her to go to the Center, where a preacher still able to send out signals over the radio promises all is going to be wonderful. The best parts of this are in the small moments- how these characters and others make do, feed themselves, create new families. It's a little heavy handed early on about how "we" brought this on ourselves (enough already with the capitalism is bad bit)- almost so much so that I thought about putting it down. Then, however, I realized I really wanted to know what was going to happen. This is ultimately about remaking society and, after some extremely sad parts, became hopeful. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. For readers of literary fiction looking for a beautifully written post apocalyptic tale.

<i>The Lightest Object in the Universe</i> follows Carson and Beatrix, a couple that began a long-distance relationship prior to the apocalypse, an event that unfolded over years but was cemented by the final loss of the nation's power grid. As they both grapple with how to proceed in a world with no electricity, very little gasoline, and not even a reliable national mail service, the reader watches as Beatrix tries to establish a community where she lives and Carson decides to set out on foot to be with his love.

What is so utterly unique about this dystopian story is just how real it feels. Eisele's apocalypse starts very much where the world is today. There is not a single thing that happens in this story that isn't 100% plausible given the right conditions. Eisele's smooth narrative style moves back and forth quickly between Carson and Beatrix (and towards the end, Rosie), propelling the reader through the novel at lightning pace - I finished this book in two days! I loved each character's examinations of their previous life against the bleak blank slate that is their future, and also how each character's past lives have followed them into the apocalypse, framing how they see the world and the decisions they make.

Overall, I'm very impressed with this novel. I read a lot of dystopian fiction and this one is definitely worth reading.

I have never read a post-apocalypse themed book with a happy ending which is what drew me to this story initially. The story takes place after all technology and corporations go down after a flu wipes out huge portions of the population.
The story is told from the perspective of the two main characters. Beatrix, a strong willed activist and Carson, a high school principal who was a history teacher beforehand. The two were having a long distance relationship when everything went down. Though no cities are specifically mentioned some clues lead me to believe that Beatrix was in the San Francisco area and Carson was in maybe Chicago or New York? Anyways, one of the last things Carson told Beatrix is that he would find her if the grid shut down. Luckily she decides to stay home and try to rehabilitate her neighborhood to be more self sustaining and Carson begins a long trek westward to find the woman he loves.
Carson writes in his journal the stories or histories of the people he comes across as well as letters to Beatrix which are being delivered hopefully via a network of young bicyclists known as the Cyclicals who deliver mail across town and across country.
The story begins with large chunks of the story told from each person and as the book progresses the switches in character become quicker with no real break in between them. I found this very interesting and made the story all the harder to put down. I definitely recommend it.

<b>It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine</b>


For its first third, I found <i>The Lightest Object in the Universe</i> to be deeply frustrating. Here I am reading a novel about the end of the world - flu has wiped out a huge chunk of humanity, the government just sort-of decided to stop working, commerce has collapsed, and the electrical grid has stopped reducing iPhones and computers to useless blocks of plastic and metal - and the world stubbornly refuses to end. Where were the Nuke Pooches, the marauding cannibal, road warriors, the blood-thirsty packs of sentient AIs, and the mushroom clouds? The problem wasn't with Kimi Eisele  (who's debut novel is one those infuriating books that makes you want to congratulate the author for creating something so unique, but at the same time, leaves you completely jealous that they can come so close to perfection with their first try); the problem was me. You see, I thought I was getting a novel about the end of the world, but Kimi Eisele wrote one about the world beginning. 


Set soon after the collapse of the world as we know it, <i>the Lightest Object in the Universe</i> tells the story of Beatrix (a Fair Trade advocate), Carson (a school principal trying to piece his life back together after the loss of his wife), his journey across the changed landscape of the United States, and her attempt to pull together a community that is threatening to fragment as water, food, and trust become increasingly rare commodities. It's a set-up rife with potential for exploring the darkest side of human psyche, but instead the author populates her novel with charcters who see the end of the world as an opportunity to build a new society where people work together to solve problems instead of looking for ways to maximize their own survival. That's not to say that there is no danger to be found in Kimi Eisle's novel - a deadly flu seems to be getting more lethal with every outbreak, a gang of bicycling terrorists teenagers angered that their generation has lost its future threaten to derail all progress, and a strange ascension cult which promises simple solutions to complex problems are constant and real threats - but these threats are overshadowed by the combined decency of the survivors who see their own pain and loss reflected in the eyes of the people they meet on the road to anywhere. 


In the end, Kimi Eisle, dosen't see the loss of our lifestyle as an ending, but as a beginning. It's our willingness to place more importance on the invisible people that we reach through our phones than the people we see everyday in our neighborhoods that is the true end of a world worth living in, and it's the same tools that connect the world and supposedly bring us together are the things that are keeping us most apart. In <i>The Lightest Object in the Universe</i> it's the loss of everything we think is important that acts as the catalyst for giving the human race a chance to live again.

I'm not crying... YOU'RE crying! Ok... Maybe I'm crying just a little.

I'm a huge fan of apocalyptic stories. There aren't many out there that are actually kind of hopeful. But folks, this one is just that! Very hopeful! Most of the book is about how the goodness of people come through rather than the dregs of society taking over.

The Lightest Object in the Universe is the story of Carson on the east coast, and Beatrix on the west coast. Shortly after a soft apocalypse caused by a flu, Carson heads out on a journey from coast to coast to reunite with Beatrix, whom he loves.

While Carson travels, Beatrix helps form a new community as the survivors begin anew in the world that's left.

This is a love story and I couldn't get enough. This is the kind of world I hope to find if there ever is some kind of worldwide disaster.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for the advance copy!*

A thoughtful and thought-provoking apocalyptic novel. It reads more like a character study then an end-of-the-world thriller but still has elements of excitement. I very much enjoyed this one. Would recommend for fans of Station Eleven.

Kimi Eisele writes with a haunting sense of place in this novel. This is my first venture into this author’s work but I appreciate Eisele’s eye for detail.

A book that will reverberate for some time after it is read.

I've read many dystopian novels with themes similar to this book. and the plot line is believable and easy to imagine. However, I could not relate to the characters and find them lacking a little depth. there is also a lot of nice detail in the authors writing, but I struggled to finish.

I will not be posting a review on goodreads because I was unable to enjoy this book and do not feel comfortable leaving a negative review.

The Lightest Object in the Universe was so beautifully full of hope. The concept of something catastrophic happening in the world and being separated from the people I love terrifies me. It’s an unsettling thought that I have pondered before but never like to dwell on because it’s so frightening. Well, this occurrence is what happens to the main character, Carson, when in a dystopian world of darkness, floods, and a deadly flu he is separated from Beatrix, the woman he loves. I appreciated that the dystopian world was believable and relevant to current times. I thought the author did an incredible job of leading the reader to examine thoughts on humanity and our connections that we create with others. If life changed in the blink of an eye and electricity was no longer present how would we evolve (or devolve) to compensate and keep our relationships and sanity in tact? Would it bring us all closer together or further isolate us? This is not the book for someone looking for a fast paced thriller, it is rather slow moving. If you’re someone who craves a story that prompts reflection and is strongly character based then you should pick it up.

A great read for lovers of post-apocalyptic novels. While the lights-were-turned-off-how-do-we-survive tale, it deals with issues of community, family, hope and the lack thereof. Yes, a love interest journey that is really quite impressive and resolves well, this book is a good read for lovers of "Station Eleven", "Dry" and, perhaps, "The Water Knife".

I was not expecting there to be so many surprises from this one. It seemed like every page offered a glimpse into something new and unexpected. There were several areas I would have liked more descriptions and expansion on but overall this was a good read.