Books like this are the reason fans fell in love with post-apoplectic styled novels. The realistic possibilities against a damaged landscape and just as damaged world of men where all are equals. After all, when the end comes, aren’t we all survivalists? When we open a book, we expect to be entertained - and oh how Disaster’s Children carries that special story reaching into your imagination from the start while leading you to the unknown conclusion. This one really delivers what Science Fiction and Fantasy lovers want.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

Climate change has been something I've been trying to keep in mind in my daily life and to take action accordingly where I can, but it's not something I've really seen in fiction before, hence why I requested this book.

Marlo (I assume her name is a portmanteau of both her parents' names) has grown up on an exclusive commune-type community for the wealthy hoping to survive when the effects of climate change strike. The book follows her development as she struggles with wanting to leave, alongside her loyalty to the ranch and her family.

Sloley goes to great lengths to try to make us see Marlo as distinct from the other ranchers, trying to show her as open minded about the outside world ('the Disaster') but there is only so far that is believable to me given her age and the privileged lifestyle she has enjoyed.

Ultimately, and unexpectedly, this is really a love story, although I guessed the twist in this part of the story quite quickly. The tension and crisis point in the relationship didn't seem particularly big to me either.

Although not much really seemed to happen, I did enjoy reading this book. I think more for the climate change aspects (although I did find some of the ranchers' decisions on how to order their lives quite weird - I was surprised they weren't more eco-friendly in some of their practises and wanted to ask Marlo why she hadn't heard of menstrual cups when she was worrying about running out of tampons!). In a way it was kind of disappointing to not see how the climate crisis played out in Sloley's imagined future. Sadly, according to many scientists, climate disaster will strike us much sooner than in this book unless action is taken by governments, businesses, and individuals alike.