This book had a brilliant premise - set against the backdrop of a spoiled America and the new world powerhouse of China.
The book touches upon many important and very real issues of immigration, economics and climate change. I enjoyed the author's voice and the general premise. However the execution fell flat for me, and the lack of growth within the characters hindered my ability to connect.
This wasn't a bad book, nor was it a brilliant book. I think I enjoyed it slightly more as I tend to read alot of alternative history and dystopian books.

East by Kirk Kjeldsen may be a short book but this slim volume packs a punch. Set in a future where America's economy has collapsed and the United States has fractured into a number of independent nations , it follows the adventures of Job, a fourteen year old boy who embarks on a journey across the world to China in search of the mother who went there looking for work years before. The journey is a difficult one and the challenges do not end when the ship docks, instead Job faces the harsh reality of life as an illegal immigrant, where indenture and harsh working conditions are just two of the challenges he faces.
While I liked the premise of the book, I did find the execution a little lacking. The pacing felt rushed, especially in the latter half of the book and the romantic subplot added nothing to the book, and felt very forced. There was some unevenness in the writing too, some passages were wonderfully descriptive and evocative while others seemed more like a series of bland statements designed to get the point across as succinctly as possible.
I read a review copy courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This is the second book by this author I have read, and he is becoming one of my favorite Scandinavian authors. I don't usually like the genre of post apocalyptic tales, but this author is one of those gifted writers than write about any subject and make it full of detail and emotion. I am looking forward to reading more books by Kirk Kjeldsen.

I wanted to like this more, I really did. It has an interesting cover and an interesting premise. But, unfortunately, the delivery was not one I enjoyed. It was told more like a screenplay than a novel. The characters were held at length, told from third person constantly using their names. The story felt more like a list - then Job did this, then he did this. Then Job went over there and did that. He didn't seem to feel anything or have any emotion. The sentences were long, the chapters even longer, and the use of overly dramatic words just seemed out of place in a story that seemed so bleak and confusing. Would our character really know what solvents and silica, toluene and macroglossia were (just to name a few)? I got the feeling he was young (14) and not living in a time when he is well educated....
I wanted to like it more but sadly, it just didn't work for me.

East was a great dystopian style novel wth a twist. In the not to distant future Americans begin migrating out of the good old USA to China in search of a better life. The economy is not why it once was and due to fracking the land is irreversibly ruined.

I enjoyed the parallels drawn about the issues of immigration, environmental issues as well as humanity in general. I felt this was a bit of a “put yourself in their shoes” type of book and got the point across quite well.

The characters were a bit flat but overall this was a good read.

This was my first book by Kirk Kjeldsen, and I went into it having no idea what to expect. However, after reading, I'll admit that I am a fan. East takes place in a future, post-apocalyptic world, which Kjeldsen did a great job of bringing to life. The United States is a shadow of its former self, destroyed by greed and industry. Citizens immigrate to China.

This was a quick read, and I felt the only downfall was that I didn't feel as if I could really connect with the story's main character-Job.

Thank you to Grenzland Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

A story that turns most of what we're currently experiencing on our heads, but I found it really hard to get into. America has experienced an economic crash, the rest of the world is looking to the east for wealth, and there are just too many little niggles that prevented me enjoying the book fully.
I tried to get into it but it was a real struggle to finish - the writing was fine, I just couldn't get into the world possibly proposed. Maybe I didn't understand it properly.

In East, Kjeldsen turns the story of illegal immigration on its head. Set in a future world in which the U.S. is in economic collapse, we follow the story of a young man from the Pacific Northwest who must leave his home and country in order to have any chance of making a living.
Much like Dick’s Man in the High Castle, U.S. readers are forced to identify with those people we may look down on - in High Castle, we are the losers of the Second World War, where characters must bend to outside ruling powers to survive. In East, we are the losers in the world game of economics, and characters we easily identify with are to immigrate to survive.
A timely and powerful story, East gives readers a chance to feel the reality of economic migrants in a world that may yet exist.

I'm not quite sure what to make of East. The premise is strong and the intended parallels between immigrants, running from a dystopian/post-apocalyptic future US, to today's current immigration headlines are obvious but fairly well written.

The biggest problem with this novel isn't in it's execution of a story based on immigration but of the character's themselves. The main character, Job, often feels very one-dimensional. I get that it could be intended in the sense that they are so far removed from 'normality' that they're not going to hit the character progression points that you would normally expect. However, Job ages roughly 3 to 4 years in the book and you really wouldn't know without being told. For me, that was a huge part of why I just couldn't connect with these characters despite the horrific circumstances.

Things happening to characters isn't enough for me to feel empathy for them because that's usually a given. I want and need to understand how those actions make the characters feel, otherwise it's just a set piece after set piece of horrible situations. Small spoiler but by the end, Job has become a human punching bag and there is such a disconnect with what is happening to him and his thoughts and feelings.

It's not all bad and it is a short read, I just don't know how much it really adds to the ongoing conversations around migration.

Thanks to Grenzland Press and NetGalley for provinding me with a copy for review.

This is my first by the author - as an ARC for a honest review.
The book was tough to get in to and tough to stay engaged. I felt like I was ready a story set in the 40's yet it is contemporary. The character was not likable, in my opinion, and I had a hard time coming back to reading.

That said, the story shows a migration story much different than those on the forefront today. This boy is looking for his mother and returns to China. Why China - Mom returned there because it was easier to get a job in the booming, industrializing cities. I won't spoil it, but the whole story just didn't work too well for me.

I really liked the idea and I still think it's very good. The topic of (illegal) immigration is quite up to date. Due to the change of perspective (today's industrialized nations are forced to emigrate) people may find it easer to deal with the problem.
Nevertheless, the implementation is unfortunately only mediocre. Job remains a pale figure throughout, whose fate has not touched me. That's what makes me so sad, especially because the end was really strong and a bit courageous.

This was my third read by the author (all but his debut in fact) and by far the best. Which isn’t to say to say the other ones weren’t up to snuff, they were, Kjeldsen has an appealingly economic, Scandinavian in a way, narrative style and a positively awesome in this day and age ability to tell a standalone story succinctly. It’s mostly to say that this book just had that much more of a story. Or maybe just much more of a story for my personal preferences. The bleak setting here (Kjeldsen does those well) is a post apocalyptic world where the balance of powers has shifted definitively toward the eponymous East. Basically China took over and became the economic power, shining beacon of promise and preferred destination of countless migrants that the USA once was. US, conversely, didn’t fare so well in this time, climate changes and various political upheavals have led to the country coming undone at the seams, with some city states faring more decently than others, but none all that great. In this wasteland a 14 year old named Job is trying to survive. His dream is to get to the promised land of China to find his mother, who has abandoned their family when he was just a child. Eventually he does, only to find out dreams may not be made of this, this relentless pursuit of material success, and survival is as challenging and dangerous as it once was, only in different ways. So essentially it’s a boy meets world story, only the boy here has been brutally robbed of any semblance of childhood and the world…of any semblance of decency. It can be read as climate sci fi, in fact in many ways that portion of the book is the best or at least featuring the best writing, Once in China, the narrative becomes slightly more…not mechanical, but more event driven and events are occurring rapidly, job after job, one terrible situation after another, all in service of the quest to find the elusive mother. Mainly, though, and certainly thematically, this is a story of an immigrant experience, something thoroughly universal and yet consistently forgotten by those who have been in one place ever so slightly longer than others. So as such it is a very timely read, but without outright politicizing, it tells a great compelling story of one young man’s journey. Any way you read it, it is a very enjoyable read, albeit, obviously, bleak and depressing. Thematically, narratively and as far as character writing goes this is Kjeldsen at his best. The story is told succinctly as always (although GR page count appears to be off, it’s more along the lines of 225 or so), but has something of an epic quality to it. Or maybe more of a saga. An adventure in a way, although not a joyous or fun one for our protagonist, but what a great protagonist Job is. His story had me thoroughly immersed. Outside of the fact that the ending seemed slightly rushed and the incomprehensible desire for people to procreate in the face of the most stark privation, this was a very good read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

A good, fast-paced book with an interesting plot including parallel immigration situations we're experiencing in real life. This is a pretty solid story of a sad future told through a resolute Fourteen-year-old. This is a talented author who will probably get even better with time. Recommended for fans of thrillers.

I really appreciate the complimentary copy for review!!