Dystopia my beloved how I love reading you. That being said, dystopian stories are among the rarest that I go for in YA. Genuinely I think that YA is not for me anymore at this point in my life, but I still manage to come across books that I enjoy. This one was among them, even if my rating seems low - I've sat on this book for over a week, deciding that some things did not do it for me, but I know full well that they are what other people are looking for in a book.
That being said, there's much to like in this short novella. The worldbuilding was wonderful to read, especially because it came with many explanations to why things are the way they are, how things fell apart. It's not something that even full length novels always "waste" time on, so, as someone who is looking for exactly this - I thoroughly appreciated this.
I loved the pinch of body horror in this, and I wish we would have learned more about the Cad, but ultimately the amount we did learn fits well with this story. It's very character driven, and we learn only as much as the protagonist knows, only as much as we see the world through her eyes. And it would be so interesting to see what more she learns about the world in the future, after the point where this story ends.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

This was really well written and interesting. I didn't realize it was a novella, so I was pretty disappointed when it ended suddenly, leaving a lot of unanswered questions, but I guess that's my fault for not paying attention to the format. This is a little snapshot into the life of a Reid, a teenage girl several generations out from a gradual powering down of the world due to not be prepared for completely depleting fossil fuels, and simultaneously experiencing a pandemic fungal infection that seems to have a very high death rate. It is mostly about Reid's relationships with her mother and best friend, and how they are massively strained when she gets an extremely rare acceptance letter to a university. It's a good look at a teenager trying to become independent, with some background dystopian elements. There are some minor plausibility issues, for instance it's hard to understand how paper mail is being delivered readily, yet everyone seems very uninformed about anything outside their community. I wanted to know more about the origin and evolution of the parasitic fungal infection, which perhaps came from a meteor and seems to be asserting some sentient control over the infected humans, but in the novella context it's kind of just a background detail. I wanted to know what life inside the mysterious dome was like as well, and what university turned out to actually be.

I’m the first to review this book. I do like that. Ready, set, go…
There’s a reason I didn’t request Mohamed’s sequel to Beneath The Rising when it showed up on Netgalley recently, despite the fact that overall the first one was actually quite good. It isn’t an altogether well realized reason, but it’s there…there’s just something about the author’s writing that doesn’t quite work for me or, more specifically, doesn’t work as a long form investment and her BtR books tend to be long. Some of it is to do with the writing or overwriting, but the main thing is that ubiquitous not quite but kinda sorta YA thing they have going on.
I figured that a novella (albeit a long one, of course, at 170 pages) might be a safer bet, but there it is again, the perpetual coming of age theme, the teenage characters, the is it or isn’t it YA question?
Mind you, for some readers it wouldn’t matter and for some it might even be a draw, but I am a staunch believer in age appropriateness and in my book YA should be left for young adults. Which is to say that Mohamed’s books leave me wonting. Despite how interesting they are. Despite her worldbuilding. And all that.
But to be fair, there are plenty of good things here in this dystopian tale and yes, mainly it is the worldbuilding. Following a series of tragedies of climate and manmade manner, the world has become fairly inhospitable and survival is tough. The main protagonist and everyone she knows live in an abandoned office complex where privation abounds. And then she gets a college admission letter, a glimpse of normalcy, but so much more than that…a promise of a happier tomorrow, a chance to have a nicer life. Of course, that would mean leaving behind all and everyone she knows. And that’s what this book is about, arriving at a lifechanging decision.
A theme universal enough that anyone of any age can relate to. Which is why this isn’t all the way YA. There just aren’t enough childish things to put away in this bleak world prior to entering any sort of adulthood. Still, for me it would probably be more relatable and engaging with older protagonists.
Am I an ageist? Yeah. Does this author even write books with adult protagonists? No idea. Is she talented? Yes, definitely. Should you read this book? That’s up to you entirely. I’ve done my best to sum up my opinions and thoughts on it. The official description, cover and title are all very enticing. It didn’t quite work for me, but it was a quick enough of a read not to mind that too much. The dystopian aspect it of was very well done and apparently now there’s a subgenre to reflect any presence of optimism, which is…ok. That’s all, folks. Thanks Netgalley.