DNF at 15%. The audiobook narrator was excellent, but the story just did not keep my attention. Thank you for providing this audiobook.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars--

My number one take-away is that I wish I had read this book instead of listening to it as an audiobook. I believe there was much nuance and foreshadowing that I simply missed in moments of distraction. I enjoyed the narrator, but also found her voice almost too soothing, lulling.

I had a hard time keeping track of Lou's different timelines and the ultimate explanations for why she is able to live many lives and why she doesn't remember this about herself. That said, there was much to enjoy about this book. Lou is a very likeable character--she's curious, she's driven, she's passionate about her community; she nurtures close friendships. I also really enjoyed the historical setting of the book, especially the displacement of Black and other non-white communities and businesses upon the creation of Route 66. I will also say that the twist--when the villain is revealed--was definitely surprising and satisfying.


Many thanks to RB Media and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this audiobook.

There is no doubt about it, the premise and opening chapter of “The Perishing” hooked me. I was so intrigued by what this book promised, and the writing was stunning. Books like this rarely come along and I was so grateful to be able to read it early. A huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for that chance. However, ultimately, the book was not what I’d anticipated and spent less time exploring the topics I’d been so intrigued by when I picked it up. I will be looking forward to future work from this author, but it didn’t meet my expectations, sadly. Still, I found the prose to be beautiful.

This book gave me major Addie Larue vibes, and I loved Addie Larue. However, this was different in that the story didn't keep me as interested as AL. The book is very character driven, and the plot was a good idea, but I think the execution fell a little short for me.

I chose this as my Book of the Month and flipped back and forth with the audio. I preferred the audio to the novel.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to review this book. I could not get into the style of this book. It was a DNF for me.

This was a story that had a promising premise, but overall fell flat in many ways for me. I kept grasping for a bigger picture, a deeper meaning for the storyline(s!) playing out, but ultimately came up empty-handed over and over. That said, the writing was solid, and I do look forward to seeing what else the author creates in the future. The narration was good for the material, but it just wasn't enough to really immerse me into this book. Thanks to NetGalley Shelf and RB Media for an ALC.

This was an interesting read even though parts of it were difficult to read. I like how the author combined past, present, and future elements. I love historical fiction and this novel had kind of a time travel twist on it since it addresses different points in time. I also really liked that this story revolves around a woman of color and follows her in different life times.

Well produced audiobook with a good narrator. I think it took it a while to get going, but once it got there it was fine. The writing is very fluid and well written. It does get a little confusing with multiple timelines as well, and there were a few times that I had to rewind to go back and get my bearings as well. The whole plot was a lot. There was a lot going on and unfortunately I just don't think it came together in the way that I was hoping it would. But I can see the talent in the author's writing and I would read more from her for sure.

This is a hard novel to review. I had a pretty hard time getting through the audio. In fact I had to pause and listen to a different book smack in the middle of The Perishing. Yet...I did not hate it. I think I possibly just started listening to it at the wrong time for me personally? I don't know. It's hard to tell. In any case, here is my best attempt at reviewing it. 

Natashia Deon is (no doubt) a monumental talent. The writing is beautiful, poignant, sometimes witty, sometimes straight up disturbing. But overall it meant to be savored. Slowly. Check out this quote for example: “So before the bus left, before Sammy's week was up, Sammy and Billy snuck into the church building, sat in the pews, and ate a mess of pineapple and peach and butter and nuts with some mint, all dumped and baked into cake batter. The end result was the distinctive flavor of strawberries. Proof that dump cake is life. No matter what you put in it, no matter what you try, how you're received is not always up to you.”

So yes, the language is 100%. And I will most definitely read more by this author. Yet... The Perishing, in my opinion at least, has not been thoroughly thought through. I am not a fan of the "neat" endings. Neither do I NEED to have a plot driven narrative. However, if you do decide to make an attempt at explaining what the heck is it that is going on (which was done (sort of) at the very end of the novel), then you have a responsibility to your reader to make it a cohesive one! Which, unfortunately, is not what we've got here. 

The Perishing is part sci-fi novel, part coming of age story, and part a love letter to LA. All the LA historical fiction parts were excellent and probably my favorite. The coming of age storyline, featuring Lou, was also excellent, in particular all the social commentary. Now to the sci-fi part ...now I understand that a lot of it wasn't meant to be taken literally. That is all of the black immortal parts were highly symbolic, but....the constant alternating between the different timelines, and the introduction of the new characters and (sometimes) re-introduction of some of the characters that we have already met - what can I say...it got a bit too much for me. I could not quite follow the purpose of many of these (seemingly random) characters. Now I did like some of the "prior life" stories. In particular the one about the Chinese Dr. It was oozing this great irony, and symbolism. The story, the way I understood it, signifies the fact that we, the white people, inevitably shoot ourselves in the foot: the systemic racism in America ruins lives not only of black people, but for the white ones as well. 

So, yes, that one was great. But...many of the others seemed like...I don't know...they didn't belong? And most importantly the attempt to "bring it all together" at the end was an epic fail. I literally felt like I was left with more questions than answers. Especially as it relates to the "future" (2117) timeline.  Also, there was a pretty intense build up at the end, that made you feel like "now, NOW, I will figure out everything. Now it will all make sense and come together!!!", which culminated in well... nothing much. That was very dissatisfying.

In short, I think it's an ambitious novel for sure. I will say that perhaps the author tried to accomplish too much at once. As a result some aspects suffered. Namely the whole "immortality" plotline was developed rather poorly.

I will say that if you decide to read this novel I would advise against the audio. WHAT?! Did I just say that?! Me? Recommended against audio   Yes. Now I have nothing against the narrator, Lisa Renee Pitts. She truly was excellent. It's more of a content issue. This is a book that is not easy to follow on audio. Even for the experienced listener. I kept "missing" things, and spacing out, and "rewinding" again and again just to keep up with all the alternate timelines -- it was simply too tedious. I truly believe that this is a type of novel with which you need to take your sweet time. Don't rush. Don't listen to it while driving (you will need all your focus  ) Savor the beautiful writing. Re-read the whole paragraphs if you need to. Just enjoy the ride! 


Thank you NetGalley, Recorded Books and Natashia Deon for this advanced listening copy.

There were some beautiful quotes and imagery in this book. But also… nothing really happened and it was nothing like the synopsis.
Also, it was impressive how she included rants about vaccines, mask wearing, and the Black Lives Matter movement when most of the book took place in the 1930s and NONE of the book was set in the 21st century.

Not the worst book I’ve ever read, but I really wanted so much more from this.

Note - the audiobook is amazing and almost made up for the story. The narrator has a classic voice that draws you in. She reminded me a lot of Bonnie Turpin and was excellent.

I think this would be better reading vs listening and nothing against the narrator but there was a lot of back and forth in time and I'm not sure I understood it all and did it actually go anywhere? I do believer it's worth a read though and I may physically read it at some point. The ending was very confusing for me, well most of Sarah's narrative was.

I did not really enjoy this book. I like the idea but the execution could have been better. I did not feel particularly drawn to the main character, Lou, who did not feel relatable. I believe there is definitely room for improvement. The book is not bad but it could be better!

while i didn't love this, the reviews are absolutely brutal and most certainly unfair. by turns more ambitious than anything attempted by white or otherwise normative writers, it could use some refining, but is admirable nonetheless. 3.5 rounded up

A genre-defying, unputdownable sci-fi/historical fiction book featuring a Black woman journalist in LA. This one was thoroughly entertaining and highly recommended for fans of Octavia Butler. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy!

What would you do if you found out that you never truly die? That all your daydreams are actually events that happened in your past lives? The Perishing is a story follows Lou as she navigates through life never knowing who her real family is. Lou is a African American teenage girl who is growing up and finding herself in the 1930’s. She consistently has these vivid daydreams that seem so real but they aren’t right?

I listened to this book as an audiobook. Even though there are multiple timelines throughout this story, Deón does a great job of ensuring that the reader seamlessly transitions between lives. I truly enjoyed this book and it was a quick read for me. I quickly became invested in the characters in this book. From heartbreaking to laughing so hard you cry, this book gives it all. The narrator’s inflection lends to the ambiance that each timeline provides.

Déon's writing and conceptualisation of her character and premise are reminiscent of Octavia Butler and that should have been a win. Her attention to detail is apparent in the depiction of various social tensions and issues of 1930s Los Angeles and was appreciated.

Jumps between times, backwards and forwards, introduces unique and mysterious aspects of our protagonists and their predicament: existing in multiple timelines, dealing with multiple issues of belonging, identity, and representation.

This has everything to be complex and intricate, but loses much with its incomplete histories of two of three characters who should anchor a strong story. It makes the reader question the need for these two who do little to drive the plot forward.

Where she lost the pacing and character development is when she decided to drop in an exposition on boxing. This broke the tone of the story as it did nothing to advance the arc of Lou. Now there are incidences of this throughout, but they are succinct and only help in building out the necessary aspects of character and story.

I just wish more time and attention had been given to fleshing out the development of each main character and how they would play into the ensuing revelation.

[1 Star]

This book fell quite flat for me. Lou was an extremely one-dimensional character that never underwent any development. We just watched her go through life with no motivations or purpose. Sarah's passages were largely unenjoyable, unnecessary, and disrupted the plot's flow. They should have been left out. My immersion was also constantly disrupted by the insertion of COVID-19 commentary. They never outright said 'COVID-19' (since it was the 1930's) but there were multiple scenes centered around masks, vaccines, conspiracy theories, etc. I agreed with the author's points, but they didn't need to be in this book. Lastly, the main reason I picked this up was because of the immortality pitch but that really only came about in the last ~50 pages. And then the book ended with no resolution or answers.

I think this would have been better as a series of essays instead of as a poorly structured fiction novel with awkwardly inserted social commentary

This book missed the mark for me, and unfortunately the audiobook narration only made the story read slower. Typically if a book is slow for me, the audiobook will help me. This was the first instance where the opposite was true in my experience.

The beginning through me off, and made it challenging for me to identity Lou as my main character right away. While I did enjoy Lou, learned from Lou and appreciated the writing, it moved far far too slowly for me. Sarah’s chapters only made things worse as they did not seem to move the story forward.

First I want to start by saying I absolutely loved the narration of this book, and think the story lends well to audio narration. I'm going back and forth on how I feel about this book. There were some sections that I absolutely loved, an some sections that felt like they were dragging The beginning was so compelling and I loved the introductions to these characters and the timelines. Overall, I enjoyed the story and the writing style and use of the multiple timelines/time travel.

The Perishing by Natashia Deón was certainly hyped up but sadly let me down. This may have been due to its complexity which was simply too much for me at this time. This book has an extremely complex plot and required very attentive reading or listening.