“The Deadlands” takes place in some undisclosed future in Arizona. The climate worldwide is collapsing, and though there are still some areas able to continue more or less as normal, this part of the U.S. is a terribly hot, dry sandy place.

A small family of a father, Isaac, his nineteen-year-old daughter Georgia and her younger brother Wulf live in an underground settlement. The family relies on solar power, hunting, foraging, and extremely careful use of what resources they do have. There is still access to the Internet, though Georgia is not allowed to use her father's computer. We learn fairly early on that Isaac is against relying on others, and sees certain ways of life and government-funded projects (w.g. the Domes) which are intended on keeping the population safe from the degrading climate as foolish.

Into this insular family situation comes a pair of people, Vanessa, who says she is writing an article about the Domes, while Nick, her husband, is along for the ride. Isaac welcomes them in, then tells them they cannot leave. Though shocked and angry, the pair settle in with mixed results, with Vanessa mostly acquiescent, Nick angry, Wulf disgusted by the pair, and Georgia becoming fascinated with what these two represent of the world outside, something Georgia is very curious about.

I could see where this story was heading, with the clash of personalities and world views, and the rising threat of violence. And though it mostly worked out as surmised, there were a few surprising aspects.

Isaac seemed dodgy from the get go, so I wasn't overly surprised by his increasing control over everyone. Wulf was too much in his father's thrall to ever become interesting, while Georgia remained mostly naïve, passive and unemotional, and I often wondered what, if anything, till something happened near the end, that would propel her forwards as a character.

I think that this story could have been told in a more succinct way, as for a great part of the novel nothing much happens. They clean solar panels, dig in the ground, have somewhat elliptical conversations. Isaac is even toned and seemingly reasonable, but more unhinged as time moves forward. This isn't a novel where things are magically fixed or that people's minds are radically changed. Everyone is living on the precipice with tight or vanishing resources, and while Georgia longs for some sort of life more than what she has, I'm not sure I really cared that much by the time I got to the end of the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Lake Union Publishingfor this ARC in exchange for my review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review an advanced copy of this novel. I highly enjoyed it and will be recommending it to others.

I found 'Deadlands' by Victoria Miluch a wildly entertaining read. The concept is very prominent in modern culture and the exploration of a possible reality, everywhere becoming desert, gives the book a realistic edge. I thoroughly enjoyed the development of each character's distinctive personalities. The only one I would recommend fleshing out would be Wulf, the 17 year old brother. While his blind-faith attitude is very developed and realistic for someone his age (especially in an isolated setting like in the book), I felt other areas of his personality were neglected. He came across as a mini version of Isaac (his dad) and not much else. That being said, Nick's character was brilliant and definitely my favourite. He is made out to be an unsavoury character but isn't wholly flawed. His well-rounded personality of both positive and negative traits make him feel more real and really add to the immersion of this book.

The plot as a whole was well paced with very few segments that felt slow. Georgia's (the main character) continuous monologue and hyper-awareness of details really fleshed the world out, adding to the believability of it all. Perhaps my favourite part of this book were the visceral descriptions, especially the heat and how it made Georgia feel. This also worked really well in points of high tension and stress, allowing it to steadily build to then explode in a scene of carefully constructed narration. However, I find it important to note that some plot points seemed redundant like that of Isaac and Vanessa's relationship, especially later into the story. There were scenes which I felt were just filler and that didn't really add to the overall plot, leaving blank spots in the storytelling as a result.

Throughout, there is a continuous build-up of mystery which I enjoyed due to its unpredictability. As I was writing notes about this book I was constantly coming up with new theories as to why Nick and Vanessa were there or why the bones were buried. I enjoyed the lack of dramatic irony because it creates deeper immersion into the story and the characters themselves. While such a technique doesn't work for every book, it fits really well here, especially with the unreliable narration of a 19 year old.

Another point I picked up on throughout was the use of sophisticated language. The writing was elegant without being too performative in terms of showcasing intelligence. I found it fit very well with the assumed age-range with the right amount of complexity.

Overall, this book was wonderful. While there were points that fell flat or became less visceral, it was predominantly a thrilling read full of believability and immersion.

I love a good dystopian book and this one certainly did not disappoint.
A spectacular and terrifying vision of the near-future, Victoria Miluch's sensory writing puts you right in the middle of the desert location so that you can feel the heat and the grit, and know what it's like to taste cactus and jackrabbit. The plot was ambling, reflecting the boredom of a subsistence life on the edge of civilisation, but full of tension with every thought and action.
I will definitely look out for more from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Living in a climate-changed Arizona, Georgia and her family are self-sufficient and able to fix and forage to maintain their edgy lifestyle. The arrival of two strangers makes her father extra neurotic but sparks something in Georgia that may change their lives.

The Arizona in this book has undergone a climate shift, yet it appears to be very similar to the Arizona we know today—only a little hotter. The book is torn between being a dystopian, coming-of-age, thriller, or psychological novel. Additionally, it has syntactic narcissism—too many words. Victoria Miluch wants you to enjoy her prose as much as she does. She tries too hard and indulging in words as a result. A young woman in her late teens or early twenties (it's never clear which) who serves as the main character and narrator repeatedly expresses her sentiments in a variety of ways. Instead of showing us through actions how she feels, she simply tells us.

Georgia is a part of a small group of eco-terrorists under the leadership of her father. Is he a genuine hero or just a pretend god? The truth isn't revealed until the very end. Despite a few tantalizing hints, the book never really finds its focus and instead forces the reader to wallow in the confusing thoughts of a young woman. The end is also hazy. not really a direction. Where is all of this going?

Georgia, a naive 19-year-old who lives in the wastelands of what was once Arizona with her father and brother, tells this story through her eyes. They genuinely are "live off the land" types; they save water from the monsoon season that must last them the entire year; they also consume whatever grows in the hard environment, most of which is disgusting. The teens spend most of their time mending things or scavenging for anything valuable, and they clean their dishes with mud or plants to save water.

Georgia's father is a neurotic man who hates everyone because they didn't pay enough attention to climate change and now the globe and its inhabitants are suffering as a result. Georgia experiences something when the foreigners show up to their complex, perhaps hope that there is more to life than the desert and the heat. But it only drives her father more insane.

This book is filled with a lot of despair; the existence of barely getting by is apparent. Georgia was challenging to get to know because she comes across as rather robotic, but I wonder if it was a choice made while writing her?

I thought this was nicely written, like the details, and felt like I could picture everything as I read. Despite being rather young and naive at times, the heroine (the daughter) is a sharp and strong female lead to the story; this merely made me feel more sympathetic towards her. It wouldn't be incorrect, I believe, to describe this as a coming-of-age tale.

We had some fantastic, strong, believable characters, and I really liked the mystery and the tension. As I've already said, the book is beautifully written and had my interest the entire time. This book is for you if you appreciate dystopian fiction that's not too violent, easy to read, but has intrigue and likeable characters.

This book is set in a mid-future beset by heat, climate refugees and a variety of ways of addressing these. It's not about that though, that is the background for one young woman's story. Georgia lives in the Deadlands with her father and brother. Having watched a documentary about cult leaders on the weekend, I couldn't help but compare her father with a cult leader. The beginning of the book is compelling, the writing tight and descriptive and the menace starts to creep in. The middle is a little slow, but also atmospheric and claustrophobic. I kept wondering how a setting where they were always outside could feel so hot and close. I loved the ending. Despite the heavy topics this book is not hopeless about humanity's future, or the things we are doing and not doing to try to limit the damage we are doing.

I somehow got this book both an an Amazon First read and from NetGalley. I must have loved the description both times I read it, and it did not disappoint.

I really don't like to discard books halfway through, but I could not go on with this past the 33% mark. I came up against walls of text page after page, and that is not a very pleasurable experience for a reader, in my opinion.

It's a dystopian story, set in the near future. It is narrated from the POV of Georgia, a nineteen-year-old girl who lives with her father and brother Wulf out in the desert near Phoenix. Climate change has wreaked havoc in the cities, and the father has brought these two kids with him out into the wilderness to live off the land, and avoid urbanization and technology.

One day, two strangers arrive there and of course they are viewed with suspicion. Georgia's father even slashes the tires of their car so that they cannot leave and are imprisoned there. The book goes into lengthy descriptions of how they source and preserve food and water, and the processes they have adopted to make a life for themselves in the desert, such as making flour out of mealworms (yum!) etc.

At the point where I quit reading, Nick (one of the newcomers) had been bitten by a snake and was recovering, and Victoria (his wife) had taken off with Georgia's father to look for a cat. At this point we're already at the 1/3rd mark of the book, and I reminded myself that life's too short for this, and I DNF'd it.

None of the characters had any depth to them to make me want to keep reading for their sake. Georgia was likeable enough, but I was not really invested enough in any of their fates, to be honest.

It was a good concept, and if there was more action and dialogue instead of lengthy and boring descriptions of things, it would have been much more readable. It was not a horrible book, just too dull and descriptive for my taste.

I'm sure it's someone's cup of tea, just not mine.

3.5 stars

The earth is dying. Water is scarce and the desert is encroaching, pushing humanity into tighter and ever more overcrowded pockets of civilization. Georgia and her family live outside of civilization, in those deadlands. Isolated and self-sufficient, they eke out survival. Until the day there are intruders at their door.

I enjoyed this. The atmosphere, the uncertainty. Recommended for fans of Z for Zachariah.

I received this book through netgalley in exchange for a review.

Deadlands by Victoria Miluch was a truly remarkable story.
I was hooked immediately. Once I started I couldn’t stop.
I thought everything about this book was done so well.
The setting, characters and plot are all incredible.
And Miluch’s writing is atmospheric. The vivid storytelling was phenomenal I could picture everything so clearly.
A suspenseful, addictive and complex read. That will keep you swiping the pages furiously.
Her writing is so smooth that the reader is completely engrossed with every single plotline and possible outcome in this novel.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

Survival at its scariest. Debut author, Victoria Miluch, brings the wasteland to life in this captivating novel. Family, friendships, secrets and murder collide that in turn challenge leadership, dreams and goals. Twists in the story lead to a surprising finale. Recommended read that is worthy of four stars.

“Deadlands” is told through the eyes of Georgia, a naive 19-year-old who lives with her father and brother in the wastelands of what used to be Arizona. This novel is set in a world where climate change has caused the population to move into cities to avoid large areas of the Americas that have become in hospitable. There is talk of developing high-tech cities under domes in order to avoid the effects of climate change, which is a new idea within the dystopian genre. When two strangers come across the family in the desert, this opens a Pandora’s box, and the familial relationships begin to unravel.

The narrative is set in motion when two enigmatic strangers happen upon Georgia's family in the arid wilderness, thereby initiating a series of events that unravel the intricate fabric of familial relationships. The novel exudes an overwhelming sense of isolation and foreboding, the latter intensifying progressively throughout the unfolding story. Traditional wisdom in the realm of creative writing implores the technique of "showing" rather than "telling," and Miluch demonstrates a mastery of this principle, expertly wielding restraint to craft palpable tension through the nuances left unsaid. This approach invariably leads Georgia toward an exploration of the external world and examines the resultant impact on her familial ties.

If I'm being picky, my only gripe was the pacing of the book, as the plot progressed quite slowly. However, I can see how this would be an intentional choice by the author to create a sense of isolation and inertia, echoing that of our protagonist.

Miluch has undeniably succeeded in forging an immersive literary universe replete with a diverse ensemble of characters, and the internal struggle between devotion to family and the longing to break away and find oneself was wonderfully done.

Deadlands is a dystopian novel focusing on a small settlement in the heart of the deadlands. An unforgiving father doing what he feels is right by his two children- Georgia and Wilf.
When two newcomers arrive, everything Georgia has ever known is turned upside down and she begins to doubt her unusual surroundings for the first time.

This authors writing helps to create a not so impossible world in the not so distant future.
A good read with an open ending - I'm ready to read what happens next

This impartial review was provided in return for an ARC from the publishers