DNF @ 26%

Thank you to the publisher for a galley in exchange for a review.

After hearing such great things about Obreht's previous releases, I was excited to dive into this dystopian fiction.

What I didn't realize is how much time we would be spending with an 11 year old. Since I'm DNFing, I'm not sure if the plot eventually grows passed Silvia being 11, but as it stands right now I think this could be classified under young adult.

The Morningside reminds me of dystopian novels I read as a teenager: the main character is a young girl with just one parent that has hard time and lives in a city in a place ravaged by climate change.

It really doesn't offer anything new. Silvia is convinced by her aunt that some woman with dogs may be a witch, which leads Silvia to try to get into her apartment since she can't go to school yet.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Team for this Advanced Digital Readers Copy, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

I was really excited for this one and really loved the premise but the execution fell flat for me.. I even sat on it for a while so I could come back and see if my feelings changed but I just didn't like it. I felt like it slogged a bit and all the unknowns got to be annoying rather than fun.

This one just didn't work for me. I. loved the premise but just couldn't get into the book. I can definitely see why others like it, though.

Having read The Tigers Wife I was eager to read another book by Tea Obrecht. I was not disappointed with this great story.

I'd say 5 stars for the first half and 3 for the second, so I've rounded, although the feel was more 3.5. I really enjoy Obreht's writing style - it's vivid and quiet at the same time. I was happy with the world building through the first half of the book - we understand that we *don't* understand the specifics of this somewhat future world, but get enough glimpses to have an idea, a general sense of what's gone wrong.

But that not-knowing never really goes away, that that really detracted from the plot climax and resolution. The stakes are less visceral because we don't understand what they other, other than "bad guys doing bad things" for ... some reason. I could have made my piece with that except that we also have this someone unresolved magical element. I could have handle ambiguity in either, but not in both.

This was a pretty disjointed read. I love dystopian books, but this one was not for me. It could have used another edit.

I find Obreht to write work that draws you in. It's a bit surreal, even grounded in historical energy, in a way that makes her work so alluring. I continue to be fascinated and impressed by her.

This book happens in the near future and describes a city partly underwater due to climate change. The main characters are Silvia, who is 11 years old and her mother who have been exiled from their native country and now live with Silvia's aunt Ena in Island City.
Silvia and Ena have conversations about "back home" where she and her sister grew up, and Ena tells her folklore and stories about their lives growing up. She also shows Silvia pictures from when they were children and reveals family history which Silvia's mother never mentioned.
Being the only child in the building, Silvia gets to recognize her neighbors, and becomes fixated on the penthouse neighbor who she believes is a witch. Each evening Silvia watches the neighbor walk her three massive dogs, which Silvia believes to be men by day. She finds a friend in Mila who is the same age but goes to school (Silvia has not gained permission to attend school). I thought that the former superintendent, Lewis A May (LAM) was creepy and felt that his appearances and interactions with Silvia were inappropriate
I found the story to be disjointed with uneven pacing and for me, the plot never came together. I think that there were a lot of issues -
Why did Silvia and her mother leave their country?...
What is the purpose of the repopulation government program?
Why have so many people left the city with the desintegration systems?
Maybe the book was a cautionary tale about the effects of climate change but I think that it was muddled.

The Morningside
By Tea Olbreht

This book is about many things: the results of climate change; war and the refugees it leaves; old magic; government control and corruption; and relationships. Ambitious, indeed!

Silvia is a 12 year old girl as the story begins who has arrived from Paraiso, one of many stopping places she and her mother have lived in and moved on from as war refugees. They have come to this Island City under a program called the Repopulation Program. They are currently living with Silvia's Aunt Ena in the Morningside, where Ena works as the building superintendent.

The people they meet – both within the Morningside and without; the situation that arises with the reclusive penthouse artist Ena claims is a mystical Vila; Silvia's meeting with Lam Osmond May; the arrival of another refugee family with a notorious father and a daughter, Mila (who becomes Silvia's friend and companion in crime) – all play a part in this story.

While interesting, I never quite grasped what the point was that the author was trying to make.

I'm not sure what I expected from this book - maybe it is better that I didn't know what to expect. While there is a lot going on, I found the book moving and beautifully written.

I am really enjoying more books that focus on climate issues and the Morningside did not disappoint. As always, I loved Obreht's writing and character study

What I loved about this book:
1. Love the author's writing style - it's lyrical and matches the magical realism of the book.
2. I loved the world building that happens - very descriptive and believable.

What I didn't like:
1. A lot of themes and they didn't connect for me which made it hard for me to keep up with the plot at times. Felt disconnected and like I had missed part of the story but just was because of the multiple themes.



Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for my advanced digital copy.

This is the third book by Obreht I've read (and reviewed) and, as much as I enjoyed the other two, this was by far my favorite of her books. With each book, Obreht explores new territory and new time periods. Inland was set in the American West's past; The Tiger's Wife was set in the Balkans in more or less present day. The Morningside takes us to an unknown land, some time in the future.

Climate change has wrecked havoc on the planet, wars have taken a further toll. We never know exactly where on Earth Silvia and her mother have finally settled (it might be New York City); it's not particularly relevant, other than to that they have traveled a great distance from a land called Back Home. Which isn't to say that the setting doesn't play an important role in the story - it's, in fact, crucial for Obreht to give readers a full impression of the landscape and the way that rising waters have impacted Island City. Much of what we learn of Island City is in stories told to The Dispatcher, a renegade radio program that allows listeners to tell stories of the city as they knew it and the city as it is now.

Silvia's mother has told her very little about why they are constantly moving or anything about their family, other than that Silvia has an aunt, Ena. When the Repopulation Program enables them to move to Island City and live in the Morningside, where Ena is superintendent, Ena opens a door to the past and the mystical. Because of Ena's stories (particularly that the three dogs Bezi takes for a walk every evening are actually men), Silvia comes to believe that Bezi Duras might actually be a Vila, a nature spirit capable of vengeful acts when angered.

Because Silvia can't be enrolled in school, she has a lot of time on her hands. Some of it is spent helping her mother. A great deal of it is spent exploring and trying to determine the truth about Bezi. Along the way, she is helped by Lewis May, a man who used to the be superintendent of the building and makes an arrangement with Silvia whereby she is given a key to the elevator to Bezi's penthouse floor. Even after their deal is completed, May remains a constant in Silvia's life.

One day a new family moves into The Morningside, one with a mysterious father who isn't much seen but will come to play a big part in Silvia's future, and a daughter who becomes Silvia's only friend and the driving force behind moving Silvia along in learning the truth about Bezi.

I wouldn't want to be a bookseller or a librarian trying to figure out where to shelve The Morningside; it is equal parts science-fiction (cli-fi, as some are calling it), fairy tale, and dystopian novel. It has an element of magic that I surprisingly loved and some wonderfully unique characters and situations. I wasn't always sure what to make of it. But I loved that I had no idea where the story was going. Even the ending, which ties things up more neatly than I often like, isn't nearly a happily-ever-after and comes with something extra that makes me rethink things right up to the end of the book. Utterly original and one of my favorites of the year.

Such gorgeous writing in a dystopian/magical realism mashup told through the point-of-view of an 11 year old girl! Loved it

The Morningside

Silvia is a tall, gangly 11 year old who just moved into a luxury apartment in Island City called the Morningside. Like a futuristic, post-apocalyptic Manhatten or an Island in San Francisco perhaps, the town has lost most of its residents as the city slipped into the sea, and now they all live on government rations and the children have never seen or eaten meat before. It's being repopulated through a program which Silvia and her mother are part of, giving them a chance to move in with an aunt she has never met and to finally hear stories about her mother's childhood. The stories will lead to a yearlong obsession with a wealthy woman named Bezi Duras who lives in the top penthouse and has 3 dogs, black as night, which Aunt Ena and now Silvia believe turn human by day. And Silvia will try her best to prove true, with the help of the old superintendent who calls her “Snoopy” for snooping around, and a new, very confident neighbor girl, Maya.

Pensive, fascinating, and nostalgic, this book makes you appreciate childlike imagination and its obsessions, and the great many splendors we take for granted in our imperfect world.

I went in to this book not having read any of Téa Obreht’s previous novels so I was unsure of what I was stepping into. Like her character Silvia, the novel shifts your sense of reality leaving you unsure if the stories her strict mother tells you are true and should be used as a warning or if her paranoia has gotten the best of her. With a rigid parental figure and a new move to a new country, it makes sense that Silvia would want to explore their new home when she shouldn’t with her newfound neighbors. This novel is set in a dystopian modern world where water has taken over most cities, creating a looming feeling of doom through the plot. The introduction was slow but once you dig further into the story there are more questions than answers. Thank you Téa Obreht, NetGalley, and Random House Publishing.

This is an unusual little book. There are a lot of themes going on in this near future dystopian story, most of which are not truly explored. Basically, it is a coming of age story of a young girl who struggles to understand her world and where she comes from.. The first third of the book was slow, and confusing ...i just couldn't decide what type of story I was reading...and I almost DNF. Glad I kept going, it turned out to be pretty good after all

I will pretty much read anything Téa Obreht wants to write, so choosing this one from NetGalley was a no-brainer for me. It should be for you, too. Obreht ventures into a dystopian future here, but if those words scare you, don't be alarmed. I mean, be alarmed, but read it anyway. There is a lot here: climate change that has caused the city to flood, leaving parts underwater, dangerous urban neighborhoods, and the many risks related to poverty. Surprisingly, Obreht is able to craft this new world into an almost ordinary existence. But this very ordinariness gets turned on its head when mysterious neighbors, curious folktales and a bit of magic open up the world to new and hopeful possibilities.

I think this was a wrong book/wrong person. I found myself getting confused with the characters and the world building.

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