Not a fan of dystopian books, but a fan of Leif Enger. This book--very hard to categorize [for me]. Highly imaginative and creative. Original, different, and sometimes magical. And because of the writing--very readable!

The setting: not-too-distant America. Rainy, an aspiring musician sets sail on Lake Superior in search of his late, beloved wife, Lark, a bookseller. He encounters storms, strange people, and strange circumstances.

A story of love, loss. chaos, hardships, cruelty, darkness, greed, and perseverance. And a little bit of humanity and light. Most everyone damaged goods. Some vividly drawn characters--especially [but not limited to] Rainy, Werryck, Kellan, Sol, Griff, and Skint.

What [in part] sets to story in motion--Willow, a pharmaceutical--"a rising star in the market of despair"--a suicide pill.

The biggest plus--the prose:
"lonely and kind and occasionally rude by accident, but above all things he was a worried man."
"He moved as if encountering resistance"
"a blunt benevolent face and the most defined forearms I had ever seen"
"remained in stale florescence"
"straigthened my knees which audibly complained [been there, done that!]

Words I had to look up: luchador, giardia and lazerette and corcale--the two latter relating to boats.

So--read if you want to go along for a ride and appreciate the language and the originality.

First of all, thanks to Grove and Netgalley for an eARC of Leif Enger's I Cheerfully Refuse. This was a wonderful dystopian story that held my interest for the entirety of the novel. I believe my investment in the story is solely due to Enger's ability to write deeply human and sympathetic characters. I was completely enraptured by the character Rainy and his journey on Lake Superior. The world built around Rainy is intriguing and unique, and it only aids an already great story. I highly recommend reading this for fans of dystopian and fantasy novels.

About 20 years ago, one of my best friends, Alli, gifted me a copy of her favorite book, Peace Like a River. I read it and agreed, the book is beautiful. So when I saw Enger’s newest book, I CHEERFULLY REFUSE, on NetGalley, I immediately requested an ARC. I was so pleased when I was approved!

This one reminded me of Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven or Michelle Min Sterling’s Camp Zero in that it’s set in a (not-too-distant) future world that has gone awry. Literacy is declining (in fact, the United States has just elected its first proudly illiterate president) and most towns and cities have fallen into disrepair. The supply chain is often interrupted - people are growing their own food and making due with what they have - the weather is unpredictable, and most of the world’s wealth is held by a small percentage of the population. Things are so dreary and hopeless that many people are going “in search of better” by taking a life-ending drug called Willow.

Despite all this, main character Rainy lives a happy, satisfying life alongside his beloved wife, Lark. But when they take in a boarder, life takes a turn. Rainy’s forced to flee from his home in his boat, braving Lake Superior. Like Odysseus, he meets a variety of colorful characters and has various adventures, some touching and some frightening.

I really enjoyed this book, especially Enger’s beautiful prose. There are a lot of underlying themes and things to think about. I CHEERFULLY REFUSE will stick with me for a long time.

Thank you to publisher Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an eARC of I CHEERFULLY REFUSE prior to its publication in exchange for my honest feedback.

’HERE AT THE BEGINNING it must be said the End was on everyone’s mind.’

Set in the near future, this is a dystopian novel that revolves around climate change, which then leads to the collapse of society in many ways including the government, laws, and simple niceties. It’s a free-for-all in many ways, but there is also more to this story than that. A story of love, and loss. A story of family, the ones we choose, and who choose us in return.

A beautifully written story, at times poetic in the way that it flows even when the story begins to get darker in nature. As this begins, the story revolves around Rainy and Lark, a beat up and ancient advance copy of a book that arrives with the title of ’I Cheerfully Refuse’, and a man who is seeking shelter, and Lark offers him a room, with fatal results.

Meanwhile, outside their relatively isolated home, there is chaos virtually everywhere, which leads to Rainy setting sail, hoping to avoid those who would wish to harm him. When he stops at one of the towns on the coast for supplies, he soon finds himself with a girl who hides in his boat.

’The lake was dark and flat. It was a blackboard to the end of sight, and any story might be written upon the surface.’

At times this has tense moments, as well as moments of worry, sorrow and heartbreak, but there are also moments of generosity, caring, affection and perhaps above all, hope.


Pub Date: 02 Apr 2024

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Grove Atlantic, Grove Press

Enger’s Virgil Wander got me out of a very huge reading slump. I was very excited to get to read his new book and it did not disappoint. Enger writes his characters just so incredibly well. What seems like a simple book is never simple in his mastery of his character development and layers. I appreciated in this new book how he took a look to how present conditions and trends can land us in the future. I have hit a lot of books lately who are trying to do this same thing without Enger’s success. His are not soap box or disjointed from his story but a simple extension and development of set and story. I never want his books to end even though the context of this future he built triggered my anxiety in a big way. Thank you Net Galley for this chance to read this great book!

Rainy is a large bear of a man whose wonderful life takes an awful turn, causing him to set out on a journey across Lake Superior in a rebuilt sailboat. He hopes to find answers and possibly happiness once again, all while being pursued by villains and thugs. This novel reads like a classic epic adventure that left me unable to put the book down. Set in a slightly future USA, it was easy to imagine this world to come.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the early copy of this book, coming out in April.

I loved loved loved "Peace Like A River". Perhaps one of my favorite books of all time. Leif Enger is a talented writer, and that is evident in this book as well. Rainy is an incredible character- I found myself really rooting for him, and even though this book was character-driven and there were intentional holes of understanding, I still found myself unable to put it down. You never really figure out the details of the dystopian society, and that is okay, because our focus is on Rainy, on Sol, on Lark, on all the lovely characters (even the villans!) who we are introduced to along the way.

A great book for a reader who likes adventure stories, Odyssey-like journeys, character-driven plots.

Set in a dystopian landscape, this is one mans odyssey on a ravaged Lake Superior.
Although often on the brink of despair, the tone remains hopeful , which is why we continue our journey with Rainey. Rainey is on the run , pursued by a dark character that has disrupted his quiet, safe world. Rainey has lost all he loves and somehow continues to trust and seek out others despite the dark underbelly of this new world constantly revealing itself. Is Rainey's survival more likely if he just keeps his head down, probably, but is that real living? In this desperate existence that depends on barter and status and therefore thievery and deception to survive, people still find each other. Those that need to be rescued find each other and hold each other up. We stay with Rainey as he navigates the land and the people, as he "cheerfully refuses" to become what he is surrounded by. and instead chooses faith.

There have been many near future dystopian novels about climate change and the breakdown of social and governmental order but Leif Enger’s contribution reaches the rare level of combining the genre with lyrical writing, thrilling suspense, appealing characters, and a timeless romance. Additionally, Enger’s portrayal of Lake Superior conveys the profound beauty and threat of this vast inland sea. Enger’s characters encounter its fearful power and mesmerizing beauty.

Rainy and Lark live in an isolated and overlooked pocket community while the wider world around them is enmeshed in turmoil. The wealthy few are in control, the working class a kind of indentured servants. Medical research to keep the population compliant occurs on the ‘hospital ships.’ People are choosing death, hopeful for something better. One escapee from this system lands in Rainy’s hometown, on the run, and Lark offers him shelter. The man’s pursuers follow his trail with devastating results.

To save his life, Rainy takes sail on Lake Superior, encountering deadly storms. Stopping at small towns along the coast, he discovers helpful people while others are out for themselves; he visits places of mutual support and those that are raked with division and violence. He picks up a spunky and stowaway girl who seeks her grandfather. But they are stalked by the people who had destroyed Rainy’s life.

Yes, the story sounds horrifying, and there is horror with suicides and murders and corpses floating up from the lake. “What scares me is the notion that we are all one rotten moment, one crushed hope or hollow stomach from stuffing someone blameless in a cage,” Rainy considers.

But Rainy’s deep humanity and love, and the people who work for freedom and offer mutual aid lift the story so that, in the end, you are left with hope. There is still the beauty and wonder of the world, music and art, warmth and safety to be found.

Those familiar with Lake Superior will recognize the landmarks on Rainy’s journey.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book

Longtime Leif Enger fan, and it's interesting to see how his works keep getting darker. This gently written dystopian journey saga is not what I expected from him, but I enjoyed the beautiful prose and compelling characters, even if it did meander a bit.

A dystopian novel with a gentle heart, mostly because this is a book focused on it’s characters, and not using dystopia as a full on plot device. Some of questions about what’s happened may not be answered; that’s not the point. Instead this is a journey towards a different sort of resolution, and I really fell for Rainey as a person. It’s refreshing to have characters who ARE actually just good citizens, but not in a way that’s twee or overdone. They just have the best interests of community at heart. There is sadness here but again, the “journey” trope means there’s also adventure.

For me the real stand out is the prose - it’s so lyrical, very poetic at times, but not too overdone. Because it’s a relatively short book, the fairytale quality of the story AND the writing worked. A lovely tale.

I have been looking for a great futuristic novel but not really overly sci-fi for a class I am teaching. I was needing something futuristic but also heart warming and thrilling. I am so excited to have found that book. This book is beautifully written with a lot of heart. I adored this book and can't wait to have students read this.

It is no secret that my favorite book of all time is Peace Like a River. So, I was very excited to get this ARC of his upcoming. And I won't keep you in suspense, I really enjoyed this one. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world, which gets very dark at times. But I loved that the point of view was the narrator looking back and telling his story. I loved how the setting was grounded in reality in a setting near to my heart, and the narrator goes on quite a journey throughbit . I want to go back and read it again, which I don't do very often. I highly recommend you give this a try when it comes out in April.

Well, he’s done it again. Leif Enger has used his words to create an exciting story filled with great characters and a well told story. I wondered, for a while, what had happened to the country, who is running the government, etc., but after a short time I didn’t care because Rainey’s voyage on Lake Superior was all that mattered. It is a story full of love and fear and friendship and I couldn’t put it down.

Leif Enger returns with a novel with a big twist that takes the reader on a near future adventure around a Lake Superior that becomes a character. The settlements along the shore are changed, often dangerous. Better to know less than more and trust to this author who has demonstrated great heart and care for his characters in earlier books and does so again here.

I tried so hard to finish this book. I just could not stay interested in the storyline. I enjoyed Peace Like a River tremendously, but this story being in the future and too many things being left out....I just Don't enjoy future scenarios like that. Not when you don't have some answers for things. I read until almost the end and just didn't really care what happened after that.

I would classify I Cheerfully Refuse as both a dystopian novel as well as a tale of an epic journey (think: The Odyssey). Set in the near-future on Lake Superior, the places in the novel are largely fictionalized towns and islands. I really loved the first part of the novel when the main character and his wife, Lark, were settled into their somewhat difficult but also rewarding life. I continued to enjoy the writing and movement of the novel but didn't really connect well with the plot. To me, this novel felt like it was on the cusp of what I wanted it to be but fell just short. I appreciated the way the author was quite vague about the future society and left it in a foggy state since the purpose of the novel was not to paint a detailed picture of the future world but instead the impact that was felt upon its people. I have very mixed feelings about the novel but enjoyed reading it.

Absolutely beautiful prose, but a very depressing, fairly dystopic, environment and so I couldn't get myself to finish. Hopefully the end was uplifting.

I Cheerfully Refuse was read because I thought that I would read something about Lake Superior that I could relate to but no I couldn't. I was a deckhand, a second cook, anything I could be on an Ore Boat that sailed the Great Lakes. He named Duluth and Thunder Bay but everything else he made up, I guess it was for the authors prerogative. But he did create Northern Michigan kinda like Houghton. But I'm only arguing a point. The book was fiction and it was. It was an interesting book because it was full of love and patience that filled people with understanding of life. Then it turned to the dark side of human nature. Rainy was the main character and Lark was his wife. Kellan was a drifter and a quick armed bandit kind of guy that paid for a room in their house, the attic. There was a man that Kellan was afraid off, and that was Werryck. It happened after Lark's birthday she noticed her dog was missing and sent Rainy off to find her and then he came back to his house and found his wife dead. His house was trashed and walls were ripped apart. He was given a boat from a friend that died that he helped fix it up. The next day after Lark was killed he escaped in this sail boat as people were shooting at him. You can read the story which is full of scenario's changing what he comes up against. I kind of like the book although I liked real names of places on Lake Superior. I am spoiled.

Wow! 'I Cheerfully Refuse' by Leif Enger is an amazing adventure that took me on a thrilling journey. It's about a musician named Rainy who's feeling really sad after losing his wife who loved selling books. To find her, he sails on a special Lake Superior that seems alive.

The story is full of excitement and surprises! Rainy's search for his lost love becomes a bigger adventure involving many people.

I loved the metaphors and imagery. It paints a vivid picture of a strange world and a powerful message of hope for the future. Magical and inspiring. Truly a gem! I loved the pace it's written at, and the artful language.