The premise of a catastrophic earthquake had me eager to pick up TILT. A very pregnant woman finds herself in Ikea, of all places, when her world is literally shaken to the core. We follow the woman in the aftermath of the quake as she sets out to find her husband. While I was expecting a compulsively readable story, it was much quieter and contemplative than I anticipated. The writing felt very stream of consciousness and just like the woman navigating her new surroundings, a bit lost and directionless. I was reading the novel on my kindle and the ending felt very abrupt to me. Readers who appreciate stories with closure may find the ending to be a bit lacking.

Overall, I think this story had great promise but I’m left wondering what the author wanted me to take away from this story.

RATING: 3/5
PUB DATE: March 25, 2025

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon Element for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

A timeless tale of fate with and survival. We take a journey with a pregnant woman who is desperate to find her husband after an earthquake. This book gave me ALL the feels. I was right next to Annie as she faced every obstacle possible. I felt hopeless and hopeful simultaneously. I was on the edge of my seat. This book was vivid, atmospheric and written beautifully.

Annie, pregnant and already feeling as if life is piling down on her, finds herself crib shopping in IKEA when an earthquake strikes. The book follows one day in the aftermath of this natural disaster, and Annie trying to make her way home.

There are parts of the story where Annie reminisces about her past, and how she got to this point in her life. Some of those parts were a bit slow for me. However, the chapters dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake were riveting!

I look forward to more books from this author and appreciate the opportunity to read!

Annie, 9 months pregnant, is standing in the Portland, Oregon IKEA looking at cribs when the earthquake hits. The one we’ve dreaded and expected for years.

What follows is her daylong journey to crawl out of and over the rubble and find her way home, while mentally navigating the crumbled past of dreams she has left behind due to the path her life has taken.

This is an intense, emotional character study with visceral descriptions of pregnancy and natural disaster. Annie was a very realistic character who is easy to root for despite her human flaws.

The writing flowed effortlessly, pacing kept me turning pages, and I will admit that this curmudgeon had a tear in her eye at the end. I doubt I will ever forget this story; it has inspired me to re-think my own life choices and dreams … and that kind of novel is a rarity.

I couldn’t put this book down. The writing made me feel that I was experiencing everything that the main character was experiencing. I stopped numerous times throughout just to admire the authors descriptions and writing. The ending left me deeply unsatisfied however. I wanted to know what happened to Taylor and Dom. I don’t want to imagine what horrible things happened to them! Sometimes a book left with unanswered questions is ok- but in this case it just left me disappointed. .

Tilt follows one woman’s journey in the aftermath of a major earthquake. As someone who grew up hearing stories about and seeing photos of the big earthquake in California in 1989, the events in this novel seemed very realistic and relatable. It is clear that the author has done her research on the topic!

Tilt is a very emotional and intense read. Definitely worth reading for the introspective dive into humankind, relationships, trauma response, and natural disasters.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

Tilt is the story of very pregnant Annie, who experiences a massive earthquake while shopping for a crib in a Portland, Oegon IKEA. As Annie tries to make her way back to safety and her husband, Dom, she chats with her unborn baby, and we learn about Annie and Dom's marriage, their careers, and Annie's fears about her life. This is such a sweet story about survival and issues that must be overcome when one has the desire to survive.

This book is well written and compelling! I read it in record time - I couldn't wait to find out how the story would end. I was quite frustrated with some of Annie's encounters, blessed by some, and ultimately satisfied with the ending. I can see Tilt becoming a movie.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Tilt.

This is a harrowing read with an unfortunately believable plot line. Definitely feels like a true to life horror story.

TILT by Emma Pattee
March 4, 2024
Women’s psychological fiction

Nine-month’s pregnant Annie is in IKEA shopping for a crib when all of a sudden Portland, OR is hit with a huge earthquake. The area is in chaos and Annie cannot get in touch with her husband. Trying to get home, she is forced to walk and along her way, she encounters many others desperate as she looking for family members or a place of safety. When a grocery store is looted, she meets a young woman and strikes up an unlikely friendship. Anxiety mounts as she thinks about her baby, her job and a marriage that she wonders if it will stay intact.

This is an introspective novel where Annie is forced to look at her life with open eyes and decide how to carry on. Suspenseful and filled with tension, this is an interesting read.

Good thing this was short because it was intense! As a Portlander and someone still living in the PNW the precise details about the city and research about the effects of the Big One made this feel very real and thus overhwhelming. Combine the earthquake scenario with a strained relationship, money troubles, and a baby on the way and the result was an emotionally heavy narrative that all felt too true.

This is a very creative, engaging and thought provoking book. I love when I find a book that is so different than anything else I have read and this one hits that mark. It’s characters are spunky and at times funny. It’s a fast good read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early release in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for this free preview copy in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book. It's definitely one of those books, "Once you start...you can't put it down". I needed to know what happens to the characters. It was well written, fast paced and you feel for all the characters. Highly recommend.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley but opinions are my own. This book had me hooked, and I finished it in about a day. Annie is questioning a lot about her life. And what a time to do that-during a natural disaster!

The writing in this book was beautiful and eloquent. I am shocked this is the author’s first book! I can’t wait to see what she puts out next!

It had me (a girl who realistically won’t encounter an earthquake since I live in the Midwest) terrified of the idea of an earthquake. I didn’t realize this was a real and likely possibility! 😬 I think the fact that I am a mom also increases that feeling. I could 100% feel Taylor’s desperation.

I wish the ending would have tied up a few loose ends, especially one in particular, but overall this was a super engaging book that I didn’t want to put down! Thank you for the opportunity to read and review!

I liked this! I was very intrigued by the description, and it paid off in the end. Very much a page-turner.

This was a gripping novel about the fallout after a catastrophic earthquake in Portland, Oregon.

The novel's narrator is Annie, a woman who is 9 months pregnant and nervous about bringing a baby into the world and a somewhat tumultuous relationship.

The book moves back and forth in time as we follow Annie's relationship with her husband from the start of their relationship to when they get pregnant and to the present-day after the earthquake.

It's an adventurous and emotional read that I think you'll enjoy!

I'm thankful to Simon & Schuster for suggesting the book to me after I requested Hum, another great read from them!

Thank you to #netgalley for this ARC of #tilt

Smart and entertaining, this compact novel is just the right length. I love it when publishers don't force extra pages or unnecessary padding. Let the story be the length it needs to be.

While the dictation to the unborn child might annoy some readers, it worked for me.

The story moves at a nice clip, and the main character's various interactions with the people around her, before and after the earthquake, ring true. I won't say she is an easy character to love, because she's not, but she comes across like a fully dimensional real person with faults, which can be hard to do from a craft perspective.

I recommend TILT for fans of literary fiction.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.

"Tilt" is a compact novel that delivers a powerful impact. Set over the course of a single day, it tracks Annie, who is nine months pregnant, as she navigates the chaos of a massive earthquake and its aftermath. The story unfolds through a series of flashbacks while Annie makes a long and sometimes harrowing journey home from an Ikea, where she was shopping for a baby crib. These reflections prompt her to reassess her life choices and relationships. Poignant and memorable, Annie's story in "Tilt" is one that will resonate with readers long after the last page is turned.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Element for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars. I would give it more stars if I could!

Wow. Read this book. Full review to come.

Ok I have had a few days to think about Tilt. What an incredible debut novel. Well done Emma Pattee you have a huge new fan. I love dystopian, end of the world books, especially when the broken world is rebuilding. Tilt is a bit different as it takes place on one very long day when a huge earthquake hits Portland, Oregon, and decimates the city. Annie is nine months pregnant and shopping at Ikea to get a crib. She starts walking to find her husband in downtown.

The book flips from Annie's day to chapters back in time--her childhood, mother, meeting her husband, their relationship. It is almost a stream of consciousness as she talks to Bean, her baby.

I am glad I read the book vs. an audiobook because I highlighted so many fantastic lines.

The book really resonated with me and I loved it. Grab a copy and enjoy!

A whirlwind of a story as an expectant mother (8 mos pregnant) survives a massive Portland Earthquake and attempts to navigate out of Ikea and home. Pattee juxtaposes stories of Annie as a college student meeting her husband, losing her mother, writing her first play with chapters of the earthquake disaster and what happens next. Annie's voice is clear and kind as she speaks to her unborn child and Annie herself is a truly good person. I loved this short little shocker and I know you will too!

#SimonElement #S&S #MarysueRucciBooks #tiltanovel #tilt #emmapattee

This book was fabulous, but I'm an easy sell as a mom (who, like our hero, didn't really love being pregnant) who loves disaster stories and IKEA. This probably a 4.5 for me.

Why knock it a half star? First, that cover isn't doing this book any favors. (By the end of the story, you understand the birds...and it's a heart wrenching reveal) but at first glance this doesn't pull me in. Also, while this book starts with a literal bang, it takes awhile to start building momentum as the flashbacks move forward in time to align with the start of the story.

The book moves quickly and takes place in one day. The action of the earthquake and the ensuing chaos is balanced by Annie's thoughts about her life, narrating them to her unborn child (who she calls, "Bean.") As a parent, I really resonated with these passages about this huge life transition--when you realize you're starting a new, busy chapter in your life that will likely push YOUR hopes and dreams even further down the road.

I love this quote Annie says to Bean as she thinks about her dream of being a playwright, "You will not chain yourself to a dream so big, so heavy, that you will spend years hauling it behind you, falling further and further behind until you turn to try to let it go and realize you can't. The chains are gone; they've been gone for years. You are the chain."

My favorite part of the book is the author's notes at the end! As someone who's been very, very pregnant I kept thinking, "can a super prego lady really do that?) Rest assured, our fearless author test drove one of these ideas! Also, I had no idea about the fault line by Oregon and the high chance that an earthquake will happen there (and likely destroy all the of the brick schoolhouses.) The book being based in scientific fact made it much more compelling

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.