Had higher hopes for this, but never got around to finishing it.

Thanks, anyway, to the publisher for the e-galley!

If you enjoyed 'Mood Swings" by Frankie Barnet, "Ripe" by Sarah Rose Etter, and "Mobility" by Lydia Kiesling, then this may be the novel for you. I did like how it took place across different cities and time periods, although I feel like it made me a little less invested in the characters since the setting changed so often. The political and climate plots in this were a lot to take in, and it felt more like vignettes or short stories than a novel with one plot.

I am so thankful to Astra House Publishing, Julia Kornberg, and Netgalley for granting me advanced access to this gem before it hit shelves on December 3, 2024. I really enjoyed this one and am thankful for the opportunity.

The novel is a mishmash of part travelogue, part party log, personal memoir style, non-stop stream of conscious, tell-all, beginning in an affluent part of Buenos Aires, travelling to Paris and ending up in Berlin. I think at times the point of view changed between characters but I wasn’t always sure. The time line also switched suddenly from current day, through turmoil to an almost post-democratic post-apocalyptic near future. The author is obviously a talented writer, though the plot was illusive, more like a memoir-style than immersion in characters we might care about. There was a lot crammed into this small novel, leaving me a feeling of I am glad it is over. 3 out 3 stars!

I liked this book more than I expected to, The main characters, three rich kids filled with angst over being well-off, seem to be trying everything they can think of to throw away any resources or advantages they had as kids, to embrace slumming as a more authentic lifestyle. I suppose there are other ways to summarize this book, but that was this book in a nutshell for me. Nonetheless, the storytelling was compelling enough that I was not struggling to finish this book. The cover is still ugly, and does not seem to match the aesthetics of the story at all, but the novel was a solid 4 stars for me.

This was a super interesting book! I enjoyed the format of snippets of Nina’s life throughout time and throughout the world. What I found challenging was some of the vocab (slightly pretentious but maybe that’s the point!?). Also, I had a hard time knowing what was a reference to a fictionalized person/event and what was a genuine pop culture reference, but that’s just my own ignorance! This book felt like a fever dream and sometimes that’s what you need so I’m not mad at it. Thanks to NetGalley and Astra House for providing this ARC (it was my first ever!)

I put this down, ready to DNF it, but then picked it back up again, so many times that it gave me whiplash.
I don't know how to review it, truthfully. There were entire passages where I felt sucked in, with really compelling writing and narrative, and then it would fracture abruptly into these barely digestible pages.
I finally finished, but even with the parts I enjoyed, I am not sure what happened. Maybe that was the point, considering the synopsis?
Ultimately, I wanted to like this more than I did. I crossed every finger I had that I would get sent an early copy, and I'm definitely grateful I was given the opportunity. It just wasn't for me!

Reminiscent of "Kairos" by Jenny Erpenbeck in its atmospheric, character-driven style and its portrayal of young lives coming of age against a background of decline and decay. This novel will be a touchstone among international literary fiction in translation for years to come.

Thanks to NetGalley and Astra House for letting me review Berlin Atomized by Julia Kornberg.

First off, the cover is bomb. The beautiful bright green against the red and pink/purple colors of the font are to die for, and if I saw this book in person I would totally pick it up off of the shelf based on that alone. But I'd keep reading thanks to Kornberg's gorgeous prose.

In Berlin Atomized, we follow a family rooted in Buenos Aires, the Goldsteins. The Goldstein siblings are acted upon, much like electrons or atomic particles, by visible and invisible forces--the economic strife of Argentina and the class divides that come with it; a brother's terminal illness and commitment to an idealistic militarism; an obsession with cleanliness and baptism. The novel moves into the future, moving through 2035, and in its explorations of a somber vision of the future, considers how those forces, too, act on, and react to, the family and siblings in crisis and later adulthood. Kornberg's prose has a scalpel's precision--razor-sharp, incisive, and careful in a way that sits with a reader long after the book is put down.

I loved this novel and can't wait to read what Julia Kornberg writes next.

A genre bender that encapsulates the transformative years of youth, political mania, and apocalyptic collapse! where Paris is burning, Berlin is falling, and the world is on the brink of falling apart… once again?! is there a cycle to the turmoil? would we all be better if censorship ceased to exist and net neutrality gave way to the ‘darkest iterations of the human soul’… the blood and guts on full display?
there’s a lot to discuss within this short novel and felt that I was on hyperspeed throughout the character building and inner ebb and flow of our main character, Nina. This is by no means a perfect novel but with the writing being exquisite, an experimental approach being made successfully and its’ overarching, expansive themes.. thinking it’s 5 star worthy!!
Huge thank you to Astra House and NetGalley for the arc!!!

sformation in a city that has constantly redefined itself throughout history.

The novel delves into themes of alienation and the search for belonging, capturing the atmosphere of Berlin as both a place of reinvention and a repository of history. Through Kornberg’s vivid prose and complex characters, Berlin Atomized examines how a city can influence, inspire, and atomize its inhabitants, ultimately creating a tapestry of stories that reflect the fragmented yet interwoven nature of modern urban life. It’s a contemplative read for anyone interested in the dynamics of city life and the ways people adapt within spaces of change.

"𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯."

Are the kids alright?
Will they ever be alright?
Spanning across different countries and many years leading up to your thirties, we get the misery and unknown of your twentysomethings, along with all the wondering and wandering. You're left clueless after global tragedy and gobal reckoning from Charlie Hebdo to what is happening now in Gaza, wondering what the hell you're supposed to be doing.

Electric prose. Bombastic. It captures the fleeting essence of youth. But there isn't enough interiority to the characters to really flesh out a life to ride alongside, creating another shoulder-shrug narrative into the ether of lost twentysomethings without real say. Sometimes that's okay. Sometimes all we have is the heart of things and not so much any real rhyme or reason to figuring things out. Sometimes the heart is all that matters.

This book was very unique. It took me a little while to understand what was going on, but once I did I flew through it. It was a good read. The characters were at times frustrating and misunderstood, so you have to read this book with a lot of empathy.

A well written novel dystopian engrossing a debut by a very talented author.Unique interesting I was drawn in from first to last page,#netgalley #astrahouse.

While I found myself interested in the journeys or the Goldstein siblings, I felt like this was rushed and I didn't have nearly enough time to cement myself in any of their stories. This book takes us through 33 years of life and attempts to do it in about 250 pages. Personally, I didn't get enough background info or time to really get to know the characters and found myself confused at several point as to who was narrating and where we were in the story. I maybe would've liked this better if there was a bit more filler information or perhaps formatted differently, but as is I left feeling underwhelmed.

A unique and semi-speculative (dystopian) take on many of the issues we're seeing contemporary fiction tackle today--precarity in all of its forms, from relationships to institutions to art and creativity itself. Difficult to summarize, but well worth the read. I also really enjoyed the framing device that begins and ends the novel. 4/5 stars.

"Berlin Atomized" by Julia Kornberg is an extraordinary debut novel that captures the zeitgeist of the 21st century through the eyes of three unforgettable siblings. Spanning continents and decades, this kinetic narrative is a masterclass in storytelling, blending personal and global crises with a deft hand.

From the vibrant streets of Buenos Aires to the war-torn remnants of Paris, Kornberg's prose is both defiant and dexterous, pulling readers into a world that is as tumultuous as it is beautifully rendered. Each character is meticulously crafted, their journeys interwoven with the historical and socio-economic upheavals of our time.

Nina's poignant self-baptisms, Jeremías's immersion in the explosive music scene, and Mateo's tragic preparation to join the IDF, all serve as compelling entry points into a story that is as much about personal survival as it is about familial bonds. The novel’s second half, exploring a future of constant migration and conflict, is both a chilling prophecy and a hopeful testament to human resilience.

Kornberg's narrative is percussive and percolating with violent light, making "Berlin Atomized" not just a novel, but an experience. This is a tale about the end of the world, told by a generation to whom that world was promised, and it is nothing short of mesmerizing. For readers of Catherine Lacey and Joshua Cohen, this is a must-read.