I have read Birch and Jay as an advanced reader copy, thank you to the publisher for sharing.

Birch and Jay is set in a dystopian future after a climate apocalypse befell our world. It relates the adventure of two descendants of survivors, Jay, a Knowledge Seeker and his promised, Birch. Knowledge Seekers roam the world in search of lost artefacts, aiming to explain what led to the fall of society as we know it. It is told in a narrative past, by Birch and Jay in an alternating point of view.

I enjoyed the writing style, as I could feel I was right in the head of the main characters. The descriptions of the settings were vivid, and I felt I was going on their adventures myself. The dialogue flowed easily, but could be repetitive at times. There are many long speeches at the start, which could have been cut down in order to get to the action faster. The pacing of the story was adequate despite this. Also I would have preferred if the relationship between Birch and Jay had been more established in the beginning of the story.

The sudden violence in the second half of the novel was unexpected. To be fair I do not enjoy graphic violence and nothing up to that point led me to believe the story would take this grim turn.

Overall, Birch and Jay will satisfy the post-apocalyptic fan, especially those sensitive to the cause of climate change. I did enjoy the Canadian nods throughout the story. I would have liked a clearer conclusion to the first quest of Jay and how useful were his findings, but I will have to wait for the second novel.