An interesting, engaging climate-apocalypse novel.

The slow apocalypse in THE SUNLIGHT PILGRIMS is a more realistic image of societal decline: climate change is happening relatively fast, and accelerating, but it's no nuclear attack, nor zombie apocalypse. (That being said, given recent experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, one would expect more people to freak out and hoard things, and perhaps a bit more violence.)

The story takes place quite far from the worst-hit areas of the world. And, it's also not really about the slow collapse of society as a new ice age rolls in. Rather, it's about the relationship between a mother and her daughter, living their lives in Scotland, making do.

Fagan's prose is excellent, filled with excellent passages, and really pulls the reader along. Definitely recommended.

I really hated the writing style of this book, and found it to be confusing without any reward. Picking up the novel felt like a chore.

This is an apocalypse story that stars some really boring people; and a transgender teen. The most interesting part is not the apocalypse (which felt barely relevant half the time) but instead our teenager; who isn't even the main character of the story.

Plot
A mid-aged man learns that his family is in debt and after his mother and her partner die he is left with no choice but to flee the home he's always known; a one-screen cinema. He ends up in a little trailer in Northern Ireland in what is about to be another Earth Ice Age. There he meets a woman and her teenage daughter.
Sounds promising enough right? Unfortunately there is no real plot here except existing and even that plot is so thin it's barely there. For me it's not enough plot to just have your characters existing. Particularly when the conditions being described aren't even that bad at first.

Ice Age
First let me say, I live in Canada. Not in a warm part of Canada but on the cold open prairies of Alberta. I know cold and I know snow. Both have been a part of my life since the day I was born (in a blizzard in February). So when I read a book whose core plot is that Earth is devolving into an imminent Ice Age I know what is survivable and what is not. Unfortunately Jenni Fagan does not seem to have the same knowledge.
There are ridiculous situations described both where people live (and don't have frostbite) and where people die from the winter conditions. It's like the cold is no big deal when it's convenient (like our main characters are out in it); but as soon as someone else in the cold they are dead. Far too convenient and not consistent enough to be even close to the truth of what cold weather does to the human body.

<b>Temperature</b>
Speaking of it being cold, I am so confused by the units of measurement used in this book. It's written by a UK author so (as a Canadian) I am expecting to have temperatures in Celsius and distances in kilometers. And yet, I get miles per hour and temperatures with no measurement associated with them AT ALL! I read this entire book and still don't know if the temperatures in it are supposed to be Celsius or Fahrenheit!! This was beyond frustrating. Now by the end of the book at the -40 to -50 degree range it doesn't matter, as the two systems start to sync up momentarily, however that is not the point. If you are going to write a book where temperature is so important be sure to tell your reader the unit of measure please!

<b>Transgender Teen</b>
If not for our teen and her story I would have given up on this book before I finished it. This is a girl (who was a boy) whose finding it difficult to find friends or have connections with the majority of people in her life as they make fun of her (kids/teens) or still see her as a boy (adults). Even her own father doesn't use her female name! I felt that the discussion of our teen girl was relatively well done. It wasn't super in-depth and I didn't feel like I learned anything new about the types of emotions a transgender teen might go through. But at the very least she was interesting and a very likeable character. I wanted to be her friend; especially when no one else would be.

Overall
I was really disappointed by The Sunlight Pilgrims. It seems that books that focus on cold weather situations are just not up to the standard I expect. I'm not sure why it is so hard to research and understand the cold for most authors but lately it feels like there is some sort of 'cold education' that winter seasoned folks around the world have that others cannot understand.
Some good ideas were present; the characters core back stories were well represented (if not their emotions regarding their current state), the concept of an Ice Age and dwindling resources was fine but Fagan missed the boat (or iceberg if you will) for me. I wanted to feel afraid of the cold and I wanted to feel cold reading this book; but instead all I felt was indifference to 90% of the plot points, cold weather and characters portrayed.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Honestly just could not get into this one. I’ve hears wonderful things about Fagan’s first novel so may give that a shot.

This was more of a 3.5 for me, but still very enjoyable. I liked the main characters a lot, and this is a book that lives and dies on the strength of its characters. Stella seemed a little too precocious/wise beyond her years at first (really not a fan of those types of kid characters), but I ended up really liking her, and it was awesome to see a young trans person presented in such a respectful way. The author doesn't shy away from issues that a person like her would likely face (bullying, etc.), but she's not defined by her gender identity. She's a well-rounded character and one of the highlights of the book for me.

The ice age-like apocalyptic backdrop adds some drama and tension to a story that otherwise wouldn't have much, but I would have liked some more answers regarding that. As is, <i>The Sunlight Pilgrims</i> is a good character-driven story about family that just happens to be set during what is most likely the apocalypse. I liked it.

I absolutely loved Jenni Fagan’s first novel, The Panopticon, so I was excited to receive an advance copy of her new novel. I was a little afraid it wouldn’t meet expectations, but it did. In fact, Fagan’s second novel is very different from the first, but still excellent.

The Sunlight Pilgrims takes place in the near future, at a time where winter weather has gotten much worse, with terrible impacts around the world. The book centers around three main characters trying to make it through the worst winter ever in a small Scottish town. Dylan has just moved from London; his mother and grandmother just died and the family business, a movie theater, has gone bankrupt. His mother left him a trailer in Scotland. He befriends Constance and her twelve-year-old daughter Stella. Survival in this small remote town has become -almost- the only thing that matters, as an iceberg heads towards Scotland.

At its heart, this is not a book about the apocalypse but more of a character study. In that way it reminded me a bit of Station Eleven. It’s a story about three people finding each other and themselves. Well, maybe two people. Dylan and Stella have a lot to work out but Constance is pretty put together. We never get in her head the way we do Dylan and Stella. Fagan connects her powerfully with nature, which is a huge force in this book but not necessarily a negative one.

“I was taught how to [stare at the sun] by the sunlight pilgrims, they’re from the islands farthest north. You can drink light right down into your chromosomes, then in the darkest minutes of winter, when there is a total absence of it, you will glow and glow and glow.”

I loved the characters of Dylan and Stella, and their stories kept me riveted to this book. Dylan is a somewhat confused twenty-ish young man who’s lost everything. Dylan is a walking misfit in this small town: he’s unusually tall and heavily tattooed. He doesn’t have a plan beyond finding his mother’s mobile home, getting through the winter, and burying the ashes of his mother and grandmother. He doesn’t know who his father was and he’s not sure he needs to find out.

He immediately falls in love with Constance, but it’s with Stella that a deep friendship develops. Stella is a young transgender pre-teen. She’s struggling with the physical transition from boy to girl and has to deal with bullying from her peers, including one boy she thought was her friend. She particularly needs her father to recognize who she is.

At a time when transgender issues are in the news, this book has a lot of insights about what it means to be a different gender than the body you were born into. Most of us may accept it but still find it hard to understand. I loved the character of Stella. She’s brave, passionate, and thoughtful – which is saying a lot for a teenager.

The main thing about this book is the writing. Fagan’s prose ranges from profanity to poetry, sometimes all at once. It’s the kind of book where you stop to read a paragraph a few times, not because it’s confusing but because it speaks to you.

When the tiny dark door in her heart creaks open, she will walk right through it. She will lie down and sleep inside her own heart like a bird in the night.

You might expect more to happen in this book than what actually does. It’s cold out, and there’s not a lot these characters can do, which makes this novel all the more about character.

I find a lot of second novels disappoint; this one never did.

Note: I received a complimentary advance copy of this novel from NetGalley and Crown Publishing. This book will be released July 19, 2016.