Book Review: The Age of Miracles

The Age of Miracles
Author: Karen Thompson Walker
Publisher: Simon and Schuster

'Maybe everything that had happened to me and my family had nothing at all to do with the slowing. It's possibly, I guess. But I doubt it. I doubt it very much.'

One Saturday morning the world wakes to discover that the rotation of the earth has begun to slow. As birds fall from the sky and days grow longer, people start to flee- but there is nowhere on earth to escape to.

Julia is already coping with the disasters of everyday life. And then there's Seth; tall and quiet and always on his own; the skateboarding boy who knows all about disaster. As the world faces a catastrophe, Julia and Seth are facing their very own unknown.

My Review

Thoughts on the book: When I initially read the blurb I couldn't wait to read The Age of Miracles as it seemed like it would be right up my ally. However I had just finished 'We All Looked Up' by Tommy Wallach when I started reading it and unfortunately I found that I was comparing it a lot to We all Looked Up. Even though there is a lot happening within the story for some reason it didn't quite grab me as much as I thought it would. I found that I could quite easily put the book down and walk away from it for a few days before picking it back up and continuing on with it. But in saying that I was also really determined to finish it.

I found that I really couldn't identify with the main character Julia. Maybe this is because in the story she is so young and you just look at some of the things she is complaining about and thinking why should that little thing be worrying you when there are a lot bigger things to worry about. I also really thought that I would love the theme of the world slowing down and everything changing but for some reason the author just didn't have the right spin on it for me and as I said I found myself getting rather bored with the storyline.

I must say that there are some amazing quotes in here that people will read and immediately either identify with it or fall in love with them. 

Favourite quote/moment:

“Sometimes the saddest stories take the fewest words.”

“A man should enjoy things if he can; he should spend his final days in the sun. Mine will be spent by a reading lamp.” 

Rating: 3/5