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Trashlands
From the author of ROAD OUT OF WINTER, winner of The Philip K. Dick Award!
A resonant, visionary novel about the power of art and the sacrifices we are willing to make for the ones we love
A few generations from now, the coastlines of the continent have been redrawn by floods and tides. Global powers have agreed to not produce any new plastics, and what is left has become valuable: garbage is currency.
In the region-wide junkyard that Appalachia has become, Coral is a “plucker,” pulling plastic from the rivers and woods. She’s stuck in Trashlands, a dump named for the strip club at its edge, where the local women dance for an endless loop of strangers and the club's violent owner rules as unofficial mayor.
Amid the polluted landscape, Coral works desperately to save up enough to rescue her child from the recycling factories, where he is forced to work. In her stolen free hours, she does something that seems impossible in this place: Coral makes art.
When a reporter from a struggling city on the coast arrives in Trashlands, Coral is presented with an opportunity to change her life. But is it possible to choose a future for herself?
Told in shifting perspectives, Trashlands is a beautifully drawn and wildly imaginative tale of a parent's journey, a story of community and humanity in a changed world.
A resonant, visionary novel about the power of art and the sacrifices we are willing to make for the ones we love
A few generations from now, the coastlines of the continent have been redrawn by floods and tides. Global powers have agreed to not produce any new plastics, and what is left has become valuable: garbage is currency.
In the region-wide junkyard that Appalachia has become, Coral is a “plucker,” pulling plastic from the rivers and woods. She’s stuck in Trashlands, a dump named for the strip club at its edge, where the local women dance for an endless loop of strangers and the club's violent owner rules as unofficial mayor.
Amid the polluted landscape, Coral works desperately to save up enough to rescue her child from the recycling factories, where he is forced to work. In her stolen free hours, she does something that seems impossible in this place: Coral makes art.
When a reporter from a struggling city on the coast arrives in Trashlands, Coral is presented with an opportunity to change her life. But is it possible to choose a future for herself?
Told in shifting perspectives, Trashlands is a beautifully drawn and wildly imaginative tale of a parent's journey, a story of community and humanity in a changed world.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 26, 2021
About the author
Alison Stine
8 books260 followersAlison Stine grew up in rural Ohio and now lives in Colorado. Her first novel Road Out of Winter won the 2021 Philip K. Dick Award. Recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and National Geographic, she has published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and elsewhere.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 230 reviews
October 13, 2021
Trashlands by Alison Stine is a quiet but impactful read. It presents a look at what our world may end up like if we don’t start caring for our planet right now.
Mass flooding and other natural disasters caused by climate change have shrunk North America and completely changed everyone’s way of life. In this new world, nothing is definite, and everything is a struggle. Women are more vulnerable than before the floods; children are often forcibly taken to labour camps; plastic is the new form of currency.
In an area renamed Scrappalachia, Coral lives with her partner on a junkyard known as Trashlands. Trashlands is a dance club owned by a vile man called Rattlesnake Master, the self-appointed Mayor of the community.
Rather than work as a dancer, Coral is a plucker, someone who salvages usable plastic from the shore and woods. In her limited spare time, she creates art sculptures from scraps and leaves them in the woods for people to do what they will with them. Several years ago, Coral’s son Shanghai was forcibly taken to a children’s labour camp. Since then, Coral has been trying to save enough plastic to buy his freedom.
A reporter named Miami arrives at Scrappalachia with a vague goal of trying to find something. Miami’s life becomes intertwined with the people of Trashlands, and his presence opens up the possibility of changing some of the lives in the community.
This story has multiple perspectives and a timeline that jumps from the past to the present and vice versa. I found it less jarring as the story progressed. Usually, when reading from multiple POVs, I’ll prefer one perspective over another, but with this book, I found them all engaging. Mr. Fall and Coral were definitely my favourite characters.
This novel is paced slowly and is meandering, but it managed to capture my attention entirely. While this book explores some dark themes, there is still a lingering hope that permeates through, signalling that it is not too late to change things.
CW: child abuse/neglect, drug usage.
Thank you to MIRA for the arc via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Mass flooding and other natural disasters caused by climate change have shrunk North America and completely changed everyone’s way of life. In this new world, nothing is definite, and everything is a struggle. Women are more vulnerable than before the floods; children are often forcibly taken to labour camps; plastic is the new form of currency.
In an area renamed Scrappalachia, Coral lives with her partner on a junkyard known as Trashlands. Trashlands is a dance club owned by a vile man called Rattlesnake Master, the self-appointed Mayor of the community.
Rather than work as a dancer, Coral is a plucker, someone who salvages usable plastic from the shore and woods. In her limited spare time, she creates art sculptures from scraps and leaves them in the woods for people to do what they will with them. Several years ago, Coral’s son Shanghai was forcibly taken to a children’s labour camp. Since then, Coral has been trying to save enough plastic to buy his freedom.
A reporter named Miami arrives at Scrappalachia with a vague goal of trying to find something. Miami’s life becomes intertwined with the people of Trashlands, and his presence opens up the possibility of changing some of the lives in the community.
This story has multiple perspectives and a timeline that jumps from the past to the present and vice versa. I found it less jarring as the story progressed. Usually, when reading from multiple POVs, I’ll prefer one perspective over another, but with this book, I found them all engaging. Mr. Fall and Coral were definitely my favourite characters.
This novel is paced slowly and is meandering, but it managed to capture my attention entirely. While this book explores some dark themes, there is still a lingering hope that permeates through, signalling that it is not too late to change things.
CW: child abuse/neglect, drug usage.
Thank you to MIRA for the arc via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
January 13, 2022
"Nothing wood could stay. Nothing made of metal. Or love. Only plastic was forever.
This is my favourite book of the year... but it's also only my third. However, I have a feeling that by December, it will still be a favourite.
In an America devastated by the effects of climate change, people struggle to survive. Torrential rains, calamitous storms, and cataclysmic fires have destroyed most houses and buildings, leaving behind mostly uninhabitable structures.
Some of the wealthier people still live in what is left of cities, where they have intermittent electricity and are slowly rebuilding.
Most people aren't so lucky.
In the Appalachian region, now known as Scrappalachia, those too poor to move to the cities eke out a meager living as best they can. Plastic is everywhere, left behind by our excessive and wasteful society. People like Coral survive by gathering plastic and trading it for food, medicine, and other necessities. In fact, in Scrappalachia, plastic is the most common type of currency.
Trashlands is the name of a strip club in Scrappalachia, situated in the middle of a junkyard. It is the kingdom of Rattlesnake Master who hires young girls to strip and prostitute themselves in return for food and an old vehicle to sleep in.
The characters are tragic and yet hopeful. Their lives are scarred by ruin and violence. Children are kidnapped to work in the plastic factories, sorting what can be salvaged, melting it down and forming bricks which are sold to those in the cities.
It sounds depressing, and yet it is such a good read. The characters are vibrant, standing out in stark contrast to their bleak surroundings.
I loved reading this book, loved getting to know and following the characters, loved seeing how they managed to survive, difficult as it was.
It's a quiet book, introspective, exploring the inner lives of the characters. Some people like their Post-Apocalyptic books to be action-filled. I prefer books like this.
The author writes beautifully. Regular readers of my reviews know I complain about how so many new books are dumbed-down writing. This is not. Alison Stine pulled me in on the very first page and kept me smack dab in the middle of that junkyard in the middle of Scrappalachia, feeling for the characters, hoping for the best, needing for them to just catch a break.
5 pink neon stars.... I wish I could give it more.
This is my favourite book of the year... but it's also only my third. However, I have a feeling that by December, it will still be a favourite.
In an America devastated by the effects of climate change, people struggle to survive. Torrential rains, calamitous storms, and cataclysmic fires have destroyed most houses and buildings, leaving behind mostly uninhabitable structures.
Some of the wealthier people still live in what is left of cities, where they have intermittent electricity and are slowly rebuilding.
Most people aren't so lucky.
In the Appalachian region, now known as Scrappalachia, those too poor to move to the cities eke out a meager living as best they can. Plastic is everywhere, left behind by our excessive and wasteful society. People like Coral survive by gathering plastic and trading it for food, medicine, and other necessities. In fact, in Scrappalachia, plastic is the most common type of currency.
Trashlands is the name of a strip club in Scrappalachia, situated in the middle of a junkyard. It is the kingdom of Rattlesnake Master who hires young girls to strip and prostitute themselves in return for food and an old vehicle to sleep in.
The characters are tragic and yet hopeful. Their lives are scarred by ruin and violence. Children are kidnapped to work in the plastic factories, sorting what can be salvaged, melting it down and forming bricks which are sold to those in the cities.
It sounds depressing, and yet it is such a good read. The characters are vibrant, standing out in stark contrast to their bleak surroundings.
I loved reading this book, loved getting to know and following the characters, loved seeing how they managed to survive, difficult as it was.
It's a quiet book, introspective, exploring the inner lives of the characters. Some people like their Post-Apocalyptic books to be action-filled. I prefer books like this.
The author writes beautifully. Regular readers of my reviews know I complain about how so many new books are dumbed-down writing. This is not. Alison Stine pulled me in on the very first page and kept me smack dab in the middle of that junkyard in the middle of Scrappalachia, feeling for the characters, hoping for the best, needing for them to just catch a break.
5 pink neon stars.... I wish I could give it more.
November 1, 2021
Trashlands by Alison Stine is a dystopian science fiction fantasy novel. The story is one that is told by changing the point of view between a few characters and is set in a future world in the United States.
Years from now the landscape of the continents will be changed with the coastlines changing which herded people inland. The global powers around the world agreed to cease in the production of plastic which in turn made it more valuable than ever with it becoming the new currency.
Coral lives among the Trashlands in a place junkyard in Scrappalachia always searching for a way to survive. Coral’s child was stolen from her and taken to the recycling factories to work where only small hands can manage. Coral has never given up hope that she will one day find her child again so when a reporter shows up she sees it at a sign to change her life.
So Trashlands by Alison Stine is mostly getting glowing reviews but I found myself on the outside looking in once again when I read this novel. For me the biggest thing that kept me from becoming engaged in this story was the lack of world building involved. I never found myself understanding the hows and whys to get myself connected to the rather disturbing world inside with ladies at a dystopian strip club putting up with the violence. Since I was in the minority I’d say if this one is on your radar give it a try for yourself.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
Years from now the landscape of the continents will be changed with the coastlines changing which herded people inland. The global powers around the world agreed to cease in the production of plastic which in turn made it more valuable than ever with it becoming the new currency.
Coral lives among the Trashlands in a place junkyard in Scrappalachia always searching for a way to survive. Coral’s child was stolen from her and taken to the recycling factories to work where only small hands can manage. Coral has never given up hope that she will one day find her child again so when a reporter shows up she sees it at a sign to change her life.
So Trashlands by Alison Stine is mostly getting glowing reviews but I found myself on the outside looking in once again when I read this novel. For me the biggest thing that kept me from becoming engaged in this story was the lack of world building involved. I never found myself understanding the hows and whys to get myself connected to the rather disturbing world inside with ladies at a dystopian strip club putting up with the violence. Since I was in the minority I’d say if this one is on your radar give it a try for yourself.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
July 28, 2022
I recently read Stine's first novel, the 2021 Philip K. Dick Award winner Road Out of Winter, and really liked it. I liked Trashlands slightly less, but still found it to be an immersive read.
The book is set in the near future world ravaged by climate change, in an area of extreme poverty. Scavenging for plastic forms the basis of the survival-driven economy of the poor. But even while people spend most of their energy just trying to survive, they also try to find ways to live - through art, relationships, and sharing with others their memories and their stories.
The book is not plot driven, but instead features a more experiential slice of life. The characters, their feelings and experiences, hopes and fears, their interactions with each other and their surrounding environment, are the real feature here. The picture being painted is of a difficult life of poverty (always universally and exponentially worse for women and children), the daily struggle to survive, and the little things that make life "a life." There is no real beginning and no real end, just a segment of time where the reader gets to drop into the lives of the characters.
Alison Stine is a poet whose writing is suffused with imagery and emotion, but also at times somewhat fluid with respect to anchoring events in time. It all does come together, the events accreting in an organic fashion, unfolding in the mind of the reader to form a layered whole. This is a book to experience and to soak in, to think about about the people in it and their efforts to live and to persist despite the difficult world they live in.
It's not a book for everyone, I don't think, but it was good for me.
People had thought there would be no more time, but there was. Just different time. Time moving slower. Time after disaster, when they still had to live.
. . .
But once you left a place, it was hard to come back. Mr. Fall knew that. You forgot the way. Or the way was blocked by debris, floods that washed away the path, fire that cut a new path. You ran out of money, plastic, food. You were needed in a new place. You needed other places, other people, more.
. . .
Letting go—that was how you lived. Holding on too hard, too long, could end you, sure as an animal stuck in mud.
The book is set in the near future world ravaged by climate change, in an area of extreme poverty. Scavenging for plastic forms the basis of the survival-driven economy of the poor. But even while people spend most of their energy just trying to survive, they also try to find ways to live - through art, relationships, and sharing with others their memories and their stories.
The book is not plot driven, but instead features a more experiential slice of life. The characters, their feelings and experiences, hopes and fears, their interactions with each other and their surrounding environment, are the real feature here. The picture being painted is of a difficult life of poverty (always universally and exponentially worse for women and children), the daily struggle to survive, and the little things that make life "a life." There is no real beginning and no real end, just a segment of time where the reader gets to drop into the lives of the characters.
Alison Stine is a poet whose writing is suffused with imagery and emotion, but also at times somewhat fluid with respect to anchoring events in time. It all does come together, the events accreting in an organic fashion, unfolding in the mind of the reader to form a layered whole. This is a book to experience and to soak in, to think about about the people in it and their efforts to live and to persist despite the difficult world they live in.
It's not a book for everyone, I don't think, but it was good for me.
People had thought there would be no more time, but there was. Just different time. Time moving slower. Time after disaster, when they still had to live.
. . .
But once you left a place, it was hard to come back. Mr. Fall knew that. You forgot the way. Or the way was blocked by debris, floods that washed away the path, fire that cut a new path. You ran out of money, plastic, food. You were needed in a new place. You needed other places, other people, more.
. . .
Letting go—that was how you lived. Holding on too hard, too long, could end you, sure as an animal stuck in mud.
January 22, 2022
A post apocalyptic story of what we’ve all heard is coming with climate change, overproduction and continued mass plastic production and less recycling of plastic. I started out liking the story concept at the beginning, but then not so much. At the end, the final story of/by Mr.Fall, one of Trashlands/Scrappalachia residents, who remembered the world the way it had been, and took it upon himself to teach this new generation of children, piqued my interest again. Unfortunately though, that was the end of the book.
Basically, these plastic collectors/pickers are called pluckers. They pick through the masses of plastic that was created in our current world and it now covers parts of the earth and floats in many of the waters. There is a value, a price for “good plastic” though I failed to retain what actually is considered good plastic, for these people who searched for this stuff in order to barter for food, clothing, water, shelter, etc. Supposedly these pieces are used to make bricks and buildings are built from them (like Giant Lego’s??). Child labor is in force here and children are kidnapped and shipped off to these plastic factories for sorting purposes.
The main character, Coral, has lost her son, Shanghai this way, a long time ago, and most of the story surrounds her loss, her home, her relationship and her plucking.
We read about her plan and what she actually needs to do to find Shanghai and get him back home. Coral is also a plastic artist, using pieces she finds to create creative things in the forest, out of the way of others judgemental, assessing eyes.
It is a sad, disturbing story, a very sad vision of what life might come to be if the world continues on this path of plastic overproduction and destruction. There’s lawlessness, corruption, pain, heartache…and, just lots and lots of plastic!! 😪
**Important Addendum**
I just learned theres a start up company in LA that is fusing nonrecycable plastics together to make building blocks, similar to what’s been described in this story. They are called ByFusion and I’ve seen photos where these blocks/bricks are being used to make park gazebos, fences, bus stops, retaining walls, etc with future look out to using them for building construction. Some cities have already signed up for the machinery used to create these big plastic blocks. They are called ByBlocks and the machines that create them are called Blockers. If you are concerned about a medley of plastic colors used in your project, they can be painted to be by more esthetic looking. I’m sure there’s more to come on this, but it’s a great start to solving the universal plastics problems.
Basically, these plastic collectors/pickers are called pluckers. They pick through the masses of plastic that was created in our current world and it now covers parts of the earth and floats in many of the waters. There is a value, a price for “good plastic” though I failed to retain what actually is considered good plastic, for these people who searched for this stuff in order to barter for food, clothing, water, shelter, etc. Supposedly these pieces are used to make bricks and buildings are built from them (like Giant Lego’s??). Child labor is in force here and children are kidnapped and shipped off to these plastic factories for sorting purposes.
The main character, Coral, has lost her son, Shanghai this way, a long time ago, and most of the story surrounds her loss, her home, her relationship and her plucking.
We read about her plan and what she actually needs to do to find Shanghai and get him back home. Coral is also a plastic artist, using pieces she finds to create creative things in the forest, out of the way of others judgemental, assessing eyes.
It is a sad, disturbing story, a very sad vision of what life might come to be if the world continues on this path of plastic overproduction and destruction. There’s lawlessness, corruption, pain, heartache…and, just lots and lots of plastic!! 😪
**Important Addendum**
I just learned theres a start up company in LA that is fusing nonrecycable plastics together to make building blocks, similar to what’s been described in this story. They are called ByFusion and I’ve seen photos where these blocks/bricks are being used to make park gazebos, fences, bus stops, retaining walls, etc with future look out to using them for building construction. Some cities have already signed up for the machinery used to create these big plastic blocks. They are called ByBlocks and the machines that create them are called Blockers. If you are concerned about a medley of plastic colors used in your project, they can be painted to be by more esthetic looking. I’m sure there’s more to come on this, but it’s a great start to solving the universal plastics problems.
November 4, 2021
Trashlands is a very haunting tale of a future post-apocalyptic world in which plastic becomes the currency of the world following a climate apocalypse.
Away from the cities, in a junkyard known as Trashlands in Scrappalacia, Coral lives in an old school bus with her adoptive father, Mr Fall, and her man, Trilllium. Life is extremely hard for Coral and the others as she searches and “plucks” plastic from the river to help feed her family. Trillium works as a tattoo artist, and Mr. Fall teaches school to the children of the junkyard.
Nearby, a stripclub known as Trashlands is where the self-proclaimed Mayor of Trashlands lives with his bright pink neon sign powered by solar. Evil Rattlesnake Master makes sure everyone who lives there has to depend on him for food to survive. Men wander into his club to watch the dancers and drink homemade brew spending their hard earned plastic.
Two of the dancers are friends with Coral and her family and do what they can to help Coral find her son. Seven years before, Shanghai was snatched at the age of 7 to work in a factory to sort the plastic that would be made into bricks. The plastic bricks were the new materials to use to build homes, or other buildings.
I love post-apocalyptic stories and Trashlands is one that will stay with me for a long time. I really found myself rooting for Coral, her family, and her friends. It was really eye opening to see how they survived on almost nothing whatsoever. No clothes, shoes, medicine, food, even water. They knew how to make do with almost anything, bark, weeds, plants, and especially, plastic. This was a tale of a very dark and very bleak future. But I couldn’t get it out of my head and would pick it back up every chance I had.
*Thanks to Harlequin Books and NetGalley for the advance copy!*
Away from the cities, in a junkyard known as Trashlands in Scrappalacia, Coral lives in an old school bus with her adoptive father, Mr Fall, and her man, Trilllium. Life is extremely hard for Coral and the others as she searches and “plucks” plastic from the river to help feed her family. Trillium works as a tattoo artist, and Mr. Fall teaches school to the children of the junkyard.
Nearby, a stripclub known as Trashlands is where the self-proclaimed Mayor of Trashlands lives with his bright pink neon sign powered by solar. Evil Rattlesnake Master makes sure everyone who lives there has to depend on him for food to survive. Men wander into his club to watch the dancers and drink homemade brew spending their hard earned plastic.
Two of the dancers are friends with Coral and her family and do what they can to help Coral find her son. Seven years before, Shanghai was snatched at the age of 7 to work in a factory to sort the plastic that would be made into bricks. The plastic bricks were the new materials to use to build homes, or other buildings.
I love post-apocalyptic stories and Trashlands is one that will stay with me for a long time. I really found myself rooting for Coral, her family, and her friends. It was really eye opening to see how they survived on almost nothing whatsoever. No clothes, shoes, medicine, food, even water. They knew how to make do with almost anything, bark, weeds, plants, and especially, plastic. This was a tale of a very dark and very bleak future. But I couldn’t get it out of my head and would pick it back up every chance I had.
*Thanks to Harlequin Books and NetGalley for the advance copy!*
November 9, 2021
➙ 3⭐
➙ Narration 😕 = Should’ve Had More Narrators
➙ Narrated by 🎙️Brittany Pressley
➙ Dystopian
➙ ♻Plastic is king👑...and currency💲
➙ Non-ending for an ending
➙ Cover 💕Love💕
I should have known...after the first book by this author, that also didn’t have an actual ending that this probably wouldn’t either. I don’t get it. Did I miss something...because it felt like everything was happening and we were at the climax of the story...and then...end credits. And that last chapter; WTF was that?
Seriously though this story had everything going for it, great writing, premise, characters, authenticity...it just needed to be finished. This is exactly what happened in her other book Road Out of Winter. I’m not a “write your own ending” kind of person...I feel like someone stole my book so I couldn’t finish it.
➙ Narration 😕 = Should’ve Had More Narrators
➙ Narrated by 🎙️Brittany Pressley
➙ Dystopian
➙ ♻Plastic is king👑...and currency💲
➙ Non-ending for an ending
➙ Cover 💕Love💕
I should have known...after the first book by this author, that also didn’t have an actual ending that this probably wouldn’t either. I don’t get it. Did I miss something...because it felt like everything was happening and we were at the climax of the story...and then...end credits. And that last chapter; WTF was that?
Seriously though this story had everything going for it, great writing, premise, characters, authenticity...it just needed to be finished. This is exactly what happened in her other book Road Out of Winter. I’m not a “write your own ending” kind of person...I feel like someone stole my book so I couldn’t finish it.
November 10, 2021
Not since I read Station Eleven have I fallen this hard for a book that is fairly bleak, but so beautifully done that it pulls you in. Trashlands is a look at the land of Scrappalachia. A world after a cataclysmic world climate event has decimated everything that we once took for granted. Numerous plants and animals alike, a thing of the past. A new generation of people exist who can barely comprehend a world where things were once single use, or convenient. Instead, this is a world of survival. One where a single wrong step can mean your death. And yet? People manage to thrive.
We all know that characters are my favorite parts of stories, and so I have to give a ton of love to Alison Stine for the vast tapestry she weaves. Coral and her family are vivid, and sturdy. Even if the reader is thrown into the story without much explanation, it’s not hard to understand Coral’s way of being. She is used to a world where men rule, and women suffer the consequences. She has known hurt, and loss, in a way that has altered her forever.
Around her are numerous other people, each eking out their own meager life as best they can. From Trillium, the tattoo artist, to Foxglove, the sex worker, each one has their own unique way of dealing with the world. I loved that Stine didn’t attempt to build any fake levity here. This story pulls no punches. It shows each person’s struggles in vivid color, but that also allows the little bits of happiness to leak through and shine brighter. It’s the kind of story that once again reminds us that we should be more present in the moment, and thankful for what we have.
This would have easily been a five star read for me, if only it did a bit more of a deep dive on what actually occurred to cause this new world. Since I am heavily a character driven reader, it didn’t bother me as much as it might some people. The way this story is told is almost poetic in a sense, which makes sense now that I know Stine is a poet as well. The story walks this line of tense atmosphere that keeps you on your toes. I was happy to see the people I met fully fleshed out, rather than quickly rushed over. The world never felt large per say, but in a way that felt like exactly what it was supposed to feel like. Still, for people who are more focused on world building, Trashlands may feel a little unsatisfying.
The other slight issue I had was that some of the messages here felt a little heavy handed, especially set against such a poetically told story. Again, this is definitely a story that is pushing people to pay attention to climate change and our part in it. It never pretends not to have its own sense of feminism either, with the female characters constantly assessing this “after” world ruled by men. These things never pulled me out of the story, but I do feel they might affect other readers differently so they are worth mentioning.
Am I glad I read this book? Absolutely I am. It was gorgeous. A huge round of applause to Alison Stine and this work of art.
We all know that characters are my favorite parts of stories, and so I have to give a ton of love to Alison Stine for the vast tapestry she weaves. Coral and her family are vivid, and sturdy. Even if the reader is thrown into the story without much explanation, it’s not hard to understand Coral’s way of being. She is used to a world where men rule, and women suffer the consequences. She has known hurt, and loss, in a way that has altered her forever.
Around her are numerous other people, each eking out their own meager life as best they can. From Trillium, the tattoo artist, to Foxglove, the sex worker, each one has their own unique way of dealing with the world. I loved that Stine didn’t attempt to build any fake levity here. This story pulls no punches. It shows each person’s struggles in vivid color, but that also allows the little bits of happiness to leak through and shine brighter. It’s the kind of story that once again reminds us that we should be more present in the moment, and thankful for what we have.
This would have easily been a five star read for me, if only it did a bit more of a deep dive on what actually occurred to cause this new world. Since I am heavily a character driven reader, it didn’t bother me as much as it might some people. The way this story is told is almost poetic in a sense, which makes sense now that I know Stine is a poet as well. The story walks this line of tense atmosphere that keeps you on your toes. I was happy to see the people I met fully fleshed out, rather than quickly rushed over. The world never felt large per say, but in a way that felt like exactly what it was supposed to feel like. Still, for people who are more focused on world building, Trashlands may feel a little unsatisfying.
The other slight issue I had was that some of the messages here felt a little heavy handed, especially set against such a poetically told story. Again, this is definitely a story that is pushing people to pay attention to climate change and our part in it. It never pretends not to have its own sense of feminism either, with the female characters constantly assessing this “after” world ruled by men. These things never pulled me out of the story, but I do feel they might affect other readers differently so they are worth mentioning.
Am I glad I read this book? Absolutely I am. It was gorgeous. A huge round of applause to Alison Stine and this work of art.
September 25, 2021
I just…. Don’t get it.
This is an odd book, a mixture of The Grapes of Wrath and the (hopefully) distant future. It’s a reflection of humankind, a reflection of what makes us human. It’s the story of Coral, a young woman whose child was kidnapped and forced to work in a factory, but there’s so much more to the story than just that. It’s a story about the lives of people woven together like that plastic quilt Summer made.
But I don’t get it. I don’t understand why the author chose to weave the story together in a haphazard timeline. It was very confusing to read. We could jump from the person to person, and different points of time in a heartbeat. I didn’t understand a good portion of what I read. I think the characters are interesting. I think the setting was gritty and grimy, which was the point. I appreciated the world building.
But it felt like we were thrown into the middle of someone’s life and then vigorously plucked out of it with no real sense of resolution. This feels like a classic book that I was required to read in school, that everyone around me really liked, but I just don’t understand why anyone likes it.
One star.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book.
This is an odd book, a mixture of The Grapes of Wrath and the (hopefully) distant future. It’s a reflection of humankind, a reflection of what makes us human. It’s the story of Coral, a young woman whose child was kidnapped and forced to work in a factory, but there’s so much more to the story than just that. It’s a story about the lives of people woven together like that plastic quilt Summer made.
But I don’t get it. I don’t understand why the author chose to weave the story together in a haphazard timeline. It was very confusing to read. We could jump from the person to person, and different points of time in a heartbeat. I didn’t understand a good portion of what I read. I think the characters are interesting. I think the setting was gritty and grimy, which was the point. I appreciated the world building.
But it felt like we were thrown into the middle of someone’s life and then vigorously plucked out of it with no real sense of resolution. This feels like a classic book that I was required to read in school, that everyone around me really liked, but I just don’t understand why anyone likes it.
One star.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book.
October 4, 2021
It's not often that I enjoy reading post-apocalytpic fiction about how we destroyed the planet, but Trashlands is a very notable exception. Then again, it's not often you'll find a post-apocalyptic novel that's this beautifully written. It took me a few chapters in to realize that the story was bouncing between the present and the past, but once I got past that I was good to go. The characters all have unique and well-rounded arcs and the world Stine imagines is vivid in its bleakness. The abrupt ending took me by surprise but didn't disappoint me in any way. And yeah, you'll probably look at the plastic you pass on the side of the road a little differently after this read.
I received an advance review copy of Trashlands in a Goodreads giveaway.
I received an advance review copy of Trashlands in a Goodreads giveaway.
July 6, 2021
This is one of my favorite books to read in a long time, and I read a lot of books. The whole world has gone to hell and about the only jobs left are scavenging for used plastic or dancing in a dump of a joint called Trashlands. Everybody has gone through something traumatic in their lives and yet they still bond and care about whoever and whatever they can make into a family life. Scavenging for food, for garbage, for acceptance. Trying to protect children (who are kidnapped to work in factories sorting plastic) protect themselves, protect what little freedom and family life they have. Despite all the problems, the good people are people readers will care for and relate to, and the bad people are bad in all the bad ways and if you relate to them then that's icky.
The residents of Scrappalachia are so isolated that they don't know that cities still exist, that there are jobs in the world that aren't scavenging or dancing in dives. All strangers are to be distrusted until one day a kindly reporter arrives from a big city, looking for his sister who has gone missing. And you know what happens when an outsider arrives. Their world turns up-side-down. (Actually, there are a lot of outsiders, but most are men drunk of alcohol made from rot, there for nothing other than ogling dancers.
Will the kidnapped child ever return? Will the characters get out of their grueling lives? Will the main character bite her lip until she tastes blood? (Yes, but only once so my bite-o-meter did not even wiggle.) This is one heck of an exciting ride, even if few of the cars of the world still run.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin (who knew Harlequin printed horror?) for allowing me to read this post-apocalyptic ARC ebook.
The residents of Scrappalachia are so isolated that they don't know that cities still exist, that there are jobs in the world that aren't scavenging or dancing in dives. All strangers are to be distrusted until one day a kindly reporter arrives from a big city, looking for his sister who has gone missing. And you know what happens when an outsider arrives. Their world turns up-side-down. (Actually, there are a lot of outsiders, but most are men drunk of alcohol made from rot, there for nothing other than ogling dancers.
Will the kidnapped child ever return? Will the characters get out of their grueling lives? Will the main character bite her lip until she tastes blood? (Yes, but only once so my bite-o-meter did not even wiggle.) This is one heck of an exciting ride, even if few of the cars of the world still run.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin (who knew Harlequin printed horror?) for allowing me to read this post-apocalyptic ARC ebook.
May 3, 2022
In an unspecified future, water has flooded the coast of the US, and the characters of the novel live in a place called Scrappalachia, where they scrounge for plastic of any sort, the new currency in this new world. The novel tells the story of several of these sad and desolate creatures, all living in a garbage dump called Trashland. Their stories are bleak and sad, and tell of missing children, illiteracy, sex workers, hunger, child labor, air and water pollution, etc. It's not a happy or uplifting story at all, so if you're in the mood for a dystopian desolate read, this is it.
There are some weird narrative choices here, such as the characters being named after plants, seasons and places instead of regular person names; there is also a question of why if only the coasts were ruined, is life not still OK inland? And why wouldn't these people move there? Why don't the characters know what "air conditioning" is? (instead using their made-up word "chillers"?) It would help to know how many years from our future this takes place. On the one hand, the children are ignorant of basic luxuries or the function of ordinary objects we take for granted, suggesting this is at least several hundred years' hence, but then there are characters, like Mr. Fall, who clearly has a memory of these past times (and teaches this "history" to the kids)... it's a little confusing.
There are some weird narrative choices here, such as the characters being named after plants, seasons and places instead of regular person names; there is also a question of why if only the coasts were ruined, is life not still OK inland? And why wouldn't these people move there? Why don't the characters know what "air conditioning" is? (instead using their made-up word "chillers"?) It would help to know how many years from our future this takes place. On the one hand, the children are ignorant of basic luxuries or the function of ordinary objects we take for granted, suggesting this is at least several hundred years' hence, but then there are characters, like Mr. Fall, who clearly has a memory of these past times (and teaches this "history" to the kids)... it's a little confusing.
September 3, 2021
Received as an ARC via my employer Barnes & Noble. Started 8-30-21. Finished 9-3-21. Wanted to read it in one day but 3rd knee surgery got in the way. Don't you just hate stuff like that?! Anyway this book is fantastic. Not a wasted word. Takes place in the (unfortunate) not-to-distant future when coastal flooding has eliminated many cities, plastic and chemicals have ruined the earth(although plastic becomes the currency of barter),and the Midwest is the junk capital--Scrappalachia. The life of these Pluckers is heartbreaking yet somehow impressive with their ingenuity and often hopefulness. The goal to stay alive and their efforts to form "families" is foremost. I wanted to know more about these people---what happens next. Always leave them wanting more! Would make a terrific movie or TV series. Now I have to read the author's first book.
Read
November 23, 20213.5 stars
The first half was more like 3 stars, because I couldn't connect with the story. The narrative felt a bit arbitrary and meandering. I was missing drive.
The second half went more towards 4 stars with a powerful open ending in the way that already convinced me in the author's "Road into Winter".
The first half was more like 3 stars, because I couldn't connect with the story. The narrative felt a bit arbitrary and meandering. I was missing drive.
The second half went more towards 4 stars with a powerful open ending in the way that already convinced me in the author's "Road into Winter".
December 20, 2021
This was a powerful, elegantly written novel of a dystopian future (thanks, climate change) and the ways in which art continues, despite everything, to remind us of our humanity.
November 8, 2021
Some decades from now (anything from 50 to 100 years' time, I believe), the earth has flooded, many flash fires have occurred, and waters are polluted by industrial waste and plastic. Society as we know it has broken down, and new ones have emerged. The currency for the poor is plastic - they 'pluck' it from the water and sell it for recycling into house bricks, which affords them a meagre, subsistence-level way of life.
Coral, Trillium and Mr Fall live in Scrappalachia, formerly without the 'Scr', a vast area of junkyard. Their own corner is dominated by a strip club: Trashlands. Meanwhile in the cities, the workers are a different sort of poor. They live a hard life, too: a high rate of crime, queueing for food, and little in the way of comfort.
As often with this genre of book, what I was most interested in was the world-building. At first there was frustratingly little, just a few snapshots showing how the current situation came to be, but it built up as the story went on with much more detail near the end, by which time it meant so much more than if I'd learned about it from the beginning; the narrative often divulged information in words left unsaid. I liked how the fashion for names has changed; mostly, people are named for places, plants and animals that I imagine no longer exist: Tahiti, Miami, Foxglove, New Orleans, Mangrove, Golden Toad - and Coral.
There is no big apocalyptic happening but a slow deterioration of the world we know, starting with the floods. This means, of course, that there is also a gradual deterioration in intellectual possibility and knowledge of the world, as the internet and TV no longer exist and most books have been destroyed; also, the people are more concerned with staying alive than being educated. It's like a move back to medieval times, but with a polluted world rather than vast areas of lush green and clear water waiting to be utilised.
The story is told in medium length chapters from many points of view - Coral, her man Trillium and her 'father', Mr Fall; also Foxglove and Summer, 'dancers' at Trashlands, Rattlesnake Master who owns it, reporter Miami from the city, and a few others. Always my favourite structure if done well, and this was. The story itself centres around an event in Coral's earlier life, but the plot seemed like a backdrop for this detailed picture of our future world, rather than the opposite way round.
There were a couple of areas that I thought could have done with a bit more thinking through, like how the people of the junkyard would have been unable to work or survive on a diet of insects, weeds and the odd rat, and that petrol and diesel deteriorates in about a year at most, but every post-apocalyptic story I've ever watched or read ignores this second point; if it's good enough for The Walking Dead, I'll suspend my belief here too 😉. To sum up, I was absorbed by this book all the way through, thought about it afterwards and would love to read more. There: that should be all the recommendation you need!
Coral, Trillium and Mr Fall live in Scrappalachia, formerly without the 'Scr', a vast area of junkyard. Their own corner is dominated by a strip club: Trashlands. Meanwhile in the cities, the workers are a different sort of poor. They live a hard life, too: a high rate of crime, queueing for food, and little in the way of comfort.
As often with this genre of book, what I was most interested in was the world-building. At first there was frustratingly little, just a few snapshots showing how the current situation came to be, but it built up as the story went on with much more detail near the end, by which time it meant so much more than if I'd learned about it from the beginning; the narrative often divulged information in words left unsaid. I liked how the fashion for names has changed; mostly, people are named for places, plants and animals that I imagine no longer exist: Tahiti, Miami, Foxglove, New Orleans, Mangrove, Golden Toad - and Coral.
There is no big apocalyptic happening but a slow deterioration of the world we know, starting with the floods. This means, of course, that there is also a gradual deterioration in intellectual possibility and knowledge of the world, as the internet and TV no longer exist and most books have been destroyed; also, the people are more concerned with staying alive than being educated. It's like a move back to medieval times, but with a polluted world rather than vast areas of lush green and clear water waiting to be utilised.
The story is told in medium length chapters from many points of view - Coral, her man Trillium and her 'father', Mr Fall; also Foxglove and Summer, 'dancers' at Trashlands, Rattlesnake Master who owns it, reporter Miami from the city, and a few others. Always my favourite structure if done well, and this was. The story itself centres around an event in Coral's earlier life, but the plot seemed like a backdrop for this detailed picture of our future world, rather than the opposite way round.
There were a couple of areas that I thought could have done with a bit more thinking through, like how the people of the junkyard would have been unable to work or survive on a diet of insects, weeds and the odd rat, and that petrol and diesel deteriorates in about a year at most, but every post-apocalyptic story I've ever watched or read ignores this second point; if it's good enough for The Walking Dead, I'll suspend my belief here too 😉. To sum up, I was absorbed by this book all the way through, thought about it afterwards and would love to read more. There: that should be all the recommendation you need!
November 11, 2021
This was a total title/cover grab, and it was SUCH a good one!!!!! Mad Max dystopia but make it a climate disaster? Plus that ambiguous ending thoughhhhhhh!!!!!! 🙀🙀🙀 Check your trigger warnings for this, though. She dark.
September 24, 2021
Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reader’s copy.
This book is simply amazing! It’s an eco-dystopian thriller set in the near future, when the Earth has been ravaged by climate change, rising sea levels and flooding, chemical leakages, and plastic pollution. Much of the land has turned toxic and the few remaining barely-getting-by-cities rely on recycled plastic bricks both as currency and building materials.
in a place called Trashlands located Scrappalachia (a future play on Appalachia, here set vaguely in Southern Ohio), the destitute spend their days hunting through a highly polluted river for recyclable plastic that they can sell, much like panning for gold in bygone days. Plastic has become the new currency. Picking through trash for plastic that has not been recycled before, they barely scrape out an existence as they face hunger, poverty, lack of nutrition, violence, an evil overlord, and scavenging kidnappers coming in randomly to snatch young children for factory work due to their agile fingers ability to pick out small usable plastic pieces. At the center of Trashlands stands a neon-lighted strip club which attracts the worst kind of men, staffed by well-meaning women who turn to sex work to survive. Rattlesnake Master runs not only the club but treats Trashlands as his own fiefdom. He charges residents for food, electricity and basic at jacked up prices much like the factory company stores of old.
At the center of this story stand three strong compassionate women survivors, single mom Coral and club workers Summer and Foxglove, who transcend their abject poverty and the misogyny of the men who come into Trashlands to get intoxicated and laid. By their sides are compassionate men looking out for them: Coral’s surrogate Dad, Summer’s lover and teacher of the children, Mr. Fall; Coral’s older boyfriend Trillium, and a reporter from the city coming to avenge his sister’s death in Trashlands. The action centers on pulling together the resources to rescue Coral’s son who was kidnapped years prior, and who has his own narrative interludes while imprisoned in the plastic brick factory.
It comes together with heart and ferocity, where the instinct to survive and to draw ones you love close transcends into hope and conquers evil. You want these characters to be your best friends if you found yourself in an apocalypse, and you hope that you would have the heart and grit to make it through like they do.
This books also resonates with you long past finishing it- and you’ll never look at the massive plastic trash that our consumer lives generate and pollutes the Earth the same way.
This book is simply amazing! It’s an eco-dystopian thriller set in the near future, when the Earth has been ravaged by climate change, rising sea levels and flooding, chemical leakages, and plastic pollution. Much of the land has turned toxic and the few remaining barely-getting-by-cities rely on recycled plastic bricks both as currency and building materials.
in a place called Trashlands located Scrappalachia (a future play on Appalachia, here set vaguely in Southern Ohio), the destitute spend their days hunting through a highly polluted river for recyclable plastic that they can sell, much like panning for gold in bygone days. Plastic has become the new currency. Picking through trash for plastic that has not been recycled before, they barely scrape out an existence as they face hunger, poverty, lack of nutrition, violence, an evil overlord, and scavenging kidnappers coming in randomly to snatch young children for factory work due to their agile fingers ability to pick out small usable plastic pieces. At the center of Trashlands stands a neon-lighted strip club which attracts the worst kind of men, staffed by well-meaning women who turn to sex work to survive. Rattlesnake Master runs not only the club but treats Trashlands as his own fiefdom. He charges residents for food, electricity and basic at jacked up prices much like the factory company stores of old.
At the center of this story stand three strong compassionate women survivors, single mom Coral and club workers Summer and Foxglove, who transcend their abject poverty and the misogyny of the men who come into Trashlands to get intoxicated and laid. By their sides are compassionate men looking out for them: Coral’s surrogate Dad, Summer’s lover and teacher of the children, Mr. Fall; Coral’s older boyfriend Trillium, and a reporter from the city coming to avenge his sister’s death in Trashlands. The action centers on pulling together the resources to rescue Coral’s son who was kidnapped years prior, and who has his own narrative interludes while imprisoned in the plastic brick factory.
It comes together with heart and ferocity, where the instinct to survive and to draw ones you love close transcends into hope and conquers evil. You want these characters to be your best friends if you found yourself in an apocalypse, and you hope that you would have the heart and grit to make it through like they do.
This books also resonates with you long past finishing it- and you’ll never look at the massive plastic trash that our consumer lives generate and pollutes the Earth the same way.
January 18, 2022
Truly exceptional. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this book has changed the way I look at the world around me (I'm especially noticing all the plastics, all the waste). It's a lovely, hopeful, unique narrative that doesn't shy from confronting our current collision course if we don't rethink our consumption habits.
October 11, 2021
Book: Trashlands
Author: Alison Stine
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars
I would like to thank the publisher, Mira Books, for sending me an ARC.
I loved Alison’s first book, Road Out of Winter, so much. It was one of those books that just pulled you in and left you wanting to read more. There is just something about the way she writes that just pulls you in and makes it very difficult to get out. She presents everything in a manner that is so real and it just makes you feel as if you are there. You are in the Trashlands with the characters, experiencing all the horrors and joys of what the characters are going through. Plus, the situations that the characters are put in could actually happen. I think that is the scary about this book.
Everything that happens in this book could actually happen. We are dealing with a world in which society has pretty much broken down and now everyone has to pick up the pieces. We see people out trying to come up with ways to survive. Some of the characters have to do things that they normally would. Coral is the character who comes to mind whenever I think of this. Her son has been taken from her and is now working in the factories. We see her putting herself in situations with the hopes of trying to get him back. We also have young women working at a strip club because, again, they have no other options. So many people are put here because of that reason. There is no choice. The only other choice is to die and many of these people do want to live. They have this desire to keep on going. It really makes you stop and wonder what you would do if you were in their situation. Would you have the will power to keep on going or would you just lie down? I like it whenever books make you think about what you would do if you were in the same situations as the characters.
The characters we meet throughout the course of the book are very complex and developed. Again, this all comes down to the situations that they have been forced into. They are a product of the world again them. However, some have chosen to use what life has thrown at them for good, while others have not. It just depends on what the characters have decided to do with their lives and what to make of them. We do see a lot of people bringing out the good in humanity. We see them come together and try to have a somewhat normal life. We also see a lot of people bring out the not so good aspects of human nature. Again, it all comes down to how you are going to deal with the situation. Once again, it also makes you questions what you would do if you were in the characters’ situation.
Again, I think what I really liked about this book is the fact that it pulls you in and really makes you think about what you would do if the world fell apart. I know it kind of did in 2020, but this is on a whole other level.
If you are looking for a science fiction book that makes you think and seems real, I highly encourage you to pick this one up. You will not be sorry that you did.
This book comes out on October 26, 2021.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/f738VWG_1GI
Author: Alison Stine
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars
I would like to thank the publisher, Mira Books, for sending me an ARC.
I loved Alison’s first book, Road Out of Winter, so much. It was one of those books that just pulled you in and left you wanting to read more. There is just something about the way she writes that just pulls you in and makes it very difficult to get out. She presents everything in a manner that is so real and it just makes you feel as if you are there. You are in the Trashlands with the characters, experiencing all the horrors and joys of what the characters are going through. Plus, the situations that the characters are put in could actually happen. I think that is the scary about this book.
Everything that happens in this book could actually happen. We are dealing with a world in which society has pretty much broken down and now everyone has to pick up the pieces. We see people out trying to come up with ways to survive. Some of the characters have to do things that they normally would. Coral is the character who comes to mind whenever I think of this. Her son has been taken from her and is now working in the factories. We see her putting herself in situations with the hopes of trying to get him back. We also have young women working at a strip club because, again, they have no other options. So many people are put here because of that reason. There is no choice. The only other choice is to die and many of these people do want to live. They have this desire to keep on going. It really makes you stop and wonder what you would do if you were in their situation. Would you have the will power to keep on going or would you just lie down? I like it whenever books make you think about what you would do if you were in the same situations as the characters.
The characters we meet throughout the course of the book are very complex and developed. Again, this all comes down to the situations that they have been forced into. They are a product of the world again them. However, some have chosen to use what life has thrown at them for good, while others have not. It just depends on what the characters have decided to do with their lives and what to make of them. We do see a lot of people bringing out the good in humanity. We see them come together and try to have a somewhat normal life. We also see a lot of people bring out the not so good aspects of human nature. Again, it all comes down to how you are going to deal with the situation. Once again, it also makes you questions what you would do if you were in the characters’ situation.
Again, I think what I really liked about this book is the fact that it pulls you in and really makes you think about what you would do if the world fell apart. I know it kind of did in 2020, but this is on a whole other level.
If you are looking for a science fiction book that makes you think and seems real, I highly encourage you to pick this one up. You will not be sorry that you did.
This book comes out on October 26, 2021.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/f738VWG_1GI
January 3, 2022
Phenomenal. Absolutely incredible. Visceral. Enthralling. Gritty. (literally and figuratively) At turns both frighteningly beautiful and utterly terrifying.
This novel is a triumph, in prose, story, idea...all of it.
Do yourself a favor and read it.
Five VERY VERY enthusiastic stars.
This novel is a triumph, in prose, story, idea...all of it.
Do yourself a favor and read it.
Five VERY VERY enthusiastic stars.
January 4, 2022
Reading this book terrified me. I think a lot about our Mother Earth giving up on us, showing us in her own way enough is enough. And plastic. Oh God, the plastic. I experienced my worst fears reading this book. It deserves more than a 5 rating.
December 5, 2021
I was very disappointed by Trashlands by Alison Stine and had to force myself to finish it. A part of the problem is that I listened to the audio and the shifting narratives and time periods were often hard to follow. It was such an unremittingly dismal picture of the future and the only bright point in the book was Mr. Fall – a man who devoted himself to making sure the children of this dystopian world were given an education. The book takes place in the near future – I’m guessing about 40 years in the future. Due to floods, a great deal of coastal United States is no more. There is no electricity, running water or internet. Coral lives in southern Ohio, in an area known as Scrapappalachia. She makes her living as a plucker, plucking plastic from the water to sell. Women seem to only have 2 options in Trashlands – either work as a plucker or as a dancer in the strip club. Coral’s young son was stolen from her and taken to work in a plastics recycling plant. She is trying to save up enough money to rescue him.
Although at first I thought Coral was about 14 or 15, she was actually close to 30 when this book was taking place. And her son had been missing for about 10 years, so he was about 14 or 15.
There were a couple of unbelievable things that happened at the end of the book and there really wasn’t a definite ending.
Although at first I thought Coral was about 14 or 15, she was actually close to 30 when this book was taking place. And her son had been missing for about 10 years, so he was about 14 or 15.
There were a couple of unbelievable things that happened at the end of the book and there really wasn’t a definite ending.
January 20, 2022
I was fascinated the whole time but I didn't think I was invested until I reached the end and just started crying like a baby. I guess I was invested the whole time. 😅
This book made me think long and hard about our plastic consumption. I have a feeling that will stick with me for quite a long time.
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook
This book made me think long and hard about our plastic consumption. I have a feeling that will stick with me for quite a long time.
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook
December 23, 2021
Thoughtful yet thought-provoking timely powerful tale.
Stine’s latest is a post-apocalyptic climate-change tale, the coastlines of North America have been pushed inland due to floods and tides destroying major cities. Global powers have decided to halt new plastic production so plastic has become the new currency and plastic bricks are needed to rebuild the destroyed cities and areas. So necessity is the mother of invention, often at the cost to the most vulnerable in our society; women are too often sex workers, children are kidnapped as small hands are necessary in factories to make the plastic bricks, and plucking is gritty job of savaging rivers and trash for used pieces of plastic.
The storyline is a searing exploration of the challenging day-to-day lives of those “living” in Trashlands in “Scrappalachia” (the junkyard of America). While the worldbuilding is phenomenal, yet this world felt a little closer to the a soon-to-be reality for comfort. As we will in a world that is becoming more divided and more violent, more inclined to take away rights from women, and have less empathy for anyone other than ourselves. Stine is subtle in her approach of the world falling apart until there is no turning back and she provides her endearing complex characters (except for one vile character) with dignity and a bit of hope.
Top-notch storytelling had me contemplating what this disquieting tale was speaking to me long after I read the last page.
Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Stine’s latest is a post-apocalyptic climate-change tale, the coastlines of North America have been pushed inland due to floods and tides destroying major cities. Global powers have decided to halt new plastic production so plastic has become the new currency and plastic bricks are needed to rebuild the destroyed cities and areas. So necessity is the mother of invention, often at the cost to the most vulnerable in our society; women are too often sex workers, children are kidnapped as small hands are necessary in factories to make the plastic bricks, and plucking is gritty job of savaging rivers and trash for used pieces of plastic.
The storyline is a searing exploration of the challenging day-to-day lives of those “living” in Trashlands in “Scrappalachia” (the junkyard of America). While the worldbuilding is phenomenal, yet this world felt a little closer to the a soon-to-be reality for comfort. As we will in a world that is becoming more divided and more violent, more inclined to take away rights from women, and have less empathy for anyone other than ourselves. Stine is subtle in her approach of the world falling apart until there is no turning back and she provides her endearing complex characters (except for one vile character) with dignity and a bit of hope.
Top-notch storytelling had me contemplating what this disquieting tale was speaking to me long after I read the last page.
Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
October 20, 2021
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Alison Stine is back with another spectacular work of speculative fiction. Set in the near future, Trashlands transports readers to another vision of Stine's dystopian Appalachia. In Road Out of Winter, Stine envisioned a world in a state of near-perpetual winter, and now Trashlands showcases a world devastated by floods and tornadoes, where most cities are barely still standing and plastic is the only form of currency. Full of Scrappalachian plastic gatherers called "pluckers," and workers at the Trashlands strip club, Trashlands is a quiet analysis of how much things can change and how much they can stay the same--power is held in the hands of a few, traumatic events have lifelong consequences, and love is complicated. This novel has firmly cemented Alison Stine into my "auto-buy" authors category.
Come chat with me about books here, too:
Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest
Alison Stine is back with another spectacular work of speculative fiction. Set in the near future, Trashlands transports readers to another vision of Stine's dystopian Appalachia. In Road Out of Winter, Stine envisioned a world in a state of near-perpetual winter, and now Trashlands showcases a world devastated by floods and tornadoes, where most cities are barely still standing and plastic is the only form of currency. Full of Scrappalachian plastic gatherers called "pluckers," and workers at the Trashlands strip club, Trashlands is a quiet analysis of how much things can change and how much they can stay the same--power is held in the hands of a few, traumatic events have lifelong consequences, and love is complicated. This novel has firmly cemented Alison Stine into my "auto-buy" authors category.
Come chat with me about books here, too:
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November 14, 2021
This book drops you into a world where pretty much everything we know about our world is gone. In a place called Scrapallachia, people eke out a very meager living by scavenging for the one thing that has remained, plastic. Except for several old-timers that have managed to survive this bleak existence, most people do not remember a time when bottles were full of water, used once, and then carelessly thrown away.
It is inconceivable that there could have been a time when plastic had little value beyond satisfying an immediate need. It is now currency, and the people who pluck it never know when they might find the last haul. Houses, running water, safety, and fun are something most people will never know. To survive, you stay hidden, wary of strangers, who still appear to take your meager belongings, or worse, a loved one or your life.
Coral is one of the lucky ones, though luck is a relative term in these bleak times. Saved by a good man, Mr. Fall, a teacher, and in a relationship with a tattoo artist, Trillium, she is well-liked in this community, known as Trashlands. But there is always sadness behind her smile. Her son, Shanghai was taken in the middle of the night when he was only seven. Coral prays that he was taken to a factory to work, and even after seven years, she hopes to save enough money to free him, or that someone he will find his way back to her.
This was a beautifully written character-driven story, set in a world that honestly, at times, seemed to be a place that was uncomfortably close to our current reality. Not a furious page flipper for me, but a story that I found hard to put down.
It is inconceivable that there could have been a time when plastic had little value beyond satisfying an immediate need. It is now currency, and the people who pluck it never know when they might find the last haul. Houses, running water, safety, and fun are something most people will never know. To survive, you stay hidden, wary of strangers, who still appear to take your meager belongings, or worse, a loved one or your life.
Coral is one of the lucky ones, though luck is a relative term in these bleak times. Saved by a good man, Mr. Fall, a teacher, and in a relationship with a tattoo artist, Trillium, she is well-liked in this community, known as Trashlands. But there is always sadness behind her smile. Her son, Shanghai was taken in the middle of the night when he was only seven. Coral prays that he was taken to a factory to work, and even after seven years, she hopes to save enough money to free him, or that someone he will find his way back to her.
This was a beautifully written character-driven story, set in a world that honestly, at times, seemed to be a place that was uncomfortably close to our current reality. Not a furious page flipper for me, but a story that I found hard to put down.
December 9, 2021
*Maybe a little spoilery*
I've struggled with how to review this one. It is good writing, so I can't drop it to 3 ⭐ though it often meanders, which I found frustrating. I was really confused about plastic. Is it valuable like money, or common construction material? Wait, it's both?!?
I was fine with the open-ended finale, but if lack of closure bothers you, this will frustrate you.
I liked the characters, and I could appreciate the climate aspects. The author clearly presented how class structure endures through catastrophe, hitting the poor the hardest. Stine also echoed how outsiders often misunderstand marginalized communities, and even when they disabuse themselves from inherent bias, their vision is clouded by a savior complex.
There's a lot more than climate fiction to this story.
I've struggled with how to review this one. It is good writing, so I can't drop it to 3 ⭐ though it often meanders, which I found frustrating. I was really confused about plastic. Is it valuable like money, or common construction material? Wait, it's both?!?
I was fine with the open-ended finale, but if lack of closure bothers you, this will frustrate you.
I liked the characters, and I could appreciate the climate aspects. The author clearly presented how class structure endures through catastrophe, hitting the poor the hardest. Stine also echoed how outsiders often misunderstand marginalized communities, and even when they disabuse themselves from inherent bias, their vision is clouded by a savior complex.
There's a lot more than climate fiction to this story.
October 26, 2021
Don't go into this expecting high action (like I did) because it's not there. It's a slow burn story of a mother trying to survive in a near-future dystopia and dreaming of getting her son back. Stine does an amazing job at world building and development I'd this society where plastic is currency and the conveniences we enjoy now don't exist. It's written beautifully once you get that it's a picture of their life, not an adventure story.
June 1, 2022
This book is incredibly depressing because it is so well-written and realistic. You feel like you are in this dystopian future while you're reading it. It made me view everything around it the way the characters in the book would.
The book takes place after the total collapse of American society, and it is incredibly bleak. Plastic is a desired commodity because it's not being made anymore but it is recyclable and can be used for things in ways that metals and other materials can't. Floods have distorted the maps, and while the cities have more amenities, the story takes place in "Scrappalachia," which is just Appalachia in a time where the main job is plucking plastic from the rivers.
The junkyard where much of the story takes place, Trashlands, is clearly modeled on "company towns" of coal mining companies, which essentially controlled everything the workers did, since they were paid in company script which could only be used in the company stores and were therefore completely reliant on the company they worked for and were often placed in debt by the company since it controlled their homes, food, and amenities. I appreciated this connection to history, and it's clear Alison Stine is deeply familiar with the culture and history of Appalachia.
The characters had interesting names, mostly botanical, that tied in to some part of the world that had been lost. Also, as someone who studied polymers in college, I appreciated that the details about plastic were correct as far as I could tell, and it was clear the author had done the right amount of research.
I enjoyed the characters and how the perspective jumped around a bit. I really enjoyed this book, though it's not a pick-me-up by any means. The ending was really well-done and perfectly timed for the story.
The book takes place after the total collapse of American society, and it is incredibly bleak. Plastic is a desired commodity because it's not being made anymore but it is recyclable and can be used for things in ways that metals and other materials can't. Floods have distorted the maps, and while the cities have more amenities, the story takes place in "Scrappalachia," which is just Appalachia in a time where the main job is plucking plastic from the rivers.
The junkyard where much of the story takes place, Trashlands, is clearly modeled on "company towns" of coal mining companies, which essentially controlled everything the workers did, since they were paid in company script which could only be used in the company stores and were therefore completely reliant on the company they worked for and were often placed in debt by the company since it controlled their homes, food, and amenities. I appreciated this connection to history, and it's clear Alison Stine is deeply familiar with the culture and history of Appalachia.
The characters had interesting names, mostly botanical, that tied in to some part of the world that had been lost. Also, as someone who studied polymers in college, I appreciated that the details about plastic were correct as far as I could tell, and it was clear the author had done the right amount of research.
I enjoyed the characters and how the perspective jumped around a bit. I really enjoyed this book, though it's not a pick-me-up by any means. The ending was really well-done and perfectly timed for the story.
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