On the Edge of Gone Review

This week's novel is On the Edge of Gone, apocalyptic YA by Corinne Duyvis.

A comet will shortly crash into the Earth, setting off an EMP, throwing debris into the air that will block the sun for at least a year, raining flaming debris, and setting off earthquakes and tsunamis. While some people are lucky enough to get spots on generational space ships bound for distant habitable planets, and others get into permanent shelters where they can survive underground, Denise—an autistic, biracial teenager—and her family have spots in a government constructed temporary shelter meant to last only through the initial impact. When Denise's sister doesn't come home on time and Denise and her mom are late leaving for their shelter, they end up giving a ride to a desperate couple, late for their generational ship. Now Denise has to bend over backwards to get spots on the ship for her and her family, find her sister, and hold it all together at the end of the world.

This book gets intense. They outrun the comet, the comet hits, they outrun a tsunami, the tsunami hits. That's all in the first third of the book.  And if that's not enough, this story is set outside Amsterdam, which is below sea level, so after the wave hits, half the country is underwater. But aside from the nail biting disaster moments, the book gets more and more stressful as you realize there is no perfect solution to Denise's problems. Even if she can get herself, her drug addict mother, and her protest-organizer sister into space...maybe she shouldn't. She'd be better off without her mom (IMHO) and sneaking her mom aboard would use up resources the ship can't afford and make everyone angry once they found out after lift off. Her sister would do better staying on Earth (IMHO) where she can help the survivors. And then there's no happy ending for the people who stay on Earth or for the people on the ship leaving family behind.

Along these lines, Denise's autism works to great effect in this story. I'm not saying there has to be a reason to have an autistic character, but here the situation through her eyes was so much more impactful and emotional and overwhelming as a result of her autism. In addition to representation, it works to emphasize the horror and stress of it all. People keep breaking the rules and asking too much of Denise, and the situation would be too much for anyone, much less someone who gets overstimulated by people bumping into her and loud noises.  It's taking what anyone would feel a the end of the world and turning it up to eleven.

The relationships are beautifully complex.  Denise's mother keeps messing up, jeopardizing Denise's plans and nearly getting them thrown off the ship.  She doesn't respect Denise's personal boundaries about touching or being coddled.  Her mom might get her killed, but at the same time, she's her mother.  There's also complicated (and spoilery) tensions between Denise and her friends on the ship and between her and her sister.  It's all layered in conflicting emotions, and again there's no perfect answer.

It's also a diverse story.  From the family that can't sit shiva because they have to work through the apocalypse, to the couple trying to scavenge halal food.  There are gay and bi characters.  There are trans characters (yes, plural).  Denise and her sister are biracial and encounter micro aggression racism throughout the book.  There are refugees from other countries who speak broken Dutch.  It's pretty neat, and it's sad that I have to point out that it's pretty neat.

***

Next week: Magic for Beginners, short stories by Kelly Link.