I could not read today, you guys. I know there’s been a lot of that going around for stress-related reasons, but I couldn’t read today because I am still stuck in The Human Son. I cannot remember the last time I couldn’t start a new book because I was so busy reflecting on the last one.
First things first, I read this book for my Post-Apocalyptic Preparedness Book Club. So, obviously, it’s post-apocalyptic. I’ve been digging these books generally through my personal pandemic experience. They make the real world seem refreshingly light.
This one happens to be set 500 years after human extinction, brought on by climate change ruining the world. In an effort to course correct, a scientist genetically created beings similar to humans that would be able to figure out what was causing the catastrophic things in the world and stop it. Unfortunately, these beings decided the main problem was humans. However, they promised to bring humans back once the Earth was okay. 500 years later, things are stabilized, and they have to decide if they’re going to keep that promise. The plan: Create one human child, raised among them, and see if he is capable of being a good custodian.
This one hit me as a mother. Even as a mother among a society of humans, the spot-on description of how isolating it is to be solely responsible for a tiny person got me. And then how, even though they upend your whole world, you love them more than you thought it was possible to love. This book is gorgeous and thought-provoking and heart-breaking and so hopeful. I adored it and I cannot move on.
This is definitely a book for fans of post-apocalyptic fiction, but also for people who love tiny humans of their own. I have nothing in my reading history to compare it to. Everyone should read it.
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3 Boys 3 Billion Books 