I couldn't finish the first book this author wrote, but I read the reviews for this book and thought I would give her a second chance. I did finish this book. However, I was not enthralled whatsoever.

Mostly they would talk about how cold it was and would give the temperatures, the mom was and had been doing two guys; one of which was the father of her son, the son wanted to be a girl and kept wondering when her boobs would grow in and the new neighbor next door just kept thinking about the mom. There was constant news about how far south the cold weather was going and how the icebergs were floating south. Even Africa and other southern areas were getting huge amounts of snowfall.

That's pretty much in a nutshell what this book is about. The ending was still talking about how cold it was. If you find this review interesting, then you should read the book.

Thanks to Blogging for Books for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review.

This is not the brutal story "The Panopticon" is, but then "The Sunlight Pilgrims is not as powerful either.

There are similarities, as with teenagers being a focus of each novel, but 'Sunlight' does not feel rushed and the temperatures keep getting lower and lower.

I would have liked to know more about Constance and her back-story, but I quibble.

Don't let the apocalypse/global warming backdrop dissuade you from trying this book. Nor, if "The Panopticon" was not to your liking. This story is about three people and takes place during a very brutal winter in a small place in Scotland.

I was expecting the next apocalyptic story, where the world slowly freezes over the period of a long and freakish winter. While this is indeed a part of the story, to me it felt in the end as the minor part. Sure, there's talk about how cold it is and people are freezing to death in the streets (apparently, it takes a week to thaw a fully grown men, although why they would thaw them and then hold mass-cremations beats me).

Instead this is the story of the people living in a Scottish caravan park. The are all troubled and the cold really is the least of their problems. There is a sense that life wasn't good there before the start of the cold. Also, they never stop talking about the huge iceberg. However, while there's talk about some more drastic apocalyptic things, they aren't shown in the novel.

I found The Sunlight Pilgrims to be very slow, and while I don't need action packed sequences, it felt too much like all the characters were stuck where they were, unable to change anything and resigned in their fate. It was rather depressing. I'm sure tons of people are going to like it a lot, because it is written beautifully, but for me it was not the right book at this time. Or rather it was the wrong book for this time.

Also, on a much lighter note: It felt a little bit strange to read about a monster winter in the middle of summer (even though it's only 18 C these days).

Thanks to Blogging for Books for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Jenni Fagan’s The Sunlight Pilgrims has, in all of the reviews I’ve seen so far, been billed as the latest climate fiction must-read. According to the reviews, the world as we know it is coming to an end as a new Ice Age arrives. We watch the weather get colder and colder through the eyes of a man, a woman, and the woman’s daughter. I expected characters that would be busy with worries about the future. How would they grow food? How would they stay warm? But the climate, while a constant concern, is not what occupies the characters’ minds. Instead of a book about apocalyptic winter, Fagan gave me a moving story of a transgender teenager in the midst of her transition and a young man struggling with grief over the loss of his mother and grandmother. The Sunlight Pilgrims is a bait and switch, but I don’t mind a bit...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.

I got this book from the Early Reads giveaway page at Library Thing, and it was such an amazing gift from the author!  I enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction, and while this was set while the apocalypse was building, I enjoyed it as much or more than any of the many books I've read in the genre.

Not only is the language both lovely and accessible, but the subject of global warming is very timely and believable.  So are the characters, including a trans teen who is one of the viewpoint characters.  I'm going to go look for Ms. Fagan's first novel, and I'll be keeping my eyes open for more from her going forward.