Review: The Age of Miracles

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

Format: Trade Paperback (ARC)
Pages: 269
Published: June 26, 2012
Publisher: Random House Canada
Genre: Fiction

My Rating: 4.5/5

Summary (from chapters.ca):

From a stunning new literary voice comes a brilliant debut novel that created an international auction frenzy, with sales in twenty-seven countries to date, about a young girl growing up in extraordinary times.

On a seemingly ordinary Saturday morning, Julia and her family wake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. Set against this threat to normal life, The Age of Miracles maps the effects of catastrophes big and small on the lives of ordinary people, and in particular, one young girl. Extraordinary for its original concept, unforgettable characters, and the grace, elegance and beauty of Karen Thompson Walker's prose, The Age of Miracles is a mesmerizing story of family turmoil, young love, and coming-of-age set against an upending of life as we know it.

Trailer:

Review:

**NOTE: A copy of this book was provided by the publisher.  However, no compensations were made and this review reflects my honest thoughts and feelings.**

How long would it take before you noticed it?  If the days were getting longer and the nights were a little darker, would you even feel it?

The Age of Miracles felt like it was a novel taken directly off the big screen.  A story that leaves you watching the clock to see if the darkness is setting in as it should or if the day light is stronger and brighter than it normally would be.  It is a novel that leaves you with so many questions that you can't help but wonder, 'What if?'

Being a newer fan to the genre of Dystopian (or futuristic society) books, I find that one thing lacking in them is the explaination as to how the world became the way that it is now.  The societies have already been formed and life is as it should be but little is known as to how it got that way.  What the Age of Miracles does is explain that middle ground that I constantly question.  I could see each of my favourite series - The Hunger Games, Divergent, Delirium - starting off this way.  World's learning how to cope on a changing planet.

It was truly amazing how Karen Thompson Walker brought the readers to a place where everything was so commonplace and yet so vastly different from what we know.  I can't even imagine what it would be like to have 3 sunsets in a month or snow in California because it is so dark and so cold for so long.  It would be too crazy to even comprehend. 

Looking back on the overall story, I will say that the character development was very lacking and if I were to describe any of the characters, I would have a hard time.  The story is told from the view point of Julia, a 12-year-old girl who is dealing with her whole world falling apart and yet, I can't even tell you what colour her hair is (although I am thinking blonde).  However, I don't think the characters were important enough to have to develop them.  The whole focal point of the story, to me, was what was happening to the world and what would happen to it tomorrow and the next day.

Overall, as a debut novel, Karen Thompson Walker, hit the ball WAY out of the park.  I know that this story will be with me for a long time to come and I look forward to seeing this on the big screen one day because it makes for a perfect movie!