Friday, October 30, 2015

Gold, Fame, Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins - A Review



Gold, Fame, Citrus is the apocalypse, imagined in a an eerily real way these days. Drought overtakes Southern CA (sound familiar), but to the point of barren wasteland, scavenging for anything fresh, water rations and abandonment. Most have left for greener pastures, but Luz and her boyfriend Ray hold out, their love enough to deal with the crazy.

Then, they find a little girl. Dirty, scruffy, indeterminable and irresistible, they take her from those whom have her. Ig, she is called, because that’s who she says she is.  A child, even if it’s not yours, makes your mind look towards the future, and they realize they need to leave.
On the way through, things happen. Bad things. Ray is gone and Luz is left with Ig, rescued by other hold outs, in an even more barren, more wasted wasteland were sand dunes constantly shift and grow, threatening to bury everyone at any moment. But there is a leader there, and he seems to have the answers.

This book is written like poetry, short, quip phrases and allusions, metaphors and fragmented thoughts that shift like the desert and sand in this story. It’s not for everyone, but for those people who can look deeper into the text, enjoy flawed characters and gritty wonder. It’s fantastical and realistic, all at once, and the ended leaves you lost and aching. 

Books should end like that sometimes.

(*this book was received for free as an ARC via Shelf Awareness)

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