I have really mixed feelings about this book. I loved the choice of Flora as the narrator/POV; her voice and experiences are so different from those of Eddy or the Unnamed. And there are multiple trans characters! Which is especially great in this highly gendered post-apocalyptic society. But I hated the ending, and the way allusions to the ending were woven through the book really didn't work for me. Also, the resolution to the mystery of "frags" felt weirdly tacked on at the very end.
Finally, the blurb on the back of the book was incredibly misleading -- I was promised "a ship where gender is fluid"! And some of the other stuff in the blurb also doesn't really fit the actual book. ( )

Couldn't be bothered with this series any more. Book 1 was excellent, book 2 not so much but still reflecting the excellence of the first book. Book 3 I can't be bothered anymore. ( )

Book of Flora offers an exceptionally diverse cast in a somewhat-unique post-apocalyptic world, but little else. Like the first book, Book of Flora is a mix of first and third person, 'standard' narrative and journal-based exposition, more focused on world-building and characters than story or arcs. There is some non-linear shenanigans, and while I don't think they necessarily subtracted from the book, they didn't add anything, either.

The book feels very 'episodic,' with characters meeting a group of people, learning a terrible truth, and leaving (sometimes under duress or through combat). None of the characters really grow or change. Alice remains attention-driven, impulsive, and self-centered throughout (frankly she drove me nuts with her unwillingness to empathize, even with those she loves the most). Ed remains conflicted and prickly. Flora remains pliable.

It is enjoyable to follow their adventures and learn about each new place - it reminded me, oddly enough, of wandering the map in Fallout and learning the lore of Little Lamplight, Novac, Vault 22, etc. But that was one of the strengths of the previous two books, and I don't know how long that can carry a series or stay fresh.

Then the ending happens. And it is dreadful. Spoilers ahead:


Ed has left to join an anti-slavery librarian armada. Connie, Flora's adopted agender child, has taken off in a fit of pique when they and Flora disagree on human reproduction and evolution. Flora and Alice have settled on a small island, where they have grown old.

An army is descending upon the island - they are looking for Flora and they are looking for women who can reproduce asexually. They kill everyone they encounter, save for cis women, whom they capture to "teach them how to fragment" (i.e., reproduce asexually). The majority of the book is Flora's memories, with the material leading up to the army's arrival being hearing stories of another town ransacked and an eerie hum that may or may not be a functional plane.

In the last few pages, the army arrives. It is lead by Connie, who has captured Ed. Connie claims to have found humans who can reproduce asexually and has decided to kill everyone else to "make room for them." Connie has made this claim before, but it has always been cis women impregnated by fertile cis men. Flora offers to make tea for everyone before Alice is kidnapped and Flora and Ed are both murdered, which Connie agrees to for...reasons. The island was well armed and takes the army from behind, the army is told Connie is dead, and it completely disbands because they were just tired of killing everyone, then it is revealed that the tea is poison and Connie dies. (As an aside, this is a particularly poorly written passage, as it is never even mentioned who ate or drank anything.) Then Ed reveals that Connie was actually right this time and there really ARE humans who can reproduce asexually. (This, too, is a poor choice in my opinion. If Connie is going to be right in the end, make their position a bit more nuanced.)

99% of the buildup, the climax, and the denouement are contained across 2-3 pages. The foreshadowing of Connie becoming the villain, or of humanity developing parthenogenesis is practically non-existent and what is there doesn't sell it well at all. It comes off less as a natural development and more like Ellison just got tired of writing it and went "Then the bad guys showed up and were beaten the end happily ever after." ( )

This book, like the others in this series, is a brutal read. In this case, the brutality is less about explicit violence and more about the pain of loss (although violence is still definitely present, including non-explicit sexual violence). The themes from the past books dealing with the meaning and shape of community come into their fullness here, in beautiful, troubling, and complicated ways.

This is an excellent book, although I am a bit troubled that the one explicitly non-binary character becomes a warleader/mass murderer. These books have loads of lovely gender diversity, and lots of villains and heroes of varied genders, but that plot choice was an odd one.

I also have to wonder if this series is in some way an homage to Suzy McKee Charnas' Holdfast Chronicles. Between the frags and the horsewomen, plus the shared plot developments of postapocalyptic gendered violence and slavery, there are some potent parallels which would make for a very fun college seminar. ( )

I was very much looking forward to reading the third instalment of the Road To Nowhere trilogy, and thanks to NetGalley I got to do it even earlier than I’d hoped.

The Book of Flora continues the tale first started in The Book of the Unnamed Midwife, and links directly to events from The Book of Etta. Fair warning to those new to the series, I’m not sure I’d have enjoyed this book as much as I did had I not actually read the two preceding novels.

Though the Road to Nowhere series is set in a very grim dystopia, The Book of Flora felt less dark to me. Flora, the protagonist and narrator’s journey is the main focus, and we follow her exploration of the world, her place in it and how it relates to her. I loved learning more about Flora, she was such an interesting character in the previous novel. I just wish (as always) life wasn’t so hard for her. Elison and her world can be very rough on her characters. I did feel the end was a little rushed, and I really wanted to delve into both the happier, more peaceful times implied in Flora’s retrospective narrative passages, as well as the revelatory change discovered at the very end.

I find the Road To Nowhere novels quick reads, but not because they are easy. On the contrary they are set in a grimdark world full of terror and violence which strike me as uncomfortably plausible. Even so, the first novel, The Book of the Unnamed Midwife, remains my favourite of the trilogy, and one of my all-time favourite novels.

Anyone who has enjoyed any of the other novels in the series should definitely read The Book of Flora, and those who haven't should give them a try! Meg Elison’s writing is compelling, flows well, and her ideas are as fascinating as always. ( )