I loved Stine's adult novel debut "Road Out of Winter". So when I saw that she has another book out, in the same genre no less, I was really excited. And unfortunately my expectations turned out to be much higher than what the book provided. It is not a bad book per se, it is probably better than a lot of the books in the genre but after the previous one, it is a letdown.

The two novels are not related - in the first one the spring never came; in this one the water come and flooded what it could. They both are set in the same area though - the Appalachian are in the USA, one of the poorest places in the country today (and that plays into both novels).

When the waters washed out the East Coast, everyone who could move, went into the interior of the country. The people who could not ended up stuck where they were - and that includes most people who were already trapped in the poverty/opiates net in the Appalachians. When the ban on plastics was enabled, people started recycling a lot more and by the time we catch up with the story, most of the plastic had been recycled over and over and the particles left are everywhere. And deep into the Appalachian region, people survive by scavenging the plastic that is still recyclable. Of course, people being people, someone managed to find a way to become more important than everyone else so the Trashlands is born - a dance/strip club in the middle of a big area of trash.

The novel actually did not start badly - the introduction of Coral and her family, the slow reveal of how the world looks like now, the stolen child - it all had a potential. Then a journalist from the big city showed up and things started going downhill, all the way to the end which managed to get all the correct people at the correct place at the correct time - almost fairy tale style.

Still, the novel has interesting moments and ideas and I suspect that at least part of the idea was to show that love conquers all but it felt almost like a checklist being implemented - things were just stringed together (especially late in the novel) without building the connections needed for them to make sense. A knight on a white horse (sans horse) and a maiden in distress to fall for him (well, not a maiden) are really too cliche to work without some heavy lifting from the author - and that novel simply lacked that.

I still plan to check the next novel Stine writes but I hope she finds again that special thing which made the first novel so much better than this one. ( )

Thoughtful yet thought-provoking timely powerful tale.

Stine’s latest is a post-apocalyptic climate-change tale, the coastlines of North America have been pushed inland due to floods and tides destroying major cities. Global powers have decided to halt new plastic production so plastic has become the new currency and plastic bricks are needed to rebuild the destroyed cities and areas. So necessity is the mother of invention, often at the cost to the most vulnerable in our society; women are too often sex workers, children are kidnapped as small hands are necessary in factories to make the plastic bricks, and plucking is gritty job of savaging rivers and trash for used pieces of plastic.

The storyline is a searing exploration of the challenging day-to-day lives of those “living” in Trashlands in “Scrappalachia” (the junkyard of America). While the worldbuilding is phenomenal, yet this world felt a little closer to the a soon-to-be reality for comfort. As we will in a world that is becoming more divided and more violent, more inclined to take away rights from women, and have less empathy for anyone other than ourselves. Stine is subtle in her approach of the world falling apart until there is no turning back and she provides her endearing complex characters (except for one vile character) with dignity and a bit of hope.

Top-notch storytelling had me contemplating what this disquieting tale was speaking to me long after I read the last page.

Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Not since I read Station Eleven have I fallen this hard for a book that is fairly bleak, but so beautifully done that it pulls you in. Trashlands is a look at the land of Scrappalachia. A world after a cataclysmic world climate event has decimated everything that we once took for granted. Numerous plants and animals alike, a thing of the past. A new generation of people exist who can barely comprehend a world where things were once single use, or convenient. Instead, this is a world of survival. One where a single wrong step can mean your death. And yet? People manage to thrive.

We all know that characters are my favorite parts of stories, and so I have to give a ton of love to Alison Stine for the vast tapestry she weaves. Coral and her family are vivid, and sturdy. Even if the reader is thrown into the story without much explanation, it’s not hard to understand Coral’s way of being. She is used to a world where men rule, and women suffer the consequences. She has known hurt, and loss, in a way that has altered her forever.

Around her are numerous other people, each eking out their own meager life as best they can. From Trillium, the tattoo artist, to Foxglove, the sex worker, each one has their own unique way of dealing with the world. I loved that Stine didn’t attempt to build any fake levity here. This story pulls no punches. It shows each person’s struggles in vivid color, but that also allows the little bits of happiness to leak through and shine brighter. It’s the kind of story that once again reminds us that we should be more present in the moment, and thankful for what we have.

This would have easily been a five star read for me, if only it did a bit more of a deep dive on what actually occurred to cause this new world. Since I am heavily a character driven reader, it didn’t bother me as much as it might some people. The way this story is told is almost poetic in a sense, which makes sense now that I know Stine is a poet as well. The story walks this line of tense atmosphere that keeps you on your toes. I was happy to see the people I met fully fleshed out, rather than quickly rushed over. The world never felt large per say, but in a way that felt like exactly what it was supposed to feel like. Still, for people who are more focused on world building, Trashlands may feel a little unsatisfying.

The other slight issue I had was that some of the messages here felt a little heavy handed, especially set against such a poetically told story. Again, this is definitely a story that is pushing people to pay attention to climate change and our part in it. It never pretends not to have its own sense of feminism either, with the female characters constantly assessing this “after” world ruled by men. These things never pulled me out of the story, but I do feel they might affect other readers differently so they are worth mentioning.

Am I glad I read this book? Absolutely I am. It was gorgeous. A huge round of applause to Alison Stine and this work of art. ( )

In an unspecified future, water has flooded the coast of the US, and the characters of the novel live in a place called Scrappalachia, where they scrounge for plastic of any sort, the new currency in this new world. The novel tells the story of several of these sad and desolate creatures, all living in a garbage dump called Trashland. Their stories are bleak and sad, and tell of missing children, illiteracy, sex workers, hunger, child labor, air and water pollution, etc. It's not a happy or uplifting story at all, so if you're in the mood for a dystopian desolate read, this is it.

There are some weird narrative choices here, such as the characters' being named after plants, seasons and places instead of regular person names; there is also a question of why if only the coasts were ruined, is life not still OK inland? And why wouldn't these people move there? Why don't the characters know what "air conditioning" is? (instead using their made-up word "chillers"?) It would help to know how many years from our future this takes place. ( )

Trashlands is a pretty dismal look into what could be the not so distant future. Some areas of the country have intermittent power while other places like "Scrapappalachia" have none. Currency is now mostly plastic that "pluckers" salvage from rivers etc. and are exchanged for food and supplies.
Coral has grown up with her adoptive father leading a life as a plucker. They traveled in an old school bus and followed the plastic tide with the seasons. Flooding has destroyed most of the coastlines and they've settled in an area that used to be known as the Appalachian Mountains. Her father teaches the children that are left from an old set of Encyclopedia Britannica's and Coral collects plastic from the rivers.
The area they've settled in is a graveyard of old rusted out cars that people live in and the main draw to this area is a strip club called Trashlands. It brings in men who want to spend plastic and forget. It's the only place that has electricity from solar panels that lights up a neon sign with the name of the club. It also has "chillers" to keep the air cool for the clients.
The book has quite a few characters that you grow on but most are sad in this place they call home. Overall a pretty depressing yet interesting read. I was not sold on how the book ended, felt a little rushed to wrap up the story at that point. ( )