Severance

Severance

A literary take on a post-apocalyptic novel sure to be nominated for a literary award or two.  Severance is the story of Candace, a Chinese immigrant and millennial, who is trying to just live her dull life when a real apocalypse hits.

At first, Candace is in denial and continues to live in an eerily empty NYC.  Eventually, she leaves in an old NYC taxi and collapses by the side of the road.  A group of other NYC survivors take her on a trip to the Facility, where the nerdy leader, Bob, says he has a crash pad perfectly suited to the apocalypse he knew was coming thanks to gaming and Internet conspiracy sites.

I enjoyed the beautiful evocative prose of this novel the most.  The plot works but some of its satirical aspects seem forced.  I get that Candace’s life is an endless repetition of the same tasks with no knowledge gained from them.  Why does the epidemic have the same symptom?  It is like getting hit over the head with her point. Also, I would have liked characters other than Candace to be more fully fleshed out.  Most seem like stereotypes like Bob the nerd.  It is hard to care if something bad happens to a stereotype.

While I don’t think this will appeal to most Walking Dead or World War Z fans because it is too slow as literary fiction often is, it will be a fine change in setting for literary fiction fans. Since I am more the first choice, I give Severance 3 stars. I wanted more horror or more satire. However, your star rating may vary depending on your genre preference.

Thanks to the publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

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