Book 2 Post 2

 

Road Out of Winter: Post 2

Having taken the “cli-fi” world by storm, Road Out of Winter by Alison Stine is a grim and riveting dystopian novel filled with violence, interesting themes, and (for some reason) cults. It tells the story of female protagonist Wylodine, a 20-ish year old woman that is experiencing an eternal winter in Ohio. Spring never came. Neither did summer. After two years of this, Wylodine’s best friend decides to leave for California with “The Church.” The Church is pretty eerie, and, in my opinion, cult-like. However, Wil decides she needs to leave as well and departs for California. During this journey, she meets some friends and they encounter a lot of violence. However, Wylodine is surprisingly resourceful and resilient. This might come from the fact that her mom abandoned her and had her look after their weed farms in Ohio. In her group of misfits, called the “orphans,” they learn just how far people are willing to go in order to survive. In a world where the government has collapsed and conditions are nearly inhabitable, Road Out of Winter tells the story of the potential dangers of global warming and Wylodine’s refreshing good nature in a world of destruction and chaos.

While Road Out of Winter seemed promising at first, the plot quickly fizzled out. I genuinely enjoyed the writing style of the author and the way she was able to embody the vibe of the book without being overly wordy. This is difficult to find these days (probably because I’ve been forced to read so many academic writings lately). The setup of the plot was intriguing and left me wanting more. However, the book read like an overly sweet dessert. While the beginning was amazing and super sweet, I quickly got sick of it. I believe this was due to the lack of structure. It seemed like the author gave up midway through the story. I might be biased because I like complete endings, but Wylodine never even made it to California. Not even close. Because the plot is so important, major points were taken off for this.

All that being said, I did think that the themes within the book (although repetitive at times) were valuable and profound. Obviously, this book was a bad omen to what could happen as a consequence of global warming. The theme of the value of taking care of our earth was strongly insinuated throughout the novel. In addition, Wylodine was a perfect example of someone who stays good throughout hardship. She was consistent in being a good friend and keeping her humanity and sanity in the face of an unending winter. The highlights of this book were the themes and good writing style, but the lack of structure in the plot ultimately leads me to rating this book a 6/10. While Alison Stone definitely has potential and tons of people apparently like this book, it fell a bit short for me. Given my high expectations, I would’ve liked to see Wylodine at least get to California. However, his novel was refreshing and unlike anything I’d ever read.