Or that she would not teach her child anything about how to survive in the new world apart from mask wearing and hand washing. Katie lives in isolation, sheltered in her flat with her son Harry, who has only known life since the storm.

There is so little left for her and Henry, that she figures it is worth finding out the truth about Jack. They meet people both good and bad, but mostly the sadness comes from being inside the head of this traumatized woman who must keep going for the sake of her child. Coincidentally, I was reading Greta Thunberg’s Climate Book, the day I received an advance copy of Jackson’s novel. The story unfolds with a mix of flashbacks that provide a few revealing plot twists that kept me interested in how it was going to work out until the very end. I know that Katies son, Harry is unbelievably whiny and a character that we all seem to agree kind of sucks lol.They meet several other survivors, some of whom are decent folks trying to live through the end times, and some who have more nefarious intentions. JACKSON is an ecologist specializing in botany and has a keen interest in human-wildlife coexistence, conservation, climate change, and microplastics pollution.

The note describes his destination and explains how she can get there with the resources he secreted away. Jackson’s debut novel, Not Alone, finds a new refreshing environmental disaster to worry about: toxic plastic dust. Special thanks to Doubleday for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review through NetGalley.

She doesn’t let Harry leave the flat at all, and their life five years after the storm is filled with daily suffering.