Clean Air

Clean Air by Sarah Blake

319 Pages

Publisher: Algonquin Books

Release Date: February 8, 2023

Fiction (Adult), General Fiction (Adult), Sci Fi, Fantasy, Mystery, Dystopian, Serial Killer, Climate Change

Climate change has changed the world, but it was not temperature or rising waters that caused it. It was the pollen from the trees which made the air unbreathable. Everyone lives in plastic dome houses, wear masks, and stay inside all the time. No one can survive more than a few seconds before they are overcome with pollen. Izabel’s mother died while she was going to college. She was considered one of the first deaths associated with the Turning (the change in the environment). Now, Izabel is a stay-at-home mother while her husband, a former surgeon, operates farming robots. The news announcement is full of events that a family was murdered when someone slit open their plastic dome house. This is the first killing since the Turning and everyone is on edge. Izabel’s daughter, Cami, seems to be tapped into the killer and talks in her sleep. She knows where he is going and when he is going to kill again.

The book has a fast pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. The author has done an amazing job describing a post-apocalyptic world. Living in Florida, it is disturbing to find high pollen levels in January. With that thought, I can see the possibility of this type of world in our future. If you like sci fi/fantasy dystopian worlds, you will enjoy this book.