Review: The Rending and the Nest

The Rending and the Nest by Kaethe Schwehn
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars

This was an interesting, well-written book with an unusual post-apocalyptic, dystopian plot. Following a mysterious apocalyptic event termed The Rending, in a world with a vastly reduced population, Mira, the central character, lives in a community called Zion. Her days are spent sorting through the Piles, quite literally piles of debris left by The Rending, finding objects that might be put to use. Her friend Lana sometimes accompanies her but is primarily working as a prostitute in the community. Lana, and then ultimately the other fertile women of Zion, become pregnant and mysteriously give birth to objects. An interloper in the community, Michael, wields a cult-leader-like power and destabilizes the bonds between members of the community including Mira and Lana. Mira builds nests for the Babies. The original central members of Mira's group push back against Michael.

The plot setup is well executed but I found myself puzzling over the underlying premise. The Rending itself is never really explained. It wasn't a Rapture event (I was worried about that prospect from some elements of Mira's family life) and it wasn't a comet hitting the earth. It isn't a zombie apocalypse story, although I felt that there were similarities to the communities seen in stories like The Walking Dead with abusive or cultish leaders. Are those who survived just lucky? Are they the cursed few? The enigmatic nature of the story left me wanting a reader's guide or an explanation from the author about what she was going for here. I felt a bit deflated by the ending in which I felt had no greater insight than I had at the start.

Schwehn is a polished writer with an interesting premise. I just wish she'd given us more insight into The Rending and its survivors' purpose.

I received a Digital Review Copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

View all my reviews