At a Glance

Title: The Lightest Object in the Universe

Author: Kimi Eisele

Published: June 9, 2020 by Algonquin

Page: 352

Genre: Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic

Goodreads Rating: 3.66 out of 5

My Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis

My Thoughts

When Sarah from Algonquin asked if I wanted to be a part of a blog tour for the paperback release of The Lightest Object in the Universe, I jumped at the opportunity. I had heard about this book last year when it came out, but I had never ended up picking it up. Y’all know the reasoning, too many books, not enough time.

The Lightest Object in the Universe is a basically a dystopian love story about two people who are caught on separate sides of the country, when modern day society breaks down. Through shear determination and with the help of an unusual teenager, they may just find their way back to one another.

Okay, so I will say that reading dystopian books during a Global Pandemic isn’t exactly one of my most brilliant ideas. Your girl has the most overactive imagination and honestly now I feel even more paranoid about the pandemic, mainly because there is a FLU that wipes out a ton of the population before society breaks down! A little close to home at the moment but I digress.

So last year I read both Station Eleven and Good Morning, Midnight. Both are dystopian type books and so I couldn’t help compare them as I read this book. I will say that I liked this one more than I liked Station Eleven.   Good Morning, Midnight comes in second, and this one tops the list. But if you liked either of those books, you’ll really enjoy this one.

I really enjoyed this one the most mainly because it’s more about rebuilding after society fails, instead of simply being about the break down and also highest the human spirit, especially when it comes to those we love. I think those two things in itself really made the book stand out to me. However, like I said, a book about a society collapsing due to a flu outbreak isn’t prime reading material during a worldwide pandemic that is a strain of the FLU people! I digress again!

Our two lovers are Beatrix and Carson. While Beatrix is on the West Coast and a fair trade advoate, Carson is on the East Coast and was a principal prior to the collapse. When you start learning about their next steps, I thought for sure they would both set off to find each other, but while Carson decides to head West, Beatrix decides to help build up the area she lives in. Her experience in third world countries help to spur on the rebuliding efforts and inspire others to help build this new community.

I really enjoyed that the theme of the book is underlined by hope. Many of the people Carson meets on his journey are determined to rebuild and tend to help others out without the need for anything back. It really highlights the good in humans and is a reminder that most people are good in this world, which is a nice reminder in our current day and age.

While this book originally published last July, the paperback version of this book is out now as well! Get it HERE!

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on The Lightest Object in the Universe. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books. Huge thank you to Algonquin for my review copy!

About the Author

Kimi Eisele is the author of The Lightest Object in the Universe, a novel. Her work has appeared in Longreads, Guernica, Terrain.org, High Country News, Orion, Fourth Genre, and other publications. She holds a master’s degree in geography from the University of Arizona, where in 1998 she founded You Are Here: The Journal of Creative Geography. Also a performing and visual artist, her work has been funded by the Arts Foundation of Southern Arizona, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the Kresge Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She lives in Tucson and works for the Southwest Folklife Alliance.

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