Review and Giveaway: The Age of Miracles ~ by Karen Thompson Walker

Review by Shellie for: The Age of Miracles ~ by Karen Thompson Walker

An emotional page turner that is a sweet-yet-sad coming of age story in a time of apparent catastrophe. The earth has slowed its rotation and days and nights become increasingly longer while life still goes on.

About:  Sometime near the present day, people are dealing with a threatening change to the planet. Fortunately they have time to adjust to the earth’s slowing, as the days and nights become progressively longer. But for the residents of this affluent California coastal community, where this story is set, life still moves forward. The residents simultaneously struggle with their daily life predicaments along with the threat of the impending apocalypse.

Julia, the young narrator, is almost a teen. Introverted and thoughtful, she is a normal girl with a crush on a cute local boy. She is on the brink of changes, as her world is changing too. She has no idea what her future will be as she traverses the many obstacles that a young girl does at this precarious age. Only she has the added realization that her life may be non-existent soon. This is Julia’s story as she moves with the gift of youth and its natural perseverance through her questionable life.

Thoughts:  I enjoyed this book and was lost in its easy-to-read style. Interestingly Karen Thompson Walker is an editor and has used her years of experience working with others’ writing in creating this first novel, and it shows.

The author has included some interesting thoughts about what would happen if the earth where to actually slow down – and it feels realistic. Even though speculative in nature, the book felt grounded in science and sociological fact. I liked this a lot since the book did not feel like a science fiction read. So it’s perfect for light sci-fi readers, new readers to the genre and general fiction readers alike.

With its thoughtful prose, this book should be popular with almost all readers, youngsters and adults alike, and especially those that like coming of age stories. I designate it a 4 star. It’s a promising début for a new author; I will have Karen Walker Thompson on my radar for up-and-coming books. I hope that her work remains speculative in nature.

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Random House; June 26th, 2012; 228 pages.

Bio:  Karen Thompson Walker holds an M.F.A. from Columbia University and is an editor of fiction and non-fiction at Simon & Schuster. The Age of Miracles is her first book.

For more information about Karen and her book, please visit the book’s website: www.TheAgeofMiracles.com, and Facebook page.

This book review and giveaway are part of a book tour that is hosted by TLC Book Tours.

For more information on this tour link to our host’s designated page via the badge to the left. As a way to help support our host and the author below are links for several other up and coming reviews for The Age of Miracles:

• Tuesday, June 5th: Book Drunkard
• Wednesday, June 6th: Rhapsody in Books
• Thursday, June 7th: A Chick Who Reads.

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Now for the giveaway.

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• We have one copy for a US or Canadian address.
• Please complete the Google form completely. Your address will only be used for the purposes of this contest. Promise!

This contest’s winners will be determined by random.org. Good luck!