By Kaylie Seed
Content warning: miscarriage
The Second History is a dystopian tale that follows Jane and Eban as they struggle to survive in a world they are unfamiliar with. The two of them are finding it difficult to live in the Appalachians after climate change has ravaged the Earth and created a widespread genetic defect affecting almost everyone, leading Jane and Eban to look for somewhere else to live. Pregnant Jane is worried that this pregnancy will end in miscarriage as the others did, and so she convinces Eban to leave and find Heaven, a place they believe will solve their problems—only to find out that Heaven is not as it was made out to be.
This slow-paced novel lacks the action that is normally seen in dystopian fiction and because of that it feels a little dry in places. Jane and Eban were both seemingly one-dimensional in the beginning but as the story progresses the reader learns about them before the world changed, and this helps develop their characters. It is through their reflections that the reader learns more about this strange new world and how it came to be. There isn’t a lot of focus on secondary characters until later in the novel, when Jane and Eban learn more about the history of Heaven and the historical conflict that took place.
Themes present in this novel include climate change, self-discovery, love conquering all, and trust. The Second History is unlike most dystopian novels; it reads more like literary fiction than science fiction. While there is an emphasis on environmental catastrophe, the main focus of the novel is human emotions as the characters learn to let go of the world they once knew and begin rebuilding a new one. While some answers are given in the end, there are many that are left unanswered, and I believe that this was intentional since many questions in life go unanswered. Readers who enjoy heavy emotional plots and narrative-driven stories will likely enjoy this one.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.