I found ‘Deadlands’ by Victoria Miluch a wildly entertaining read. The concept is very prominent in modern culture and the exploration of a possible reality, everywhere becoming desert, gives the book a realistic edge. I thoroughly enjoyed the development of each character’s distinctive personalities. The only one I would recommend fleshing out would be Wulf, the 17 year old brother. While his blind-faith attitude is very developed and realistic for someone his age (especially in an isolated setting like in the book), I felt other areas of his personality were neglected. He came across as a mini version of Isaac (his dad) and not much else. That being said, Nick’s character was brilliant and definitely my favourite. He is made out to be an unsavoury character but isn’t wholly flawed. His well-rounded personality of both positive and negative traits make him feel more real and really add to the immersion of this book.
The plot as a whole was well paced with very few segments that felt slow. Georgia’s (the main character) continuous monologue and hyper-awareness of details really fleshed the world out, adding to the believability of it all. Perhaps my favourite part of this book were the visceral descriptions, especially the heat and how it made Georgia feel. This also worked really well in points of high tension and stress, allowing it to steadily build to then explode in a scene of carefully constructed narration. However, I find it important to note that some plot points seemed redundant like that of Isaac and Vanessa’s relationship, especially later into the story. There were scenes which I felt were just filler and that didn’t really add to the overall plot, leaving blank spots in the storytelling as a result.
Throughout, there is a continuous build-up of mystery which I enjoyed due to its unpredictability. As I was writing notes about this book I was constantly coming up with new theories as to why Nick and Vanessa were there or why the bones were buried. I enjoyed the lack of dramatic irony because it creates deeper immersion into the story and the characters themselves. While such a technique doesn’t work for every book, it fits really well here, especially with the unreliable narration of a 19 year old.
Another point I picked up on throughout was the use of sophisticated language. The writing was elegant without being too performative in terms of showcasing intelligence. I found it fit very well with the assumed age-range with the right amount of complexity.
Overall, this book was wonderful. While there were points that fell flat or became less visceral, it was predominantly a thrilling read full of believability and immersion.