Trashlands

 

Author: Alison Stine 

Publisher: Harlequin Books

Year: 2021

“A consistent stream of plastic washed up. There was so much plastic in the world, Mr. Fall said, it would never run out.”

Happy pub day to Alison Stine’s Trashlands. In this environmental dystopian novel, climate change has wrecked havoc. Flooding & tides have wiped out whole cities & states, changing the coastland. The world’s remaining governments agreed not to produce any more plastic. What’s left is a hardscrabble life as people cope without enough food, clean water, or electricity. 

Coral is a plucker. She finds plastic items in rivers and woods that’s sold or bartered. Plastic is the new currency and plastic is life. Coral lives in Trashlands- a giant garbage dump in what was once Ohio. It’s main draw is a strip club which offers girls, drinks, and air conditioning. Coral refuses to leave Trashlands because she hopes one day her son will find his way back to her. Her son was kidnapped as a young boy, sent to work a brick factory. Small quick hands are needed to sort plastic before it’s  melted down & made into bricks. When a mysterious reporter turns up at Trashlands, he offers Coral hope and the means to find her son. 

Even though this is a dystopian novel, it is character driven. I loved so many of characters in this book!  Coral’s an artist at heart in a world where everyday is a struggle to survive-especially for women and children. Mr. Fall, is another wonderful character. Even living in a garbage dump, he believes in education. He teaches the kids and the strippers who live at Trashlands how to read with a precious, battered set of Encyclopedia Brittanica. This story is populated with interesting characters building a community & surviving under harsh circumstances. 

This is a remarkable and cautionary story populated with characters you won’t soon forget. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to @netgalley & @harlequinbooks for the digital ARC. 

How’s everyone doing today? All good in your little corner of the world? 

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