Tilt by Emma Pattee (audiobook)

 genre: contemporary fiction

On a hot summer day in Portland, the very pregnant Annie finally decides it's time to pick out a crib. While it might seem trivial, it can feel like a monumental decision when you are carrying a new human life inside you. While Annie is at the Ikea, she is feeling all the feelings when an actual disaster strikes. The kind of disaster that can take the city and life that you know and turn it into an apocalyptic nightmare. How Annie makes it to the end of this day when everything changes is the setting of this novel. But the heart of this novel is Annie becoming a mama, it is Annie figuring out what she wants her life to be on the other side.

I do LOVE a realistic apocalyptic novel. That was really all I knew about this one when I decided to try it and having our protagonist be so pregnant did just force you you see the world through her very specific lens. I listened to the words "my belly" about a hundred times but I understand why. The only thing I didn't love, and it's a big thing, is how often we go back and forth in time. I guess it is a way to give us context about who Annie is and why she's feeling how she does but I don't feel like it ended up doing much for the story. This is a sad book. The ending was not what I anticipated and while very lovely and powerful, it still left me wanting a bit more.  I'm not sorry I listened though, the audio was fine. 3.5 stars.