In the foreword, Prime Meridian is described as a ‘quiet masterpiece’ and I have to agree. I can’t find any other description that sums this novella up more succintly. I can only say that through Prime Meridian, the author documents the internal struggle and frustration faced by current younger adults at about 20-25ish years old, especially concerning their career life. It is often during this age that most people have just graduated from some kind of tertiary studies and are at that stage where rejection is norm and dead-ends are all you seem to face.

After I’ve figured out the theme that this book revolves around, I had originally thought that ‘this doesn’t look too good, the protagonist is starting to sound what generations before mine would say ‘whiny’ ‘. I also grew frustrated that she repeatedly allows Élias back into her life, and get stuck into this self-pitying state that she gets from comparing herself to others. But to be honest, our lead behaves as most people in reality would, and I respect the author for writing this character as it is. I was mentally begging Amelia to take some kind of action, do something to change her life for the better. Rest assured that this book ends on a hopeful note. The author took the time to really explain and create empathy for Amelia, which I appreciate because much too often the Amelias of real life are dismissed as ‘self-entitled’ and ‘ungrateful’ when they try and share their experiences and what they’re feeling, usually using social media.

Prime Meridian is a rather quiet novella, following the low-key struggle of life in Mexico City for its protagonist, Amelia, while she dreams of life in the colonies on Mars. There's no intense action, just an emotional undercurrent of bitterness and the fear that she'll never escape Mexico City and her life there. There's an honesty about Amelia's character -- not always likeable, for the reader or for the people around her -- but always truthful, doing what she can to live her life and not kidding herself about it.

To say too much about this book wouldn't spoil it, but I don't think I can go too deeply into it. It's wrenching in a way that has nothing to do with big worldwide events or apocalyptic calamities. It's just about people, and the hope of getting out.

An affecting and nuanced novella that examines everything from class, poverty, gender, generational conflict, capitalism, nostalgia, and how to hold onto dreams of something more in the face of dreams stymied and deferred. Fascinating world-building that feels very much like it grew out of the world we live in today, so much so that I wish I had been able to see more of it in the short text.

Amelia is me in many ways and I think that's why I enjoyed this book. There's something about feeling like you've "passed your prime" and lost all opportunities you once had. I think the best thing about this book was that it's a novella. It is a snapshot of a life that once had dreams, close enough to touch, blow away in the wind.

The sci-fi aspect was more of a subtle theme than a major plot point and I really liked that. It focused on real circumstances faced by those who aren't privileged to be living luxuriously. I also love the use of the main character that dances on the thin line of these two worlds (not including Mars) that co-exist but never meet, showing that money - and the lack thereof - is a lens in which each person only sees their world and how to survive in it. With Amelia, we see her having a choice to be poor with her emotionally abusive sister, be a mistress to a rich ex-boyfriend who can't live outside of his wealth, and going to Mars, a place that is an ultimate haven she dreams of being on.

I really liked how realistic this book was to me and I think people in my generation can appreciate the familiarity in wanting to choose a life for ourselves.

<blockquote><i>”Mars, Amelia’s Mars. Always Mars, in every stolen and quiet moment.”</i></blockquote>
What a gorgeous novella. Though not without its flaws, this was a sincerely refreshing read and it satisfied my need for a good scifi story.

The world-building is way more exquisite and deep than most novellas and even some full-length novels, and it was believable in a way that I totally believe that the Earth could devolve into this in a few generations. It’s set not in a dystopia, but in a near-dystopian universe where no one knows their purpose and everyone just meanders around, filling the days with nothing. There’s no work and everyone is poor and the world is moving at a slower pace.

Amelia wants to move to the colonies at Mars, but she’s stuck at home working meaningless odd jobs and instead can only stare at the advertisements and dream.

I really enjoyed reading about all the characters. Amelia isn’t likable, per say, but she’s not supposed to be. She doesn’t smile, and she gives off an angry vibe, and that came across in the writing really well. The side characters were all fleshed out and unique, and all the relationships between Amelia and the people around her were developed beautifully.

The writing was what really shone in this novella for me. It was poetic and raw at the same time, and just all-around beautiful. The blurb was what drew me in and I’m glad that the writing reflected the same gorgeous style.

The one flaw that I could find in this novella was the plot. Though it showed the slow, meaningless farce of Amelia’s life well, the novella used a pretty severe case of deus ex machina when it came to resolving Amelia’s storyline and her dreams and regrets. I wish that there had been more buildup towards the eventual solution, and that there had been more resolution. I know it can be hard to avoid tropes like deus ex machina in a shorter piece of writing, but it still happened, and I felt kind of cheated.

However, that shouldn’t stop people from reading it. The pros really did outweigh the cons, and it was somehow slice-of-life and science fiction all at once. <i>Prime Meridian</i> was a wonderful novella and I wish I could get more from that universe.

Prime Meridian is an engrossing novella, set in perhaps the near future in Mexico, and starring
Amelia. She dreams of going to Mars, but I feel that she really wants independence and control over her life and destiny.

The burden of being or feeling trapped and impotent is soul-destroying, but the hope of hope and having a purpose or a goal to work towards feeds the will to live.

I am intrigued by this author, and would like to read more.

*eARC Netgalley*

This novella creeped me out. It was a snapshot of stymied dissatisfaction, a life arrested on its course and plunged by force into a stagnancy leading nowhere. If I sound overly flowery, like I'm trying to write a literary-sounding review of <i>The Great Gatsby</i> or some other profoundly uncomfortable classic work, it's because that's what <i>Prime Meridian</i> was like. <br>
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Only I don't need any American Lit teacher to tell me, "You see, <i>Gatsby</i> was so influential because it encapsulated the essence of the 1920s-" because I KNOW exactly what this novella is encapsulating. It's encapsulating the very stage of life I'm currently going through. As a 23-year-old who, at 18, had lofty, high hopes for my future and is now desperately trying to reel my off-track life back towards those hopes... like I said, <i>Prime Meridian</i> creeped me out. It's too real. <br>
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I would have given this novella at least three stars just for everything I've already mentioned. The fourth star is because it ended on a note of hope, saying that not all lost dreams are really lost. I was completely, one hundred percent expecting <i>Prime Meridian</i> to end in despair, or at least ambiguously -- but it didn't, and I love that.