This book absolutely blew me away. I can certainly understand why devout religious readers would hate this book; Blake's characters are deeply flawed, very real people. Naamah and her family grapple with their faith (naturally, since everyone they know has died and they're stuck on a large boat with hundreds of animals) and their own humanity. The characters know the immense burden they've been given and deal with it in different, difficult ways.

There were passages that read like poetry. On more than one occasion, I stopped reading and just let the weight of the words sit with me. I really, really loved this book.

This was a really unique and interesting take on the Biblical story of Noah and the flood. It takes place from the point of view of Noah's wife, unnamed in the Bible but here known as Naamah. When the book begins, they are already many months into life on the ark.

The author plays fast and loose with the linear structure, going back and forth and using dreams to weave around the narrative. We find out that Naamah is conflicted about the toll that the flood has taken, and all of the lives lost in the process. She is angry with God, but still cowed by his wrath. She loves her husband, but at the same time is exasperated with his unwavering faith. She also has many secrets: she left behind a female lover in the flood, and she has found a secret city under the water that she visits frequently while the flood waters are still high.

This book is not religious, per se, despite the story that it is about. God is present but as an unknowable character, mostly present in dreams. Naamah undertakes a lot of unrecognized labor in terms of caring for the animals, having to do the hard things, like feeding baby animals born on the arc to the predators, or euthanize sick animals that could spread disease to the healthy.

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this book, really. It's haunting and beautiful, but at times esoteric and unreachable. I wasn't bored reading it, but I can't definitely see it not being for everyone. There were a lot of truths in it that I struggle with in regards to my faith, and I think others may find a lot in here to relate to, even if the story itself sometimes seems farfetched and dreamlike.