Although this book was very descriptive and the actual description was very interesting, this book was very boring. I did not keep my attention at all and I had to fight and Force myself to even finish it.

I received a free electronic ARC copy of this novel on October 5, 2019, from Netgalley, Maja Lunde, and Scribner UK. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to recommend The End of the Ocean to friends and family. This is a novel that speaks well for the hearts call of family and the importance of cleaning up our act on our earth. It is a story for our time, and that to come. Let it not be a prophecy.

The End of the Ocean is set out in two timelines, two distinct stories that eventually intertwine. This is handled most effectively - seamlessly - by Maja Lunde.

We have the story of Singe Hauger, born and raised in Ringfjorden, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway but a citizen of the world, a journalist, author, and professional activist. One of the few of her generation to leave their small village in Norway, Singe has lived in the wider world these last 50 years. In 2019 at 70 years old, she crosses the wide ocean to return home in her boat. Blue was an 18th-year birthday gift from her mother, though they shared little else physically or emotionally. Blue was, for Singe, a perfect match. Together they have traveled the world, touching nature all around. Blue is both sail and diesel, small enough for her to handle on her own, big enough for her to live comfortably aboard, making a very small footprint on the earth. Allowing Singe the mobility necessary to fight her battles with the polluters of this world.

Singe had returned home occasionally. For the funerals of first her mother, then her father, to clean up after their deaths and grieve the compulsory five days. Now she is seeking closure with the love of her life. Magnus is at the heart of this desecration of her place in Norway. Advocating for the earth and its critters are her vocation, her life, her heart song. There is no way to work past this defilement of the earth. This is the ultimate betrayal.

For the news from home is crushing - Those in power have sold Blafonna, the iceberg on the mountain, ice being harvested and shipped to the wealthy southern European nations firmly in the grip of the drought - so they might have ice in their cocktails. And the community has plans to harness the River Breio - trap the flow on the mountain and send it by pipeline, bypassing the River, and the Sisters, famous local waterfalls. They need to control the flow to run a massive generator and create power for the mining of aluminum ore on the mountain. Aluminum necessary only for the seemingly eternal war in the Middle East. It will be the death of the villages on that river, Eidesdalen, and Ringfjorden. Fed by the mountain rains and the slowly melting glacier composed of ice a thousand years old, the River Breio, Lake Eide and Sister Falls are the heart of Norway and home. There may be one more battle of environmental advocacy left in the old girl.

And we view life in 2041 through the eyes of David, who with his 6-year-old daughter Lou is a refugee in search of a home - and the other half of his family, wife Anna and young son August who due to circumstance were not able to leave Argeles, France with David and Lou. The world drought has Europe firmly in its clutches, and as David and Lou move from one refugee camp to another seeking the rest of their family and a country willing to take them in, they see the system of refuge breaking down in camp after camp, leaving these footsore travelers without water or medicine or food, and the camps themselves becoming armed headquarters for the lawless. Even the Red Cross has given up control of the refugee camps.

And then David and Lou find Singe's boat Blue, carefully wrapped against the weather, and waiting. But where will they go from here? How do you run from an endless worldwide drought? Where do you run when the world implodes around you? Where do you go to in a world without water?

While the themes in this scream climate change and our responsibility to the environment, it never veers to the preachy, preferring instead to focus on the characters. Using the alternate voices of Signe in 2017 and David in 2041, it explores the effects of drought both emotional and physical. Signe tells how things got to where they are in 2017. David and his daughter Lou are searching for Anna and August, from whom they became separated. He doesn't make the best decisions but give him a break- he's young and in distress. The two stories are linked but it does take a bit. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. It's a worthy read.

First of all, this cover is stunning and the reason I requested this book. The premise had promise and it sounded like an important read, but this one fell flat for me.

This story is told in two timelines: in 2017 through Singe, a seventy year old woman mostly through flashbacks of her childhood and in 2041 through David and his daughter Lou. David and Lou are living in a futuristic world where there are major droughts and fires everywhere. As people are fleeing to find camps with supplies David and Lou come across Singe’s boat which links these characters.

I found myself bored and moved slow through this book - there is a lot of descriptive writing and the storyline was lacking. I wasn’t too invested in the characters, but I did enjoy David and Lou’s chapters more than Singe’s chapters. I do think this story had potential and the portrayal of an all too realistic bleak future calls the reader to take action now to save our planet.

Thank you Netgalley for this advance reading copy. This book will be published 1/14/20.

For such a short book “The End of the Ocean” is truly epic in scope. The two main characters, Signe and David, are in two very different timelines that connect at the end in a profound and emotionally shattering way. This story will rip your heart out, cast you into the pit of despair and pull you out the other side determined to change the world. Pretty powerful for one book!

There is nothing scarier than seeing a dark future coming and being unable to change course and avoid it. This story is all about how the actions we take now (in Signe’s timeline) affect lives in the future (David’s timeline.) If you are a climate change denier you will likely scoff at this book but most of us will take it as a dire warning about a possible future that we very much need to avoid.

Signe sees the devastation left on her local landscape by commercial interests which have led to a power plant and dam built to harness a river. This has completely drained it and the twin waterfalls it fed along with wiping out the local fauna species. She also is witness to an ancient glacier receding due to global warming and harvesting for clean ice for the wealthy. This right here is our timeline and our reality.

David and his daughter Lou are in the midst of the devastation in the much too near future. They are climate refugees fleeing unending drought and fires. It’s truly a sad and terrifying picture. I cannot stress enough how disturbing David’s chapters were. It’s the stuff of nightmares. Being able to see the beginnings of this today is heartbreaking. We already have camps of climate refugees and massive wildfires burning towns, people, and wildlife.

This book was originally written in Norwegian but it has none of the awkwardness that often plagues translations. The writing is absolutely beautiful. The imagery is vivid and devastating. I could feel the cold spray on Signe’s boat and the scorched earth under David’s feet. It puts you directly in the story which is often an uncomfortable place to be!

If it does nothing else (your heart must be cold and dead if that is the case) this book will convince you that we have to make huge changes. We are living in Signe’s time where it may still be possible to alter trajectory so we don’t end up in David’s terrifying near future. We’ve travelled pretty far in the wrong direction but it’s never too late to take the first steps on a new path. Heroes like Signe and the real life hero Greta have shown us the way. All we need to do is follow and be the change the world needs.

Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers and HarperVia for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really good ; I enjoyed the writing, the characters and the story very much.

We follow Signe in 2019 and David in 2041, before and after the drought suffered by most countries on Earth. Signe's trying to prevent it, David's living through it or at least trying to.
I found it very interesting to get both Signe's and David's perspectives, one with and the other without children, and I really liked their personalities as well.

It's all perfectly realistic, which made the book scary but also fascinating to me as it makes you think of where we're going and what we should be doing right now.

Overall would recommend!

The End of the Ocean is a interesting and unique book. The concept of this book could very well end up being is with the climate change issues being so critical. The book is well written and the characters are well developed.

A dual narrative cautionary tale of the results of climate change on the world's water supply, The End of the Ocean puts readers in the shoes of Signe, a woman on the front lines of the climate fight, and father/daughter duo David and Lou, a pair fleeing an increasingly unstable, drought ridden Europe in 2041. Dual narrative structures can sometimes crumble under their own weight, as momentum gathered in one timeline can be ruined by the shift to another, but here the mostly disparate storylines are interesting and able to stand well enough on their own. Readers may eventually start to wonder what they even have to do with one another besides the overarching climate issues, but Lunde rewards patience with an eventual payoff in the end.

My main complaint would be mostly with Signe's storyline, as I found it difficult to empathize with her character as much as I did with David, as her bleak and often robotic meditations on her past kept me at arms length for the majority of the book. Despite that, this is a worthy entry to the climate change fiction canon.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to HarperCollins Publishers**

We're running out of water. There's hardly any more rain. People are dirty, sick, and dying. Those that are surviving are being separated from their loved ones and families. It's pretty harrowing. The End of the Ocean explores a world where water is a rare commodity. We have two storylines. One before the water ran out, with a Norwegian woman, and after with a man and his young daughter. It's a bit fascinating and I'm sure something most people don't think about. But what would we do if oceans, rivers and lakes started to seriously run dry? How would we survive? I don't know how close to a truth The End of the Ocean would/might be, but it's a bit terrifying.

This isn't a preachy book at all, or one that spouts propaganda. It's just an idea of what could happen.

The End of the Ocean publishes 1.14.20.

5/5 Stars

An interesting and extremely relevant read with all of the current issues surrounding climate control. I liked the characters, but as often happens in a book with two timelines I was more connected to one (David and Lou, in 2041) than Signe's 2017 timeline.

This book is set in two time periods, one Signe in 2019 and David and his daughter in 2041. This is such a relevant story relating to climate control.
David and his daughter live in a world in drought. They have lost part of their family and are searching for them.
Signe is missing her love and trying to save what she knows will be important in the future.
In some ways this reminded me of Station Eleven, with the destruction and the changes that have happened on Earth.
In some ways these stories are terrifying, because we could end up in those situations if we don't do something to help the world we live in.
I liked both their stories and how they became intertwined.

A very relevant story to our times. I really enjoyed the dual timelines used to tell this story. I think the author did an amazing job writing this, and it left me feeling so “wow”.... anyone who likes a good cause and effect book will love this.

This novel takes place in two different time periods. The reader will follow seventy year old Signe in 2019 and David and his daughter, Lou, in 2041. This novel is journey of love, self growth, and lost natural resources.

I was asked to give an honest review of The End of the Ocean. Before I give it, I would like to forewarn you that I had several mixed feelings on this novel.

The synopsis on this novel sounded so interesting. I just had to put in a request for this novel. I had started reading it immediately upon approval.

While arriving to twenty-seventh percent of the novel, I got a little lost in the storyline for Signe. I do understand she is an activist but the way it was presented was a little meh. I didn't understand her storyline on why she became the way she was until later in the book. I found it to be a little boring until about the halfway point on Signe's journey.

I did enjoy the storyline for David and Lou. I found it to be a equal combination of tragic and heartwarming. They're survival in a most difficult time had me demanded to finish this book. Lou was definitely wise beyond her years for such a young child. I felt like she was my favorite character due to that fact.

I will say I loved how the author did tie the storylines together. Want to know what it is?! You'll just have to read it to see.😉

Thank you HarperCollins Publisher for letting me receive a copy of this novel through Netgalley.

Maja Lunde offers a strong, character driven novel with an engaging plot that is told in dual perspective between alternating time lines. While the subject of climate change takes center stage, the narrative triumphantly honors the human spirit. The reader is ultimately offered a story of love, loss, and survival in the face of adversity. 4 stars.

Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC of #TheEndofTheOcean, which was read and reviewed voluntarily.

I know you are not supposed to judge a book by it’s cover, but have you seen this cover? It’s gorgeous. Can I get a print for my house? Of course, I did not choose this book based solely on the cover. The summary of the impending environmental catastrophe and the fact that this book is Norwegian were both intriguing. I was excited to read something with a European perspective.

This book is divided into two narratives. There is the older Norwegian environmentalist looking back on her life and the young French father trying to survive in a world without water. One tells us what we have to do, the other tells us what will happen if we don’t. Both will make you feel incredibly guilty for living in modern society.
This author is gifted at writing the beauty of the Fjords, the loneliness of the ocean and the desperation of the drought. The shaming of greed and environmental recklessness is necessary and done well. However, I had a hard time connecting to this story and the characters. I suspect that the author made me feel so guilty, that I subconsciously became guarded against this story.

This book will appeal to adult readers who enjoy speculative, environmental, apocalyptic and survival fiction. Anyone who is interested in climate change and environmentalism will also find this book to be intriguing and relevant.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers of this book for allowing me advance access in exchange for this honest review.

This will also be posted on my blog on 10/24/19 https://www.bossylibrarian.com/blog

There are so many reviews for this already, I can't add any value other than to say this is a good story from a talented writer. Recommended.

I really appreciate the advanced copy for review!!

In 2017 Signe is an elderly former environmental activist who has decided to complete one last act of defiance against the company which is taking ice from an already receding glacier near her home town in Norway, and which was responsible for the loss of a major river and twin waterfalls decades earlier. The head of the company happens to be her ex-lover, Magnus, from her young, activist days. Signe's chapters swing between her solo sea journey on her small yacht to confront Magnus, and her memories of her childhood and relationships with Magnus and her parents, and ultimately brings her past and present together.

In 2041 the world is in the grips of a deadly drought and heatwave which has made water extremely sought after and displaced populations as they have been forced to leave their homes to seek better conditions. David and his small daughter, Lou, have escaped a devastating fire in their city during which they were separated from David's wife and baby son. They make their way through drought-stricken Europe to the refugee camp that he and his wife had agreed to journey to, in the hope that she and the baby will also find their way there and they can be reunited.

This is a very thought-provoking story in light of current global climate events, and it does make me wonder: could something like this come to pass? Lunde has captured the atmosphere of heat, exhaustion, thirst and desperation that David and Lou are facing extremely well. The changing mood among the refugees in the camp as supplies start to run out and the sense of increasing danger is also captured with frightening realism. Signe's desperate journey to confront the man responsible for hastening the destruction of the glacier is well-written.

The writing alternates between Signe's and David's stories, and it is only when they finally come together that we realise how fragile our world is and the potential devastating consequences of decisions made today on future generations.

Beautifully written a topical timely novel abook that draws you into two different time lines Signe a woman in her sixties and David from a different time a young man separated from his wife caring for their child .A book that shows the effects of the importance of climate control.A lyrical novel that will stay with you .Highly recommend.#atriabooks#netgalley.

I was ecstatic when I was approved for Maja Lunde’s The End of the Ocean on NetGalley. (Thanks, HarperCollins!) Aside from having a gorgeous cover, the description was so intriguing — especially for a greenie like myself. (NOTE: My understanding is this book is #2 in Maja Lunde’s Climate Quartet series.)

The journeys of Signe and David are split between 2017 and 2041; furthermore, during two very different points in each of their lives. Signe is in her late 60s, having lived a rather single life as an eco-activist/journalist, and David is a newly single father holding out hope to be reunited with his wife and baby son while caring for a young daughter during a horrific drought. The two timelines themselves are a chilling prospect considering 2041 is really not such a far way off. As an Environmental Management major, Lunde’s novel spoke deeply to my heart.

I believe this is an important novel for the times with likable characters, an intriguing plot, and well worth a read when it is published. For both Signe’s and David’s stories, you wonder, how did they get there? Likewise, it forces you to consider, how can we keep ourselves from getting to that point, as well?

This book uses duelling timelines to emphasize the significance water plays in our lives and how we take it for granted. In 2019 we meet Signe who relives and confronts her past that was spent among the fjords and glaciers of Norway until urban development changed everything. In an apocalyptic 2041 David and his daughter Lou are refugees trying to find a place that still has water but instead finds the boat that gives them hope and connects them all through time.

I really enjoyed that this book was set in the present and near future. It makes you stop and think about how seemingly ordinary and insignificant things we are doing now are going to affect the next generation. I do think that the story could benefit from more background information in David's parts as there is never any real explanation as to how things got so bad. I kept expecting some kind of connection between the company who destroyed Signe's town and the apocalyptic drought conditions to be revealed but nothing ever came of it. David's character was also pretty one dimensional and I never formed any sort of connection to him even though I felt his storyline had more potential.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.