Did not finish. Really appreciated the author's efforts in this book, and I may give it another shot some day because the blurb/potential are very interesting to me, but the writing style was not for me. Very overly descriptive and detailed in the places it didn't need to be.

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
An interesting idea behind this book. The writing is good.
However, the story is slow to start and difficult to get into.
On the whole, an OK book.

This was a really entertaining read. I liked all the characters and the chemistry between the characters. It was well written and I enjoyed getting to know all the characters in the book.
I really recommend this book.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me a digital arc of this book for an exchange of an honest review.

The Essence of Senescence is a story about a group of elderly people and their adventure. The concept and the ideas are fresh and refreshing, I think it has lots of potential. We rarely see a book with elderly people's pov lately, especially in fantasy. So it bring such a fresh air to the genre.

Alas, the narratives didn't vibes with me. The prose is flowery and too descriptive. I am sure someone else would love this kind of prose, though it's not me.

Oh I wanted so much to like this book but it just didn't work for me. I just could not get in to it at all.

I'm sorry, but I just couldn't get past the first chapter. I'm pretty sure there' s a good book hidden in there somewhere, but this was so over-written as to be almost unreadable. I'm sure there are people out there who will love it, but I'm not one of them. Sorry.

tbf, i don‘t think i was the right audience for this book. even though the premise intrigued me, i found that the execution wasn‘t really my thing personally. that‘s not to say that this is a bad book, though. i really enjoyed the effortlessly lyrical writing in here, which made it easy for me to get lost in the story. overall, however, it was a little too surreal and weird for me. if you‘re into sort of odd books that could be described as more of a thought experiment, this might be the book for you!

thank you to the author and netgalley for sending me an arc copy in exchange for an honest review!

I did not get this book at all but enjoyed some of the more surreal moments. I found it difficult to stay engaged through the opening extensive scenes of waking up, eating breakfast and getting dressed. Some of the characters had vivid moments, but I found myself bored by the author simply stating what the character was feeling and then changing it (so and so felt sad, so and so lit with happiness, so and so's eyes changed colour with memory). It was nice to see an elderly cast and the dog was sweet. Basically, I did not get this book. It was not for me. Thanks to @netgalley, the publishers and the author for providing this advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Posted on Goodreads.

My review appears in my October Wrap-up https://youtu.be/2wyPVXckrxQ at 33:50
I ended up DNF-ing this book. I felt that it tried far too hard to be 'literary', and the descriptions of women's bodies in it were down-right gross (perhaps to the point where I thought it might be satire??).

I think I missed the point of this book by trying to read it literally. Perhaps I should have re-read the description before embarking on the book so I could take on the allegory rather than be confused at what was going on or not.

The preface is inspirational, Milo Twyla being 16 (or thereabouts) and having discipline to sit for 6 months and churn out a book, something I could never do. Kudos there! The first chapter is engrossing, with wonderful descriptions of each of the main characters. I really wished that the book had continued in this fashion but for me it lost its way when they all left their apartments and bumped into each other in the corridor. It was only towards the end that the book regained some semblance of normality for me and I could compare it to picaresque novels (maybe The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window or The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - to me these two novels were more successful)..

Let me first start off saying this has become one of my top ten most favorite books I have ever read! The story itself has five main characters that escape from their retirement home and have an Alice in Wonderland type journey. These five characters that this author has created were so relatable, I could actually find some of my personality traits in each one of them. Her character's were so real and raw and had such amazing views on their life experiences. I was left feeling like I was actually talking with a well travelled senior citizen who has led and is still leading an amazing life. Among her cast of characters my favorite was "Zephy" she was amazing but also broke my heart. I don't want to give too much detail because I don't want to spoil one single sentence of this amazing journey.

Milo's use of the English language is so lyrical and expressive that after every chapter the reader is left with some of the most beautiful and heart wrenching ideas. Her philosophical ideas on religion and the afterlife were spot on and a refreshing idea on the subject of death. I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone at any season of their lives, young, middle aged, or senior, it is truly a book that will span the decades of time and grow with the reader. I personally feel that if I read this book five years from now I will come away with a different idea/feeling from the same story. It is truly a beautiful book and would be an amazing book club read, so many different ideas to bounce off of each other!

It's a very introspective and philosophical book and definitely not something I would normally read. I didn't find it very good - it felt a lot like someone's first attempt at writing. I do look forward to observing how the author progresses as a writer in the future.

“The Universe simply writes itself. Things just happen, without plan.”

Is it possible to have a coming of age story for a group of retirees? I’m not sure, but to me that’s what The Essence of Senescence by Mili Twyla is best described as, although there is much more to it than that.

This book focuses on a group of retirees on the run with a dog who may or may not be more than it seems. Throughout the story we get to learn the fears, past, and dreams of these characters.

Overall I enjoyed the story quite a bit; I’ve never read anything like this, and doubt I’ll come across anything like it again.

My only real critique is that there were some moments of character growth that felt rushed, but I feel like this was done to help aid the timeline of the story and is understandable.

A solid 4 star read that is worth a look when it’s released on October 20th!

Wow, this story was so enchanting. I loved every moment of this.

In short, this is a story about five elderly people navigating their way through the past, present and future. It’s such a journey about what really matters in life and what we can do with the time we still have left.

The character work was fantastic, each character felt so real to me. They were all so wonderfully different to one another but ultimately they are all human just want to live life to its fullest. I rarely read books about older people & this was so refreshing. We can learn so much from those older than us. Everyone has a story.

The writing style was so lovely; the lyrical descriptions woven through this story made it even more mystifying. The conversations in this story and also the representation was so well done in my opinion. I feel as though it’s one of those stories that you’ll get something new out of with each re-read. I highly recommend this & I’ll definitely be reading more from this author.

Thank you so much to NetGalley & the author Milo Twyla for allowing me to read and review this eARC.

A very creative and expansive story that can fall slightly short due to the excessive and overwrought nature of its descriptive language. The plot is immense, and readers looking for a fast-paced read can definitely find it here, but overall the book can feel a bit too cliche in its phrasing and character development.