3.5 stars, I enjoyed this weird little apocalypse novella! I didn’t realize this was a sequel but I intend to go back and read the beginning of Tetley’s tale as well. I loved hearing about the end of the world, a literal heap of trash, from the ever-hopeful voice of Tetley. The narrator was absolutely fantastic.

Book • Review
The Past is Red
Catherynne M. Valente
Out now!
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The Past is Red was strange, moving, original, and terrifying. The story follows a girl named Tetley, the most hated girl in Garbage Town. She lives on a pile of garbage the size of Texas, in a world that is set in a very grim version of our world in the future. This book feels like a strange dream, but one that is, while a bit cynical and exaggerated, a horrifying possibility of what our society could turn into.

I thought this book was really original, and was constantly surprising me. There is a certain black humor that permeates this short book, as well. Valente’s writing in this is very engaging, and the world that she built in these pages is one that was extremely interesting, and only a bit disturbing.

I liked Tetley as a protagonist, and found myself feeling a lot for her as an individual. She is definitely in a less than pleasant situation, not only from a societal standpoint, but also on her personal journey in this story. While she was easy to connect with, I didn’t feel attached whatsoever to any of the other characters. This is probably in part because of the uniqueness of Tetley’s social standing and her status as a pariah, but I wish that I had cared more about the other members of the cast.

Ultimately, look this book somehow balances whimsy and absurdism with peril and warning. I enjoyed my short time with it, and encourage you to at the very least give it a try! It is under 200 pages, so it won’t take you long.

Thank you so much to @torbooks and Valente for a review copy of this book. Also, thank you to @netgalley for an audio copy of this book.

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Dystopian, haunting, introspective, and unnerving. This apocalyptical fiction is based in a place called Garbage Town. The town is full of survivors from Earth's violent reactions to climate change. Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanos... The world is now destroyed and only the great pacific garbage patch remains.

The main character, Tetley, loves Garbage Town, but the town doesn't seem to love her. The end of the world has been placed squarely in her shoulders. A "fuckwit", as she calls herself, is a person who bears the blame for everyone's troubles.

There are some good things in Garbage Town. Tetley enjoys reading and it's quite educated for someone who's never been in a school. She loves her twin brother Maruchan. Her friend Good Night Moon brings her gifts and company. She also grows several plants. To Tetley, Garbage Town is the greatest place in the world.

When Tetley is given a beautiful doorstop as a wedding gift, she discovers secrets about life before the disasters. When things were "normal". She learns about everyday life through this magnificent machine. But maybe some things are better left unknown.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys dystopian, apocalyptic, and sci-fi books. The narrator was an excellent voice actress who really nailed each and every character.

The Past Is Red is a post apocalyptic coming of age novel by Catherynne M. Valente. Released 17th Aug 2021 by Macmillan on their Tor Forge imprint, it's 160 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a beautifully wrought story; often breathtakingly beautiful and angry and sad all at the same time. The language is simple but brutally direct. I would normally classify it as YA/NA but in this case the language is -very- rough throughout, so for librarians recommending to younger patrons, the language and content are definitely things of which to be aware. For fans familiar with her oeuvre, this is a novel length retelling which contains and expands on the novella The Future is Blue, and serves as a sequel.

I was enthralled by the story. Protagonist Tetley Abednego is heartbreakingly sympathetic and easy to care about and grows from an almost everyman character to a prophetic, messianic presence changing everyone and everything around her profoundly. Despite the sober dystopian setting and hopelessness, there are a fair number of truly humorous moments which surprised a laugh out of me along with some small fleeting glimmers of hope.

As stated before, the language is often rough, lots of cursing and some moderately explicit (consensual and implied non-consensual) sexual content. There is also lots of physical violence, brutality, death, and illness (they're one of the last scattered human settlements on a drowned destroyed Earth, so it's all in context).

The audiobook has a run time of 5 hours 1 minute and is expertly narrated by Penelope Rawlins. There is quite a lot of rapid dialogue in the book and Ms. Rawlins performs remarkably well, managing multiple disparate accents and voices in rapid succession and performing characters who are male, female, old, young,and even inanimate flawlessly. The production and sound quality are top notch.

This book made me quite sad and angry, amused and wistful, often at the same time. It's abundantly clear that was absolutely the author's intention.

Five stars for the book. Five stars for the audiobook and narration.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Phew! This was a wild one to read while the current state of the world is, well, what it is. The worldbuiling was creative and the narrative super engaging! I can't decide if it was hopeful or crushing or somehow both, but I'm not sure it matters. Either way, this is an incredibly inventive story that made me laugh and cringe at the same time.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for a copy of the audiobook ARC of The Past is Red. Penelope Rawlins does a wonderful job of delivering Cathrynne M. Valente's lovely story of Tetley Abednego's life on a garbage patch on the endless blue. This quick read is filled with call backs to our beloved name brand products whose garbage make up Garbagetown. The products we consume today will still remain long after we are dead and the meaning on the product slogans are lost to time.

I've been a huge fan of Valente's writing for years now - I absolutely adore her lush writing style and vibrant turns of phrase. And while I've long thought to myself that her writing would translate well into an audio format, this marks the first time I have actually listened to one of her books. And I really loved it! It's one of those rare audiobooks that I can definitely seem myself listening to again!

It's set in the future and is narrated by Tetley, a young woman living in Garbagetown - literally a floating island of trash in the middle of the ocean. But Tetley's cheer and striking optimism in the face of failed relationships and the grim realities of their world really balances this book out quite well. There's some rather dark humor here - after all, our generations are referred to as "f%$*wits" for ruining the world but also providing them with the garbage that they live on and off of.

The audio is well-performed and I loved the performer's accent. The timeline skips around a bit, so there are a few moments when I wish that I had also had a physical copy of it. But, overall, I really loved listening to this one and I am really looking forward to seeing what Valente writes next!

The Past is Red is depressing and funny and beautiful and horrifying and captivating. Going in I knew pretty much nothing about this book, so I was not at all prepared for how much it would tear at my heart. I don't think I'll ever forget this story, or these characters, or this world.

While reading, it kept catching me off-guard; so much of it is irreverent and darkly funny, but then it will occasionally slide effortlessly into heartfelt and sincere. It breaks my heart even more because of how rare and unexpected it is, and how genuine I know it is on the part of the character.

Also, semi-spoiler ahead, but I don't know how I was surprised every single time I ran into "None of that really happened, of course." I kept not expecting it, and it kept betraying me, and breaking my heart, and making me wonder.

The narrator, Penelope Rawlins, was wonderful as well. At first I was a little unsure, but wow they just made the story so real and charming and heartbreaking. For once I'm glad I listened to the audiobook rather than reading a print copy.

To end, here are two of my favorite quotes from the book. Because I listened to the audiobook, often while doing dishes or other things that kept my hands occupied, I didn't get to highlight/write down many lines while reading. But these were good enough that I had to:

"I think a joke like that is a present you make to yourself, so every time you say it, even if it hurts, you get a very cohesive feeling out of it, because the past you and the present you are talking to each other, and it's nice to have friends."

"The kind of hope I have isn't just greed going by its maiden name."

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the chance to review this ARC.

I’m continually impressed by Valente’s range—every book I read by her is so completely unique and different from the previous one. This one did not disappoint. The audiobook was a bit difficult to follow, especially at the beginning and with the time jumping back and forth, but this was ultimately an apt and weird story of a young girl living in a floating garbage city after human-made climate change has ruined Earth. I don’t want to write any spoilers, but I was particularly intrigued by the last few chapters of the book, when a surprise about humanity was revealed that caused both anger and optimism. Overall I enjoyed this book and will continue to read more of Valente’s work in the future.

4 Stars

Weird, Optimistic, Touching

I am grateful to Dreamscape Media for sending me a copy of this book for review.

Considering the nature of this novel I think "refreshing" is probably not what you would expect from a review, but that was the first thing that came to mind. This story was refreshing, and I think that stems from the main character's overwhelming optimism and their appreciation for everything.

The setting of this book is a post-apocalyptic far future, where the Earth is entirely water, and the few remaining people (and land animals) live on floating communities. The story take place in a floating city which was constructed some time in the past, that is made up entirely of garbage. The reference to the floating "islands" of garbage that exist on the Pacific ocean right now is clear. Our MC is a citizen of this floating world, and loves it. We follow them from childhood and through their perspective we see them accept the world as is, admire beauty in every thing, and long for nothing more that love, friendship, and a sense of belonging.

Since I read this via audiobook, I hesitate to say too much about the writing style of the actual book, but I can say that the first person narration worked very well to keep the story engaging. The story also had a whimsical feel which could be because of the names of the characters (Tetley, Good Night Moon) or maybe the references to literature and descriptions of things from the past. Either way I found myself attached to the characters, and emotionally invested in the outcomes of the plot.

This story was sad and angering at times, and though this is a Sci-fi post-apocalyptic story, there are so many things that are recognizable in today's society. I really enjoyed this novel and I would recommend this to fans of apocalyptic stories, soft sci-fi, and weird stories.

The Short Version: An insightful look into a not too far-fetched future of earth. A book that digs deep into the materialism of our modern world and what really matters when you get down to it. A sneaky good title that creeps up and starts rooting around your emotional junkpile when you least expect it

The Long Version: I got to listen to the audiobook ARC of this title thanks to NetGalley and _______

I’ll be honest this was definitely a book I was only interested in by the cover at first. It seemed so cartoony and when I read the description I figured it to be a lighthearted romp of speculative fiction. In listening to it, it was that, but it was also so much more. The story is cheeky and quirky, but it is also very serious in the issues it discusses.

The story follows Tetley (odd name I know, and the naming ritual of people in this future is a ridiculous delight). Tetley and everyone she knows lives in Garbage Town, a large floating island of garbage in the middle of the seas which have risen and swallowed up all the dry land. Tetley is the most hated girl in all of Garbage Town (whether or not that’s fair is for you to decide as she recounts her tale). Tetley recounts the events of her life at various stages, with the narrative taking sizable time jumps between each section. It serves as a retrospect of her entire life (up to about middle age) as viewed through her accumulated knowledge at a few distinct checkpoints in her story.

Considering the time we live in, with climate change at the forefront of the public consciousness on a fairly regular basis, this book is very timely, and its take on where life might go in the aftermath, might be a bit odd, but it doesn’t seem to be unfathomable either. It’s a scary look at what may be coming our way. This makes the concept for the book, wholly engrossing and engaging.

One of the greatest strengths of this story is Tetley. She’s wise, but also snarky and thoroughly enjoyable to follow through her Garbage Town life. Her narration of her story is exuberant and the narrative is dripping with life through every chapter. She unironically recounts the oddities of garbage town as if they are normal, because well to her they are. In this there is a quite a bit of humor. Her character voice is by far the biggest selling point of this book.

The world building is on point as well, I could almost smell the dank stench of a garbage island as I listened and I could almost feel the dirt caked on my skin. The author continuously fleshes out the world through every chapter and at no point does it feel overdone or like she’s insisting on her points. Garbage town is a fully realized eco system and the intricacies of it are deftly woven into a captivating setting.

But here’s where things get a bit trickier. Pacing is a bit of a concern in this story. The author does a nice job weaving anecdotes from the past along with the present moment, but the second part of the book feels like it meanders a bit in order to explore the larger themes of want and need and human existence. I stayed interested in the story the whole way through, but there were moments where I was waiting for something to happen, waiting for a bit of action. The book sometimes seems a little lost between being a plotted story and being a character study where nothing much happens. It wasn’t detrimental to the experience on the whole, just felt like the story could have been even more elevated with a couple tweaks. I will say that the last quarter of the book is utterly heartbreaking and quite poignant. Somewhere around that point, the plot/pacing get back in step and it wraps up nicely, even if it’s not a full blown happy ending. There’s a big surprise or two in there also.

The writing itself is always on point, the dialogue fits Tetley at each stage in her life, and the slang of these Garbage People seems to fit their circumstances. The prose flows nicely and while the book examines some pretty heady topics, the writing never feels heavy, it’s very sneaky in how it offers up its introspection.

The narrator was solid and enjoyable, she had a very effective emotional delivery to Tetley’s words and he voices were differentiated, never running into one another. She didn’t stand out as one of the best voice actors I’ve encountered but she did no harm to the book and made the work enjoyable.

Overall a solid 4 all around. It’s equal parts hopeful and depressing, and very insightful as it pokes and prods at modern life and the wants and needs of the garbage people who comprise this big blue planet.

Component Ratings
Concept/Idea: 4.5 out of 5
Protagonist: 5 out of 5
Antagonists: 3 out of 5
Supporting Characters: 4 out of 5
Character development: 4 out of 5
Plot: 3.5 out of 5
Pacing: 3.5 out of 5
Prose: 4.5 out of 5
Dialogue: 4.5 out of 5
Narrator’s performance: 4 out of 5
Ending: 4 out of 5

First, a disclaimer: I received this audiobook in advance of publication in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own opinions. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book.

First, I will note that I have never read the “The Future is Blue”. I have no idea how this novella differs from that short story. This reading was my first entrance into this world. And what a wonderful world it was! Generations ago, the world flooded except for a few floating settlements. Tetley has grown up in Garbagetown, one of these settlements. The writing reads a bit like YA at point because of the hope and optimism that Tetley expresses, but it is juxtaposed with really unsettling circumstances that would be traumatic to anyone who knew a better world could exist. It took me just a bit to get accustomed to this setting and the colorful language that Valente uses, but overall, this was a great story. I am a little confused at how a post-apocalyptic novella that takes place in a land made entirely of garbage can also be a hopeful and beautiful story about human connections. But it is both of these things. This story is wonderful, creative, dark, beautiful, and funny. I listened to it on audio and I enjoyed the narrator as well. It is not a long book and I definitely recommend it.

CAWPILE Score: 65
Star Rating: 5
Pages: 160
Read on Audiobook

Cat Valente does it again. A vicious and crude, but somehow still gentle and hopeful look at ourselves. This book gets into my head and I think it's going to stay. Lots to think about regarding our planet, our humanity, and our garbage. She wrecks me in the best possible ways.

Set in the dystopian near future, after a climate disaster drowns the whole world and wiped out ‘the fuckwits’ (that’s us btw). Three Generations later, all that remains of civilization is Garbagetown adrift in the Pacific.

We follow the life of Tetley Abednego, a young girl who loves Garbagetown just as much as it hates her. Following an incident she becomes “the most hated person in Garbagetown” and everyone else, by law can punish her for dooming humanity, though she’s convinced she’s saved them.

This novella was completely bizarre, and that was what I loved about it, you just need to accept the weirdness… like being sensually read a dinner menu or that she has a pet seal named Big Bargains, or even that they praise Oscar (the Grouch) as their garbage god. (Amen.)

The storyline was definitely nonlinear and shifted pretty fluidly between past and present.

If you enjoy ecological sci-fi like Borne or Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer I think you would enjoy a lot of aspects of this. It also reminded me at times of Station Eleven and Remote Control.

A couple audiobook specific things I noticed. As someone who can sit through most audiobooks at 2.5x speed I had trouble speeding it up at all, and even at just 1x speed I found it took a few minutes to acclimate myself to the narrator and had to rewind a few parts. Once I did I felt she did a wonderful job not just with Tetley but with distinct voices for the few other characters.

I love Tetley as character and the prose were as smart and strange as her, I thought she was characterized so perfectly with such small and interesting details. The world building was also done wonderfully, in such thoughtful chunks, it was able to build such a rich world in such a small amount of time. (it is only about 5 hours, or 150ish pages)

It left me feeling both depressed, as you might expect for the apocalypse, but also strangely hopeful about our fuckwit world.

This book was a breath of fresh air (no pun intended)! The story is told through the perspective of Tetley Abednego during two periods of her life in Garbagetown. The first part is an updated version of Valente’s short story “The Future is Blue” while the second continues Tetley’s story as an adult. Tetley’s charming and optimistic narrative voice gives this post apocalyptic world an almost magical quality that enchants the reader without covering up the bleak reality of it. The delicate balance between clever, hopeful, and heart wrenching is what sets this book apart.

Garbagetown is a giant island of trash left floating after melting polar ice caps flooded the world. Once the humans that escaped the floods on “misery boats” realized it could be inhabited, the trash was sorted into districts and new towns were formed. Most of the book focuses on characterizing the different areas of Garbagetown and its inhabitants and it is a unique world to explore. Though foreign, this world of trash has an eerie familiarity to it that speaks volumes without ever needing to be explained. Tetley’s criticisms of *us* are echoed in all that Garbagetown is, yet her love and enthusiasm for what *we* left behind is uplifting and warm. The reader comes to rely on this optimism so much that the brilliant moments where the cracks in Tetley’s armor show are both jarring and powerful.

This book starts off feeling a little episodic, but many of the pieces come together in big ways towards the end. It is a rare piece that can inspire a lot of good thinking and discussion yet remains accessible for those looking for a more casual read. That being said, this is probably not the book for those looking for a lot of action and/or adventure. I experienced this story as an audiobook and feel that the narrator does a wonderful job bringing out Tetley’s unique voice. Whether you are experiencing it for the first time or are looking to read it again, it is well worth a listen.

I am a f**ckwit, but hey, so are you. Or at least, that's the term applied to people of the past- the ones that ruined the Earth so that there is no habitable land. If swearing bothers you, then stay far away from this one. But if you want to read about hard truths in the form of lyrically and beautifully written fiction, then pick this one up.

I LOVED Valente's "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making." Valente's writing style is magical in that every word written feels intentional and every scene matters.

"The Past is Red" is short- in audiobook form, it is 5 hours long. The world as we know it is gone, and Tetley is a resident of Garbagetown, a floating community based off the Pacific Garbage Patch. The residents hate it there, all except Tetley who finds happiness and hope in a life filled with trash.

I am not a Tetley- I am often pessimistic about the future of the environment and I see myself in some of the angry residents of Garbagetown. This gem of a book gives us a different perspective- yes, the world as we know it is changing. Yes, we are likely beyond saving the planet in its current state. But it is important not to give up. It is important to be honest and face the truth of where we are at. And it is important to appreciate what we have and to do our best to protect the future.

It took me a while to get into the audiobook form of the book, but the woven timelines and conclusion make this book a re-readable 5-star story.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for an audio ARC of this book. Narration by Penelope Rawlins was also fabulous!

Wow. I laughed and I teared up several times as I followed Tetley through this strange and beautiful post-natural disaster world (caused by humans and their stupidy, of course). Can I just start this over again because I am not ready to leave Garbagetown yet!

Fun, and engaging audiobook! It caught me by surprise at first. I thought it was a YA novel, but it was much darker and the language a little coarser than I expected. After a little while I caught on to the cadence of the performance and was really enjoying this post-apocalyptic tale based on the trash island floating in the Pacific.

However, it seemed to end abruptly at the end of Part 2, Chapter 20, and while more chapters were listed, they would not play. I'll be looking for the ebook when it releases.

Audio ARC provided thanks to NetGalley

In this near-ish future dystopia Tetley Abednego lives in Garbagetown, an island floating across the now-drowned Earth. While most inhabitants spend their lives seeking more, Tetley sees nothing but hope and beauty amongst the trash that the historical Fuckwits left behind. 🌊

I loved everything about this audiobook. The world building is mind-blowingly creative and the characters were all so unique. The narrator had a thick Scottish accent which made terms like "Muder Cunt" sound just THAT much better - I think her narration added so much enjoyment to the story.

Tetley's positivity and humor despite being in terrible situations was contagious. The author injected so much joy, hope, and hilarity into such a bleak tale. Thought-provoking and meaningful, I think all of us Fuckwits need to give this novella a read. 😊

I gave this book 5 stars on my Goodreads. Many thanks to @netgalley for providing me with a digital copy in exchange for my honest review

I LOVED the narrator. I felt like I was sitting at a cozy cafe with some tea listening to her tell a story. The story was the greatest for me. It wasn't completely terrible, but maybe just not what I was expecting. I had so many questions at the end that never got answered.