This is my second Leif Enger book and his writing strikes me as so sincere in a time of such contrivance.
The plot of choosing to keep living in the face of natural disaster, personal loss, government corruption, corporate greed, and overall societal depression is uncomfortably relevant and beautifully hopeful.

In "I Cheerfully Refuse," the world has gone to hell in a handbasket. It's the future. Climate is wild, people are handing on to tiny scraps of normalcy, although it's been so long since things were normal that the ideas are skewed. Most people are illiterate, living like it's the 18th century instead of whatever century it is. Rainey and Lark live on the edge of Lake Superior in a settlement where she runs a bookstore of volumes she has scrounged or traded. Rainey plays the bass in a popular band which brings most of the population together on Saturday nights. A scroungy young man appears with a few books to trade, including a book Lark has been looking for for decades, a novel by a mysterious author called "I Cheerfully Refuse." The young man becomes part of their lives until a strange bookbuyer comes to town and Rainey finds himself in a boat looking for refuge in other settlements. He has to survive the weather, these eerie leftover towns, and stay away from large ships that scoop people up to use for experiments.

This is a drear dystopian novel where people have just given up. It's also my first Leif Enger novel, and I really fell for his wholehearted characters. He's created a setting that is so sad, yet there are still people who can seize bits of joy. I never doubted that I would finish "I Cheerfully Refuse". but at times it wasn't easy. Fortunately, Rainey if a lovely character, a bear of a guy with a big heart, humor and courage. Watching him navigate this new world with just his wits and decency is a lesson learned.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital review copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

Leif Enger is one of those rare authors who is able to bring me to tears. I honestly don't have many words apart from to say that I Cheerfully Refuse is an essential, timely, and life-affirming beacon of joy, hope, and stubborn refusal to give into despair. Lark, Rainey, Evelyn, Girard, and Sol became family as I read, wept, and hoped with them. Enger's Peace Like a River is my favorite novel of all time, I Cheerfully Refuse sits nicely on my bookshelf beside it.

Leif Enger's latest novel, I Cheerfully Refuse, is a beautifully written tale of Rainy, a weathered man in a dystopian future who, after a personal tragedy, sets sail on Lake Superior in search of his wife's spirit. This novel reminded me in many ways of Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven, but Enger's writing was far more poetic, lyrical, and masterful.

I struggled a bit with the pacing after the main tragedy occurred, and Enger delved into the chapters detailing Rainy's life on Lake Superior as he bounced from harbor town to harbor town. Lake Superior, indeed, was its own character through Enger's crafty words, but the lake's relentless storms and mystery wore on me until the part in the novel where Rainy met the young girl, Sol. After Sol was introduced, then the action of this novel took off, and the greater urgency of this story held my attention as I blitzed through to the end.

I have read all of Enger's novels, and although Peace Like A River remains my favorite of his works, this new tale is a close second.

Many thanks to Grove Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book.

4.25 stars

I loved this book. Leif Enger knows the Midwest well, and his characters evoked all of the idiosyncrasies of that part of our nation. The “near future” setting was done well, with many veiled references to how it could be today. This novel is about a journey in many ways. The prison boat was an interesting concept and a divisive one. I could have read the main character’s journey for another whole book.

I really enjoyed this story. The writing was beautiful and conversational in the best way. I was gripped by the narrative. Though I read some of the ebook itself, I did listen to the last three quarters of the book as an audiobook when it was released a few weeks ago. I really enjoyed the narrator’s voice, and highly recommend it. I myself from very picky about narrators. He did an excellent job and fit the first-person narration perfectly. I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher, but all the opinions here are my own.

Some fascinating stuff here. Really creative. It's being called sci-fi or dytopian, the latter of which might work. I'm not sure that magical realism doesn't do it better justice. The world Enger narrates is enchanted, and that's part of what draws me to his writing. The world is also deeply not-right, and encounters with evil feature in most of his work too.

I'm particularly fascinated by "Willow," the drug that people are using to end their lives. With MAID in Canada, we are not far off from such a reality. It's a grim reality of our our making, which is set in relief by the power, beauty, and danger of the natural world that Rainy encounters as he sails across Lake Superior.

I live in the land of Leif Enger, so automatically requested this title as I knew there would be local interest. I did not realize all of the subjects this would be, including distopia, fantasy and literary fiction. Ultimately, I think Enger is a good writer but this was absolutely not for me. I am also not sure if fans of Peace Like a River will enjoy it. I guess I would advise caution if you are just reading it as a fan of the author.

This is a wonderful book that will stay with you a long time after you finish it. You can't help loving the main characters. They are sympathetic and relatable. The story grabs you. This is my favorite Lief Enger book. The writing is just beautiful. Thank you Grove Atlantic and Net Galley for giving me an advanced copy.

I CHEERFULLY REFUSE by Leif Enger has a beautiful, eye-catching cover which reflects the many layers involved in this latest story from an award-winning author (Peace Like a River and Virgil Wander). The story centers on Rainy (the narrator) and his wife Lark who live on Lake Superior in a post-apocalyptic society compared by another reviewer to The Road or Station Eleven. Lark, however, sounds like someone we would all want to know – she gets excited about old books, including mysteries and "the complete McGee." Plus, Rainy says, "Chancing a single glance at her green eyes, I got an impression of curiosity and wit and maybe a little mockery zipping around back there like fireflies." Their new boarder, Kellan, attracts some dangerous people and Rainy eventually departs in a sailboat, travelling amongst the local islands in search of an inner peace. Enger deftly explores grief, loneliness, and the restorative power of kindness and nature’s beauty. His writing is so amazing: "The lake was dark and flat. It was a blackboard to the end of sight, and any story might be written on its surface." I CHEERFULLY REFUSE received a starred review from Publishers Weekly ("This captivating narrative brims with hope."). Kirkus references its "staggeringly tough times" and "spirit of whimsy that keeps hope flickering even in times of darkest despair."

This was a really beautiful, tragic dystopian story. I will be thinking of Rainy and Sol for a very long time.
Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC.

Thanks, Grove Atlantic | Grove Press, for the early review copy via NetGalley. (Available NOW)

There’s “the characters felt real to me,” and then there’s “I lost sleep worrying about these FICTIONAL PEOPLE!!”

Rainey is a quiet, loving bear of a man who is content to love his wife and play decent bass guitar while bumbling through life. Yes, things are far from perfect. This is a dystopian tale, after all. In this near-future tale, Centuries-dead bodies in Victorian garb are floating up from the floor of Lake Superior, resources are scarce, roadways and highways are nearly impassable, the latest president is illiterate, books are borderline treacherous, and a comet threatens to pass by Earth causing who-knows-what disruption.

But in all this, Rainey sees the joy. He sees the squash vines growing up through pavement cracks, the potential in wild-eyed fugitives. He hands the rudder to those who claim to know how to steer and tactfully sends them to other duties when they can’t tell right from left. He comes to the aid of children and animals. When presented with the option, Rainey can’t NOT help.

“I CHEERFULLY REFUSE is the tale of a bereaved and pursued musician embarking under sail on a sentient Lake Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved, bookselling wife.” The story was unnerving at times and hopeful at others, but the foreboding and worry kept me up at night. Good-hearted but hapless, Rainey kept getting himself into impossible situations, menaced by terrible people. And yet there were everyday angels, giving him a heaping side of peanut butter when he could only afford dry toast or helping him to escape and evade various nefarious baddies. The story is a testament to the goodness of humans and a warning of their potential evil.

This one sounded SO interesting, and this genre can be hit or miss for me. I gave it a try but ultimately it wasn't for me. However--the writing was fantastic. I just spent a lot of time totally confused. Which was likely what the author was going for, but it just didn't work for me. I can definitely see why others loved it so much though!

Peace Like a River is a book I cherish (and have actually reread - very unusual for me!) so I was both eager to read I Cheerfully Refuse and afraid of being disappointed. Though the two books are very different, this one definitely did not disappoint. There were many things to love about I Cheerfully Refuse. The characters are singular and compelling (including the all-encompassing "character" of Lake Superior). The world imagined here has aspects of the dystopia we fear in the wake of climate change, division, and other global horrors, but light and community have also kept a foothold (or emerged). The plot, with its touches of magical realism, kept me engaged. Best of all, not surprisingly, is the writing. Each sentence is finely wrought and the ideas are woven together with infinite storytelling skill.

An earnest, bittersweet entry into the post-apocalypse genre. I haven't read Leif Enger's other novels (Peace Like a River has been on my to-read list for a while) but I enjoyed this enough to seek out his other work.

The new Lief Enger was a weird one for me. I really liked it – it has major Station Eleven vibes – but it got weird! Basically we are plopped right down in the middle of the story, decades after some sort of climate disaster decimated society as we know it. Rainy, our hero, is married to Lark and Lark is a lover of all things literature. She’s built up this sort of library/bookstore and the whole first part was so lovely and good. And then stuff happens, of course! And Rainy is set off on this perilous journey that takes him away from the life he had known and plummets him into a world of danger. 3.75 stars for this one!

A tender post-apocalyptic tale, with a very literary style. Enger's strength is in his characters, although he's guilty of perhaps overworking some of his minor characters. Rainy's story is bittersweet, and Enger creates an emotional journey through heartbreak, grief and hope. I enjoyed large parts of this novel: it had me feeling joyful and angry in all the right places. My main gripe in the tonal shift in the final third of the book. i wish the story had come to it's conclusion in a different way. The climactic events felt out of place compared to the rest of Rainy's journey, straying into more cliched post-apocalyptic territory. Overall, a recommended read.

I loved this book. It gives the same feeling as Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy. There were countless quotes that I will wish to reread over and over. Will definitely be recommending this frequently. Very well done. 4.5/5 stars rounding up to 5.

If anything, I Cheerfully Refuse is first and foremost, an exhibition of penmanship, and a story second. Leif Enger’s writing flowed with complexity and enthusiasm, which helped paint a vivid and lively American scenery detached from its semi-dystopian reality. In her kindhearted and, might I say, bimbo protagonist Rainy’s point of view, nature is not only abundant but also very much alive. Here, instead of a rushing tone, Rainy observed his surroundings with a mix of tenderness, worry, and appreciation, despite the harsh conditions of his voyage and the threats that prompted it.

Yet again, Lief Enger brings readers into the company of a kind and peace-seeking central character, the type of person you come to know so well in the story that feel a loss when the book ends. This time, that character is a man named Rainy who, like Odysseus, sails on a boat to make his way back to his wife (at least spiritually) after bad times. Along the way, he confronts the most vicious forms of evil, rescues a child, and of course, like every leading character in an Enger book, makes lots of good friends while modestly demonstrating that good wins out in the end. His quest is both dangerous and romantic, making this a fast and fascinating read.