At this point I will read anything by this author. We Speak Through the Mountain is a riveting followup to the dystopian sci-fi novella The Annual Migration of Clouds. In this novella, we follow Reid as she travels to the supposedly utopian university she has been accepted into. But while they have medication to stop the semi-sentient fungus slowly taking over her body, and resources for anything they might need, she is facing the fact that they stay locked away. Never helping the outside world, never seeing the suffering that people outside their borders experience. And Reid has difficult to choices to make. It's beautifully written and I couldn't put it down. It also feels very timely. I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

So so so so SO good, but ohmygosh these cliffhangers are slaying me. <i>Minor</i> spoilers for the first book to follow:

In this sequel to the *wonderful* (and, I fear, under-read) The Annual Migration of Clouds, we pick up right where that novella left off, with our MC Reid headed out into the post-apocalyptic wilds in hopes of attending this university? to which she's been accepted. The self-styled universities, if they're what they claim to be, are the descendants of the rich and privileged who hid themselves in secret domes and hoarded resources while the rest of the world went out in not-with-a-bang-but-a-whimper style. Their locations are still kept super-secret, and it's clear from the invitation Reid received that the inhabitants of the domes are living in an absurdly different era when it comes to technology. If they were so happy to wall themselves off, why do they accept a very few student applicants from "out there" (implied shudder) every year?

Lots of mysteries afoot. This 2nd installment answers some and raises more. Cannot WAIT for the next one!

Thanks to ECW Press and Netgalley! I was grateful to receive a digital ARC but honestly, as soon as I finished The Annual Migration of Clouds, there was no chance I wasn't reading We Speak Through the Mountain. My views are my own.

This is my second book by Premee Mohamed, and it is every bit as dense and devastating as The Butcher of the Forest was, but with its' own unique qualities. I had not read the previous story that connects to this one, but I was still able to jump right into this story and world and not feel any sense of loss or confusion. I loved being dropped into the world in the middle of the action, getting pieces of the world in fragments, and seeing the scope of Reid's journey as it unfolded without any preconceptions.

This is a world after devastation. Dealing with an infection that has a scope no one truly knows, but is devastating in every sense of the word. But there is this beacon of hope in the form of the domed city that is Howse. Where those from outside the dome are invited to come and learn, with the possibility of taking back knowledge to their towns to help them deal with the climate disasters plaguing the world.

But, as with many things that seem too good to be true, Howse is more than it seems. Those who live there hide more than they share with those they carefully select to let in. Reid, torn between her ties to family and friends back on the outside, has to decide what she is willing to risk to try and make life better for herself and those she loves.

This is a great followup to <b>The Annual Migration of Clouds</b> which feels spiritually similar but is very much its own thing. Mohamed's prose is gorgeous as usual and I continue to be fascinated by the worldbuilding in this series.

There are some biting cultural critiques in here, and like most of my favorite books, there's a few different interpretations of it. At its most basic, this book is a critique on class divides and privilege, but given the context of a pandemic of sorts, it's hard not to look broader than that. I personally felt like it had a lot to say about the way developed countries treat developing ones - from refusing to give out medicines and treatments that are widely available here but in desperate need elsewhere, or letting in a few refugees as a service while thousands more die on the journey. The alienation Reid feels upon arrival to this supposed utopia and the casual cruelty of those around felt super realistic. Reid's voice is fiery and this story managed to be thematically rich without feeling didactic.

This is 4 stars and not 5 because it sort of lost me at the ending. It becomes more action-packed and faster paced and I thought the inclusion of <spoiler>mind control</spoiler> was over-the-top and unnecessary. The ultimate conclusion leaves room for more in the series and I'll gladly pick the next one up, but I wasn't the biggest fan of the last few pages of this one.

I'd still highly recommend this book to anyone who liked the first one, and I'd recommend The Annual Migration of Clouds to anyone who wants to give Mohamed's novellas a try.

<i>Thank you to ECW Press and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a review</i>

We Speak Through the Mountains is the sequel to The Annual Migration of Clouds. In this story Reid is travelling to Howse University. Unfortunately she got a very bad infection from the pig bite and becomes a little delirious. The Howse University spots her through her tracker and pick her up nonetheless.

Reid isn't sure what to think of the university. It seems like an utopia. But all she sees are resources and cures that the people outside of the dome could use. These aren't being shared however. The history of things are apparently also off limits. This tickles Reid the wrong way.

I loved following along Reids story, even more in this installment. Meeting the other students, and especially her roommate. There is a clear cultural difference between those who come from outside the dome and those that grew up in the dome. The students are mixed which shows their differences even more.

The dome has a lot of privileges compared to those outside it. They have electricity, they have processed food, they have something that holds off CAD. It has to feel incredibly unfair to those that come from outside of the dome. Yet they aren't allowed to share anything with the people they left behind.

The people in the dome aren't evil. They are still working towards things, things that are meant to improve the world again. But they have been living too long in their own little bubble, and can't see outside of that. They keep working further when the people outside of the dome need help now.

It is a really interesting story and the ending clearly suggests that there will be at least one more. I hope that there will be more than just one more as there is a lot left to discover in this world and with these characters.

I really liked the writing in the first novella in this series and was excited to see that Reid's story would continue. And it picks up pretty much where the first book left off. I would not recommend reading this without reading The Annual Migration of Clouds first. Reid is struggling through the mountains to find access to the university that has promised her admittance. Once she gets there, she goes through the difficult process of navigating a different culture.

This feels like a book that was written during COVID. The natives of the university tend to stay isolated. They eat alone in their rooms, watch shows "together" but in different rooms, and look down their noses on the students who have come from the outside.

Reid sees the seductiveness of a place that has plenty of food, clothing, buildings, all the resources that her home lacks and she is not drawn in. Instead, she is enraged that the university people, who have a treatment that keeps her Cad fungus infestation in remission, don't go out into the wider world to share any of their resource, technology or knowledge with the people who are forced to live, sick, in that environment and who are slowing dying out. In fact, many of the university student natives have the notion that the people suffering on the outside could live just like they do if they tried harder- this feels like a familiar argument.

Reid discovers more than the university wants to teach her. I just wasn't really sure about the point of this book other than Reid's feelings. The plot was miniscule. Maybe it was about the seductiveness of comfort? Reid ends the book much as she ended the previous one, about to go on the road. This novella feels very much like the middle of a book more than a complete work on its own. At the same time, it feels like the author hit the themes she wanted but didn't expand them in enough depth. I would like to see what happens to Reid next because it sure seems like there's going to be another book here. But this novella didn't grab me as much as the last one.

The sequel to The Annual Migration of Clouds is even more stunning than the first.

Having battled through hell -and putting all her faith in the chance that it truly exists- Reid has finally made it to Howse... only it both is and isn't the utopia she always imagined.

Not gonna lie, the descriptions of this world and the environment she has to adapt to greatly reminded me of the 2005 film The Island. Monochromatic clothing in which everyone looks the same, high technology, isolation from the rest of a post-apocalyptic world, and a sense of fragility and atrophy that comes from being so overly protected from the outside are all present and accounted for.

But what most engaged me was the dichotomy between the more Capitalistic mindset of the haves and the more Socialist mindset of the have-nots; the way that the two butt heads because the core of their knowledge is so greatly different from one another that they're having completely parallel conversations. Without agreeing on the truths of the fundamentals, how can they ever convey their arguments and see eye to eye?

Based on that ending I imagine that this will not be the last in the series-- there is more of Reid's story still to be told. But I really loved this one and can't wait to read the next installment.

This novella picks up where the last left off, with Reid arriving at Howse university, but the question of why Howse is inviting outsiders in still needs to be answered. I loved how this book delved into isolationism and in a climate crisis what societal values are and are not utopian. I enjoyed learning a little more about CAD in this novella, but I hope the series continues because I certainly have more questions about this world.

For lovers of the 2010s YA dystopian books, these novellas are for you! We Speak Through the Mountain is the sequel to Premee Mohammed's series. For being a novella and so short it doesn't feel like it- it seems to cover as much as a 500 page back.

Review exchanged for ARC on net galley.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- a solid continuation to the first book of the "series."

Returning to a world that centers Canada in a post-collapse climate novel (post-post-apocalypse is the term these days, right?), Mohamed adds so much more to this future she's envisioned. If anything, I could have done with an even longer story, expanding on the question: if the people with solutions to climate crises don't share what they have, what does that say about all of us?

(Posted to Goodreads as well)

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!

First of all, this cover is so gorgeous. And second, this book was so good, I liked it even more than The Annual Migration of Clouds.

This book follows Reid as she makes her way to Howse University, and her time there as a student. I particularly loved seeing how Reid navigated this new setting, seeing the dynamics between her and the new characters, and the politics of the university itself. Reid’s roommate, Clementine, was incredible. I wish she were my friend, irl.

The kids, like Reid and Clementine, that come from the outer cities have a hard time adjusting to university life, after living surrounded by their communities.The kids who grew up at Howse prefer to eat in their rooms alone, to watch media synced together in their own rooms, and to send messages, rather than speak in-person. As Clementine puts it “Wanting to be alone all the time is some serial killer shit.” Reid notices that people from Howse don’t like talking about the past, which makes it difficult for her to adjust, as her past and the past of her people is always on her mind, and is one of the primary reasons she came to the university.

I really liked the message of the importance of collective power, which was also a big part of The Annual Migration of Clouds. I really hope this series continues!

This was an interesting story. I haven’t read the novella connected to it. Maybe if I had, this follow-up would make more sense or have a greater impact. The writing style was great to read. I really enjoyed it, but it just felt like there was something missing from it. Again, I’m sure reading the connected novella would fix that. It was still a good story though.

I received an early e-copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I loved the first book in this series, and this was a fantastic follow-up! The world-building is great, and I love the whole concept. The fungus infection is really interesting and I liked how the author made this disease different from other fungus related post-apocalyptic worlds (the way the fungus tries to protect the host and can even control them is very different from anything else I've ever read).
Reid is a fabulous character and I loved the journey she went through in this book. She is suddenly thrust into a new world where they have medicine and technology, and seeing how she copes with these changes is very interesting.
I love this authors writing style! She really makes you care for (and root for) the characters, and her descriptive prose is lovely.
I hope the author continues this series. I would definitely like to read more about Reid's adventures :)

What I love most about Premee Mohamed’s work is the beautiful writing, interiority, and emotions. WE SPEAK THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN highlights themes of a dying world, and within it, the unequal access of information and its censorship. There is a focus a community that reaches only for the future while suppressing the past. Mohamed explores the idea of how it is a privilege to unsee, unfeel, unhear violence and disaster, to bask in comfort and forget there had ever been pain, of wanting change but not having the power to make it happen. And raises the question: Does comfort, safety, stability, make us weak?

Yet, the novella offers the hope that small scale change, starting first at the individual level, eventually builds—ripples becoming waves. That even in darkest moments, there are those who show us hope and compassion, and those are the ones we desperately hold onto, hoping that this is the difference we are looking for, that these are the people who can help change the world. At its core, the story is suggesting that humans are made for community and sometimes a helping hand can go a long way. We cannot do everything alone.

A bleak yet hopeful story that will be sure to rekindle hope in those who might be feeling powerless.

The description of this book really intrigued me, enough that I grabbed a copy of the first book, The Annual Migration of Clouds, and read it first. The world is a post-environmental collapse with groups of people living in fairly self-contained communities with a return to a more subsistence-level of living. There is also a new disease that appears to be some mix of parasite and fungus that affects a significant part of the population. In the first book, our main character, Reid, lives in one such community, has the disease, and gets offered a place at a university, which supposedly has much more modern conveniences. That book ends with Reid heading off to the university, a trek into the wilderness.

This novella picks up right where the previous book leaves off, in the wilds heading to the university. Once there, Reid benefits from the education, better equipped society, and new friends. But she is angry at what her family and community at home must suffer when the university has so much. This book is about Reid's time at the university, pushing boundaries, exploring inequity.

While this book is understandable on its own, it is better after reading the first. You get a better feel for Reid's strong feelings of inequality. The book ends in a way that leads you to want the next one in the series. Wish that was was ready to read now, because I want to know what happens next.

We Speak Through the Mountain is a great follow up to the Annual Migration of Clouds. This picks up with Reid traveling through the mountains to make it to Howse University. I would describe this as a climate dystopian series with examinations of the collective vs the individual. I assume based on the ending that there will be a book 3, which I will definitely be on the look out for.

Thank you to ECW Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

ECW was kind enough to pass along the next volume of this, and YES. That fun feeling of realizing you don’t quite fit in in the place you’ve been building up in your head, further rage at how university communities treat the people around them, and oh also that there’s maybe kinda something super sinister going on too. We leave again in a bit of a cliffhanger, and I’m unsure if it’s continuing, but if it does, I’m so in.

We Speak Through the Mountain picks up from where its predecessor, The Annual Migration of Clouds, left us. Our protagonist, Reid Graham, is travelling across the post-apocalyptic wastes to reach the fabled Howse University and the promise of a cure for the disease growing inside of her.

This book will not be to the taste of everyone. It isn’t a novella to read for its plot or even its characters. Instead this is an introspective and reflective tale.

I found this a contemplative read but couldn’t help feeling that the central act of the book is missing – we head straight from the introduction into the denouement. Perhaps that’s a reflection of my own reading tastes – I tend to prefer longer books to novellas.

Readers who enjoyed the author’s first book will doubtless find much to admire here.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers, ECW Press, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

We Speak Through the Mountain by Premee Mohamed is a post-apocalypse novella where Reid, a teenager, goes on a journey through the mountains in Canada to Howse University, where she finds survivors and a system that isn’t helping other communities who need it.

Like with everything I’ve read by Premee Mohamed, I was instantly captured by the writing. Atmosphere, voice, social critique, it all shines through with laser precision while being compelling and artfully crafted. I was instantly captivated by Reid’s voice and how she is navigating this new environment that takes care of the students who arrive to study but refuse to extend any assistance to the cities that are struggling.

Cad, a disease that wiped out most of life on Earth and resides in most remaining people, appears to be dormant in Reid but is still impacting her loved ones. The reflection of real world healthcare issues, concerns regarding our future if we continue on the path of selfishness and not helping each other, and how easy it is to turn away from those who really need help even if you know it’s wrong are fully on display.

I would recommend this to fans of dystopia, readers looking for explorations of lack of healthcare and assistance in a not too distant future, and fans of Premee Mohamed.