Palm Meridian is set during the near future in a retirement resort near Orlando, FL. The amusement parks have fallen into disrepair, and the power grid is suspect, but Cheetos and alcohol survive for the women in this community. Hannah, a successful business woman had great success in designing heating and cooling systems. She is diagnosed with terminal cancer and plans her assisted death--but first she plans a party. The novel details Hannah's relationships and career. Although Hannah is facing death, the story is full of laughs and fun, and some heartbreak. Highly recommended for discussion groups who enjoy Florida novels.

3.5, but rounded up for a great debut novel. Obviously I wasn't the only one that grabbed it right away. According to the interwebs there was a “hard-fought” three-way auction over the course of Frankfurt Book Fair.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC so boilerplate, "I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own." This is the first time I've requested a book with a limited reading time (1 week) and I think it's a great idea. Otherwise it would have gone to the back of my TBR and be #409 or whatever.

Okay on to the review:
Set in Florida, 2062, Palm Meridian Retirement Resort is a residence for queer women living out their twilight years. Climate collapse has taken its toll and the southern part of the state is gone. Hannah has received a terminal diagnosis. It's now legal to choose to die and Hannah's made that decision, so the night before--party time!

The end-of-the-world scenes aren't really a factor here. I was thinking it might be similar to [book:A Better World|176443112] where the resort was walled off and competition was tough to enter, but no. Really, all the effects of the unstable grid and wonky transportation could also happen during a winter snowstorm.

And speaking of snow, I loved the Montreal setting. I was there in September and loved it! When they speak of Hannah's mother working in the building as the train station I could picture it.

My husband's dream job!
<img src="https://cdn.ebaumsworld.com/thumbs/2023/12/21/033136/87489076/zamboni.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="zamboni driver"/>

I'm not quite sure of the differences between an egret and heron, but I sure wouldn't pick either up as a character did. I kept picturing Alice in Wonderland playing croquet with an ostrich!
<img src="https://a-z-animals.com/media/2021/08/Egret-vs-Heron-1200x627-1.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="egret vs herons"/>