Yume Kitasei’s Saltcrop is a quiet storm—gathering slowly, steadily, until it hits. Set in a haunting, dystopian future where oceans have swallowed the land and agriculture is balanced on the edge of collapse, the novel imagines a world where crops fail and new diseases can be fatal. But what truly elevates this story is not just its eerie vision of the future—it's the sisterly bond.

Skipper, Carmen, and Nora are three sisters with a relationship that ebbs and flows like the tides. When Nora—the eldest and a brilliant scientist—goes missing, Carmen and Skipper set out on a sweeping journey across land and sea to find her. What follows is not only a physical quest, but an emotional reflection. Kitasei's choice to weave in perspectives from all three sisters adds to the story.

The atmospheric tension is thick, and the drowned world Kitasei creates is both strange and beautiful. Saltcrop is epic, and it will haunt you long after the last page.

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Deeply felt, well-written and unputdownable, SALTCROP is a fantastic read. Equal parts ecological thriller and intimate portrait of a family. Seaspray and corporate treachery, a beloved boat named Bumblebee, all the ways family accidentally defines us. Fantastic.

Kitasei has something to say about capitalism and climate change - in both this and “The Deep Sky” there is a clear message! The message has been different both times but it’s been there.

As someone with a glut of siblings, I loved this exploration of the depth and strength of sibling bonds. Even when the sisters didn’t understand each other or, really, like each other, there was a deep love and a commitment to do absolutely insane things for each other. That these insane things were happening while in a world where capitalism has driven economic and environmental disaster seems almost background.

A lot of heart (and a little body horror)!