This is not a badly written book. The form is good, and it stands up. It breathes quite well.

Two main characters, a heterosexual couple, exist in a post-apocalyptic America that quickly turns into a kind of [b:Lord of the Flies|7624|Lord of the Flies|William Golding|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327869409s/7624.jpg|2766512]-cum-[b:Oryx and Crake|46756|Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam Trilogy, #1)|Margaret Atwood|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327896599s/46756.jpg|3143431] universe, propelled by a brother, whose terrorism is a little interesting.

Sadly, I felt the book continually tried to impress, rather than move and join, the reader. Getting to where they are, socioeconomically, is never really explained, more contrived:

At the time, Frida imagined herself describing the moment. Maybe to an old friend or to her mother. Or online, as she used to do until their last year in L.A., before electricity became too expensive, before the Internet became a privilege for the very few. She had once kept a diligent online record of her life; she’d had a blog since she’d been able to write. Her brain couldn’t just let that habit go, and in her head she said, There I was, naked, my hair falling over my shoulders. But he didn’t care! He had become immune to my nakedness. The phrase was so silly, so melodramatic. Immune to my nakedness. But it was true. Cal wasn’t looking. And all at once she understood: no one was looking.

Things are supposed to feel natural, but the dialogue is forced:

She kept her eyes on the shovel. “How deep do you need to go?” He shrugged. “Deep enough.” She rolled her eyes. She hated when he offered vague, poetic answers to her questions. “Sorry.” “I didn’t get my period,” she said. Why had she just blurted it out like that? He looked at her carefully for a moment, as if willing himself to recognize her. “How late?” “Too late. Thirteen days. You know I’m always on time.”

And oh, how sad we are:

Like his wife, Bo wore a gold band on his left ring finger. So they’d been out here awhile, Frida thought, long before the world really went to shit. Hilda and Dada had given Frida their rings as a wedding present, but she and Cal had sold them not long after.

I heard people talk of how the book was great at ending wonderfully. I don't really think it did. Sadly, the best thing about this book, to me, is the cover. Otherwise: please read something else, like the mentioned books, or just don't.