REVIEW: "The Line Between" by Tosca Lee
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.
I am not built for the apocalypse.
I lack many, Many, MANY of the essential skills I suspect I would need were the world ending.
I’m not physically fit.
I’m not brave.
I’m not good at going without.
I’m not capable of gathering food — unless by “gathering” you mean putting it in the shopping cart.
I can’t build a fire.
And I’m still pretty frightened of the dark.
Basically, I’mma be one of the first to check out when the end days come.
This is probably one of the many reasons I am so scared of zombies — because I truly believe that the world will end not with an asteroid strike or a cataclysmic natural disaster as a result of our continually ignoring the manifestations of climate change but instead with a swarm of the shambling undead moseying their way into the cities and eating the brains of the living.
As I prepare to attend a zombie bar-crawl this weekend — one of those seasonal scare-the-shit-out-of-you-why-did-I-let-you-talk-me-into-this events — I’ve been thinking even more than I usually would about how the world is going to end.
And I’ve become even more resolute in my belief that, as much as I would like to, I simply don’t think I’ll have the wherewithal to withstand the rigors of the end days.
And I think this is probably because I have never really struggled.
So perhaps that’s why Wynter, the protagonist of The Line Between by Tosca Lee, is so supremely suited to successfully navigate the failing world.
Because she has gone without — in ways that most of us could never even imagine.
Though Wynter Roth was born into the world we all know, she wasn’t raised there.
When she was just seven, her mother — fleeing from Wynter’s abusive father — joined New Earth, a cult that promised — like most cult’s do — absolution and a ticket to heaven.
The price to join New Earth was steep.
Not only did you have to leave behind — or, in this case, donate to New Earth — all of your worldly possessions, you also had to adhere to a strict moral code and subsist on a diet free of meat, dairy, and grain.
Though Wynter wanted to be a good citizen of New Earth — and, for most of her time there, honestly believed that the only way to get into heaven was to live by the testaments written by their leader, Mangus Theisen — she always struggled to do so.
So it likely came as a surprise to no one when, at 22 years of age, she committed a sin so significant that she was expelled from the cult.
Fortunately, Wynter has someone to turn to in the outside world. Someone willing to help acclimate her to a society that she has absolutely no idea how to live in. Her mother’s friend, Julie, not only gives Wynter a place to live but also essentially mothers her, doing her best to rapidly teach Wynter the life lessons she would have learned naturally had she grown up outside of the walls of New Earth.
But Wynter is just getting her feet under her when disaster strikes.
An illness, which induces rapid-onset dementia, hits the country.
And it spreads.
Fast.
Now Wynter finds herself trying to survive in a world in which she doesn’t even know how to live.
Then, complicating matters significantly, important research falls into Wynter’s lap.
Research that could hold the promise of a cure for this terrible illness.
Suddenly, it’s not just Wynter’s own survival at stake, but the survival of millions who are vulnerable to this insidious illness.
As packed with potential as the plot summary of this novel sounded, I can tell you that the novel itself was even more intense.
With unexpected twists and turns throughout, it jostled me around — in the best kind of way.
Through judicious and effective use of flashback, Lee kept me rapt, turning the pages as fast as my paper-cut fingers would allow, eager to uncover the secrets of Wynter’s past and discover what the future had in store for her — and, for the rest of mankind, for that matter.
The primary reason this novel was so effective was that it was loaded with characters you couldn’t help but root for.
Wynter, a perfectly imperfect protagonist who has never really had a place where she felt legitimately at home, naturally induces readers to think about a time when they themselves have felt like they don’t belong.
Like they aren’t good enough.
Like they aren’t wanted.
A fish-out-of-water-and-into-an-unexpectedly-inhospitable-world, her struggles are incredibly intense and incredibly realistic, making it easy to get attached to her.
Another character who was particularly strong — and to whom I found myself unexpectedly drawn — was Chase, a man who, after meeting Wynter by chance, becomes her partner in saving the world.
The thing about Chase is, he is not my type.
Like, at all.
He's a rugged, bad-ass former marine who feels bound by duty and by chivalry to help.
I am really more into the scrawny, British, brooding nerd types, who make you feel like shit for the majority of your time together before ultimately admitting that they have been ardently pining for you in secret for months.
But there was something about Chase.
His charisma.
His confidence.
His character.
That makes him the perfect probably-the-end-of-the-world-but-hopefully-not companion.
Ultimately, Lee was incredibly successful in building a rich, robust, and realistic world and filling it with characters that will capture readers’ hearts and induce them to really care about the outcome of the imposing battle for survival in which they are engaged.
Try as I might — and ya’ll know how nit-picky I can get — I couldn’t find fault with this apocalypse-themed thriller.
It’s an absolute must-read that easily earns 5 out of 5 cocktails.
Run, don’t walk, to get your copy of this one — or, you know, stay in your PJs and order it from Amazon <shuffle>.
I love a good apocalypse book. After I read the sequel to this novel, A Single Light, I think I will dive in to Mike Chen’s upcoming apocalypse release, A Begining At the End. But I doubt that will be enough world-ending-lit for me. What is your favorite end-of-the-world book? Tell me about it in the comments, below.
Let’s see… What should I read next? Subscribe to my blog updates in the sidebar on the right and follow me on Goodreads to find out what I pick.
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