Sarah Blake

"In a near-future world where tree pollen has made outdoor air unbreathable, a woman's safe but tedious life is thrown into turmoil when she witnesses a murder and her young daughter starts sleep-talking about the killer"--

Clean Air

“An amazing blend of page-turning mystery, important commentary about environmental destruction, and poignant portraiture of maternal love. Sarah Blake is a poet, and it shows in her economical prose, distilled insights, and wonderfully disturbing imagery.” —ANGIE KIM, author of Miracle Creek The climate apocalypse has come and gone, and in the end it wasn’t the temperature climbing or the waters rising. It was the trees. The world became overgrown, creating enough pollen to render the air unbreathable. In the decade since the event known as the Turning, humanity has rebuilt, and Izabel has gotten used to the airtight domes that now contain her life. She raises her young daughter, Cami, and attempts to make peace with her mother’s death. She tries hard to be satisfied with this safe, prosperous new world, but instead she just feels stuck. And then the peace of her town is shattered. Someone starts slashing through the domes at night, exposing people to the deadly pollen—a serial killer. Almost simultaneously, Cami begins sleep-talking, having whole conversations about the murders that she doesn’t remember after she wakes. Izabel becomes fixated on the killer, on both tracking him down and understanding him. What could compel someone to take so many lives after years dedicated to sheer survival, with humanity finally flourishing again? Suspenseful and startling, but also written with a wry, observant humor, Clean Air is the second novel from poet Sarah Blake, author of the award-winning literary debut Naamah. It will appeal to readers of The Need, The Leftovers, and Fever Dream as it probes motherhood, grief, control, and choice.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and physical arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Clean Air

Author: Sarah Blake

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 4/5

Recommended For...: sci-fi, thriller, mystery, dystopian, cli-fi

Publication Date: February 8, 2022

Genre: Sci-Fi Thriller

Recommended Age: 17+ (COVID, death, sickness, murder, grief, parental death, climate disaster)

Explanation of CWs: The book discusses events like COVID as a historical event, but also shows sickness and climate disaster. The book is also a murder mystery thriller book, so death and parental death are included as well as murder and grief.

Publisher: Algonquin Books

Pages: 306

Synopsis: The climate apocalypse has come and gone, and in the end it wasn’t the temperature climbing or the waters rising. It was the trees. The world became overgrown, creating enough pollen to render the air unbreathable.

In the decade since the event known as the Turning, humanity has rebuilt, and Izabel has gotten used to the airtight domes that now contain her life. She raises her young daughter, Cami, and attempts to make peace with her mother’s death. She tries hard to be satisfied with this safe, prosperous new world, but instead she just feels stuck.

And then the peace of her town is shattered. Someone starts slashing through the domes at night, exposing people to the deadly pollen—a serial killer. Almost simultaneously, Cami begins sleep-talking, having whole conversations about the murders that she doesn’t remember after she wakes. Izabel becomes fixated on the killer, on both tracking him down and understanding him. What could compel someone to take so many lives after years dedicated to sheer survival, with humanity finally flourishing again?

Review: For the most part I really liked this book. It was an interesting concept and it kept me turning the pages to find out what would happen next. The story is a great sci-fi dystopian novel. I loved seeing COVID as a historical even and I loved seeing how the author envisioned the future world. The world building was very well done in that regard and I also liked the character development for the most part.

However, I had issues figuring out where the plot was going at some spots. It felt like it would go one way and then didn’t. I felt like the book was a bit muddled in places and it felt like it was trying to hard, but overall I enjoyed it. 

Verdict: It was a well done thriller!


Clean Air

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