Expiration Day Book Review

Throughout the ages, humans have been fascinated by the end of the world and what it looks like for the human race. Many famous authors created careers off this question. Expiration Day creates a unique story using these age-old concepts. The choice of Tania for protagonist is ingenious. Readers feel both her innocence, putting into question the morality of the events that occur, and maturity, in taking what she’s been dealt in stride. Her independence, cleverness, and cognition drive the plot along. That plot hits bursts of action and gentle lulls throughout the story, letting the reader catch their breath once in a while. From the beginning, all the content flips on its head over and over again. The conclusion unravels the entire foundations of the world the story is built in, sending a tidal wave of emotions through the reader. The journal structure of the story allows for suspense to build in certain places and foreshadowing in others. Unlike most stories, the format is essential to the piece, something I appreciate. The italicized text breaks the piece into manageable chunks while adding another layer of depth to the story line. Overall, an ingenious, well thought out novel.

“So I am your Zog, and I will learn about you, Tania Deeley, coy and precocious as I perceive you to be. // ...I came the long way, through normal space, though it has taken millennia. // My kind has time.”

Recommended for anyone who was terrified to dissect themselves, then did it anyway.

-Grace Nask