Severance Review

This book has been on my TBR for this year since the start of the year and as we are nearing the end of 2024, I decided it was finally time. Perhaps, the fact I did not check the novel summary before reading it influenced my experience reading it, as I was not in the mood for the post apocalyptic novel where the end of the world has been caused by a disease. Fair or not, I did not enjoy this novel at all, as I found it rather dull and uninspiring, leaving a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, it was another case of a somewhat interesting idea done not so well.

The main character and the narrator is a young woman of Chinese heritage, Candace Chen, living in New York city. The narration is split between the now where the world has already ended and the past. In the new, Candace joins a group of survivors, who are all led by Bob as they try to make it to ‘The Facility’, scavenging for what they need along the way while her past is showing her mostly dull daily routines until the two timelines converge.
This approach normally works well for me, as I join the narratives that inevitably lead to a certain outcome that the author has already outlined for the reader. Sometimes, the issue is in the fact that one part is so much more interesting and exciting than the other, which I was afraid would happen here. However, something even worse happened. Both timelines were equally not interesting. I don’t mind slower narratives and I don’t need to have survivor action on every page of the current timelines, but in that case, something else needs to be offered. Instead, there is no depth in any of the characters that are literally surviving the end of the world. There is some mention of religion through the character of their leader and that’s about it. The descriptions of the abandoned cities somehow always ended up talking about cars piled up and not much more. Unfortunately, Candace before the end of the world was dull and uninspiring and she remains that way until the end of the novel. 

There is also not much to say about the plot, it is focused on one woman that attempts to survive in the post apocalyptic world. The fact that she is of Chinese origin and works in a company that publishes books (Candace specifically works in the department that produces different types of Bibles) with labor outsourced to China plays somewhat of a role in the novel. This most likely serves an author’s commentary, but if so, it’s hamfisted so awkwardly into the narratives that I am struggling to take it seriously.

The author also is constantly bringing up brands, especially luxury skin care brands, throughout the novel, akin to ‘American Psycho’. But while Bret Easton Ellis’ criticism of capitalism and over consumerism smacks you in the face, I could not tell you what Ling Ma was trying to achieve in this novel with these inclusions. This in combination with the fact Candace’s company does employ under paid labor in China and Hong Kong does make me believe Ling Ma was trying to say something about the current world affairs, but again, it was lacking any kind of direction.

Finally, the topic I want to touch upon is that of motherhood. This will contain some spoilers, so proceed with caution.

In the summary of the novel, it is mentioned that Candace has a secret. Before discovering what it was, I thought Ling Ma would go the route of ‘it’s a zombie apocalypse, the main character’s love interest got bit by a zombie and didn’t tell anyone’, as the illness in the novel is spread in this way and the infected behave like zombies in many ways. I did appreciate this was ot the case and that the secret was that Candace was pregnant with her boyfriend who she broke up with because he wanted to leave New York. In combination with that, Candace thinks a lot about her mother who has passed away after fighting dementia. Their relationship is complicated and perhaps the best part of the novel. However, with this topic, I have the same issue as with all others. The author introduces so many themes in the novel and then doesn’t know what to do with them. Candace’s feelings about being pregnant as well as any organization or technical issues she would have  by being pregnant in an apocalypse are not explored enough and again I was left wanting so much more from this perspective as well.

Finally, the ending was rushed and unfinished. It felt like the author wrote herself into a corner and just wrote a sort of happy ending for Candace and her future baby. Nothing was truly resolved, no questions that would inevitably be raised in these situations were raised by the author and therefore no answers were given. The book was a meandering, purposeless and directionless piece of fiction that left me with the worst feeling I can have after reading a book- this was a good idea, but so poorly executed.

⅕