I did not get around to reading this book prior to it’s publication date and it has since been archived therefore I cannot leave a review at this time.

An adventure fiction slash dystopian genre hybrid - I found it absorbing, quite brutal in some places and relaxing in others.

The booker-shortlisted debut by Diane Cook follows in the footsteps of her earlier collection of short-stories Man vs Nature with its focus on the human devastation of the environment.
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In Cook's novel we are transported to 'the last wilderness', a vast expanse of land unpopulated by humans and home to animals and wildlife at a time where cities are without trees and natural life.
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The book focuses on the lives of 'the community' a small group of people taking part in an experiment to see whether humans can live in the wilderness without causing a negative impact.
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In particular we focus on Bea who volunteered for the experiment to save the life of her young daughter Agnes, who suffered from extreme asthma, brought on by inhospitable conditions in the city.
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At first it is fascinating to watch humans return to basic instincts; hunting, camping, surviving. It's wonderful to live amongst nature through their eyes, and to see the characters adapt and develop in their new setting.
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But The New Wilderness is all the more powerful with the realisation that this sanctuary will not survive forever, and that the blame for its demise lies solely with humanity.
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A starkly entertaining read with a powerful message and a worthy Booker Prize nominee.

Survival in the wild.
I really enjoyed this book and it's quite a wrench coming away from it and back to real life. I was listening to the audio version, narrated by Stacey Glemboski, who did a fabulous job.

Life in The City has become a struggle; the pollution and lack of medical care is causing children to die and there seems no way to save them. Bea and Glen are concerned for Agnes, Bea's daughter. The only hope of helping her appears to be to join a party of twenty who are invited to enter The Wilderness State as part of an experimental project. They hope the cleaner air and more basic way of life will be enough to save her.
It's a tough life and a sharp learning curve. They have to keep moving, making zero impact on the land and carrying all their rubbish with them until they can dispose of it at a check-in point.

I thought the author managed to strike the perfect balance between descriptions of the survival life and the interactions between the members of the group. I loved how Agnes grew up with such a profound understanding of her surroundings and became better than many of the adults at tracking and responding to the behaviour of the animals around her. I also noticed a very brief mention of a shortage of sand for building in the city, something that seems to be making scary news recently.

I have just today heard that this book has made it to the finals of this year's Booker prize and I'm kind of surprised, as I don't normally enjoy the Booker nominations, especially the finals list. Of course, I'm now rooting for it to win.
Highly recommended, especially in audio.

I wish I could review this title but the audiobook app isn't working! Luckily I bought it on audible and it was a wonderful experience. Recommended to fans of Where The Crawdads Sing and Station 11. A moving, beautifully narrated story and a love letter to the environment and motherhood. 10/10 would recommend.

This is definitely a 2020 favourite for me!

After living through a global pandemic where nature seemed to step up and take a front seat in the vacuum of human activity this feels like such a timely novel.

Set in a not too distant future where the city is polluted and poisonous for children Bea and Agnes set out with a group of 20 volunteers to live in the wilderness state. A state where they are part of a research project, guarded and harried by rangers. A place where they must learn to survive and leave no trace.

It’s also a story of a complex relationship between a mother and her daughter. Saving Agnes’ life may also mean having to let go. In this novel we learn that human love is as precarious as the ecological balance of our world.

What was fascinating was the amount of research on survival that has gone into the book. I loved the way Agnes understood her world through her experiences of watching animals, particularly the deer. As if they made more sense to her than the humans.

I loved the book of fables that gets read so much then falls apart and told from memory. I wonder what stories I would carry with me to tell over and over. What would change in the constant retelling?

Captivating and exhilaratingly believable, it is definitely a book I would buy copies of for friends!

I listened to the audiobook via netgalley and the narration was perfectly paced. The characters voices were distinct without being over dramatised. I loved listening to this book and was so sad when it ended.

This would definitely make my Booker Prize Shortlist. Fingers crossed 🤞🏻

The only thing I knew before starting this audiobook was that this novel is longlisted for the Booker prize. Most of the times I read books I did some research on so I know if it's something up my alley. I didn't do that with this book, so I was suprised I enjoyed this book so much.

I enjoyed the complicated mother-daughter relationship and the other conncections between the side characters. The story kept me on te edge of my seat throughout the whole book. It's well written and narrated, I wanted to keep listening.

It's quite a dark book in some place with some diffcult theme's, but it fits perfectly in this story and is well done.

The narrator did an amazing job. Perfect pace and intonation, fit this novel very well.