Reading this over the anniversary of the Fukashima earthquake was a sobering moment and having been to the West Coast of America and seen the 'Tsunami escape routes' marked on the highway the read felt very real. Having also experienced a couple of small earth tremors added to the multisensory experience of some of this book.
The idea of Annie having to walk home whilst heavily pregnant was a great way to allow her to reminisce and give the reader her backstory explaining how she ended up where she did and was a nice way to switch between the disaster and the past.

I'm not sure that I fully warmed to Annie, and her lack of self worth keeping her with her very selfish husband really annoyed me but I think that a 37 week pregnant woman surviving the disaster should be cut some slack. My heart was in my mouth for great chunks of the book and the real-time unfolding of the day worked well. The ending was a little obvious but I can't imagine how it could have been any different,

Annie is heavily pregnant and shopping in Ikea when an earthquake hits Portland. It’s the Big One, wreaking destruction on the city’s infrastructure. With phone networks down, she sets off across the city to find her husband.

Tilt is based on a potential Cascadia megaquake hitting the west coast of the USA, and Annie’s trek across the city showcases many of the predicted outcomes of such an earthquake hitting the city of Portland. 

That she is very pregnant adds extra difficulty. Pregnant people don’t just disappear when disaster strikes, and she does her best despite the aches and the sore feet, and the bump getting in the way. It’s only over the period of a single day, so we don’t really find out who is OK afterwards. This is more about the immediate emotional response to surviving rather than what happens when grief sets in. There are small moments of guilt, but Annie’s choices for herself and her child are all understandable.

The narrative is often second-person with Annie addressing her unborn child. She reminisces over her life with the baby’s father, how they got together, how they both had dreams of making it in theatre. Her as a playwright, him as an actor. We all know how that story goes, but while Annie does the responsible thing and gets a steady job with healthcare, he gets to carry on chasing his dream. Annie has put her life aside again and again for him.

I enjoyed the parts about the earthquake and Annie’s quest more than the flashbacks. I felt she gave up so much for Bean’s father, who seemed ungrateful, and she is full of regret. In reality, so few people make it in the arts, that it made his perseverance selfish. I can see this being made into a film though, the backstory definitely made me think of La La Land.

I think the difference between the UK and US covers is interesting. The US have a bird, and we get a dishevelled looking racoon. I think Annie's character has much more of the scrappy raccoon about it than the small bird. It's been through a lot but it's carrying on, trotting through a concrete wasteland.

Quite a remarkable story told in a frank and engaging manner from the start. Annie finds herself at nine months pregnant in IKEA as a massive earthquake hits. The story that follows is a conversation directed at her unborn baby interspersed with stories from before the quake about her relationships with her mother and her husband. Only the morning of the quake Annie had been wondering if her marriage has run its course, but in the aftermath she goes to superhuman lengths to find him and reunite her family. Very movingly told.

I enjoyed this book, set over one day in Portland where a long expected earthquake happens. Heavily pregnant Annie is shopping for a cot for the her (very) soon to arrive baby when the moment happens, and she is forced to walk across the city in the aftermath in order to make it home. Throughout the book, there are flashbacks which tell the story of Annie’s relationship with her husband and father of her baby, which isn’t the most stable. I read this book really quickly, the prose flows well and the story moves at a good pace. The book serves as a stark reminder of how fragile life and civilisation is, and how quickly things break down in a disaster. The ending is quite abrupt and open ended, there are a lot of unanswered questions and the tone of the ending is quite ambiguous. This was a great read and is definitely worth picking up.

SYNOPSIS
Annie is 9 months pregnant and shopping for a crib in IKEA when THE BIG ONE hits – the long-anticipated Cascadia Earthquake and within minutes the East Coast of America is completely dismantled. Annie walks out of the warehouse and into what feels like a warzone. She must find her husband, despite only hours earlier contemplating whether their relationship had run out of road. Tilt is a terrifying story of what happens when the foundations we build our lives upon are suddenly gone without warning, what we are capable of in situations of survival, and what remains of our humanity when civilization breaks down.

MY THOUGHTS
This was 'Earthquake' meets 'Nightbitch' and I loved it. 240 pages of guilty pleasure and I will not apologise for shirking all responsibilities whilst I devoured this. In fact, I might just read it again RIGHT NOW because did I just read what I just read? This was propulsive and portentous and gave me palpitations. It’s a one sitting read because you will not be able to put it down. I am obsessed with this, this is my new obsession. Read it and weep, and you will weep because its surprisingly emotional - tear jerker, gut puncher!

I have to say a massive thank you to HarperCollins UK, Harper Fiction and the author for allowing me to read an advance copy of this via NetGalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. It’s an absolute five star banger!

Ooh I loved this book so much

I really enjoyed this book, which is the story of Annie who is nine months old pregnant and shopping for a cot for the baby in IKEA in Portland USA when the long anticipated east Coast of America earthquake happens
From the start I enjoyed the way there difficulties of late pregnancy were described for example when she is searching for the cot and getting more and more hot and flustered eventually seeing red and falling out with the IKEA sales women. This felt entirely real.
Once the earthquake happens, we’re into great disaster movie country we know what to expect there’s a journey and difficulties to face along the way. This is a great example of this genre of novel. I love the way that the pregnancy influences her decisions throughout the novel

What elevates the novel beyond a simple disaster journey story is the background story of Annie’s husband and their life. this is revealed to us as flashbacks from the main day of the earthquake. We learn about their relationship and its difficulties and its firm grounds the novel in reality.
As the working wife of a jobbing actor, I can personally thoroughly understand the emotions that her husband’s desire for a career on the stage to the exception of everything else rises in her .
The antenatal class description of labour pain not being a pain but a sensation made me snort with laughter

The author has a snappy fun easy to read writing style I very much enjoyed reading this novel. I read it in one setting and really couldn’t put it down.

I loved the fact that the author had taken her research seriously and tells us in her notes that she had gone for a three month bike ride at 39 weeks pregnant to make sure it was possible. they talk of Birthing a book ! this is fabulous
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good disaster novel particularly one where there is strong and well defined character development throughout . Although although not typically a dystopian novel there are some similarities with this genre and I think if you are a fan of that dystopian fiction, then you would enjoy this novel
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is published in the UK on the 4th of March 2025 by Harper Collins UK, Harper fiction.
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads, StoryGraph, and my book blog bionicSarahS books.wordpress.com . After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK.

thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review! <3

’At the end of the world, the men with the guns make the rules. We’ve known this forever’

Tilt is a short but entertaining read, exploring motherhood at the end of the world.

Annie is 37 weeks pregnant and at IKEA when an earthquake strikes. Living in Portland, Oregon, this is a very real worry America needs to address, as the city rests on a subducting tectonic plate. I think, in part, that’s what makes this so terrifying. In a matter of moments a major American city and much of the US East Cost could be completely destroyed, and there is no way for us to predict when. Pattee takes this horrifying eventuality and exacerbates it, by following a woman on the brink of giving birth, an also, horrifying eventuality. It’s a clever idea.

Fortunately, it is also executed pretty damn well. Tilt is simply written but incredibly engaging, with short concise ‘chapters’ and consistent flashbacks throughout the main timeline to keep you not only entertained, but to make Annie just that more real. I I loved her character, loved her humour and her glass half empty approach to life. I’m always a massive fan of cynical characters, and Annie’s drive to find her husband based on her pure annoyance at him was hilarious.

My favourite part of the book by far, however, had nothing to do with the earthquake or Annie’s pregnancy at all. It was her relationship with her mother, who in so many ways reminds me of my own. There was a section towards the end of the book that had me in absolute pieces, and I loved the commentary on grief. Really stellar stuff.

My main issue is that I wish the book had had more of a resolution at its conclusion. The ending was incredibly abrupt, and I had so many unanswered questions about the people Annie met along the way. I understand that ‘less is more’ can be a powerful tool when it comes to endings, but I did feel a little deflated at the sheer amount of loose ends.

Overall, however, Tilt gets 4/5 stars. A really great debut!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Annie is 37 weeks pregnant, 35 years old, and finally about to buy the crib she should have bought ages ago when the long-awaited Cascadia Earthquake shakes everything up—literally!

“𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦.”

I loved this book! Emma Pattee takes us on a wild ride through a world turned upside down and brilliantly captures the raw chaos of a massive earthquake hitting a city, making it both terrifying & oddly humorous. Annie’s journey to find her husband, whom she’s been pushing away, is relatable & poignant.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘱, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬.”

As someone with a keen interest in natural disasters, I found the pacing utterly captivating and each chapter thrilling yet grounded in reality. The humour woven throughout was a delightful surprise, making the story feel both light-hearted and profound.

“𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦.”

Personally I wasn’t a fan of the ending: while I appreciated the “less is more” approach, I did find myself wanting a bit more resolution.

“𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯.”

Overall, Tilt is an engaging read that will have you laughing, crying, and pondering what it means to stand firm when everything is in flux. Grab a copy and enjoy the ride! 4.5 stars rounded up for Netgalley.

Thank you Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for this Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review. 🙏🏽

I really enjoyed reading this and I ended up reading it all in one day. I needed to know what happened. Tilt is so much more than a post earthquake survival story. Yes it follows Annie’s journey after the earthquake, but you see lots of flash backs of Annie’s life which I enjoyed. They were well done and didn’t make the plot confusing in any way. Tilt is a lot more powerful than I expected with motherhood and not just in becoming a mother but also losing your mother. Very emotional seeing the strength of how far mothers will go to ensure the safety of their child. Think this book will stick with me for quite some time.

So very good. Unbelievable that this is a debut. The kind of book where everything and nothing is happening. The detail, the emotion, the sense of loss.

Wow! Thanks Netgalley for helping me discover this fantastic writer.

#Netgalley #Gifted

Happy publication day to this beaut. An astonishing literary debut; I couldn’t believe this was her first book! My nerves were absolutely shot reading this, major natural disasters terrify me, but it’s such a propulsive story, I couldn’t put it down.

Set over a dramatic 24 hour period, we meet Annie, 37 weeks pregnant, stuck in a bit of a marital rut, and anxious about the future. She drives to IKEA and is buying a crib when a massive earthquake hits, destroying all around her. The rest of the book follows her attempts to get downtown to find her husband.

This almost feels dystopian at times as we witness the new world through her eyes, and as she narrates her thoughts to Bean, her unborn child.

Along the way she sees the best and worst of humanity, meanwhile, we get to know Annie better through flashbacks to the past, all leading up to this fateful day.

This is a short 240 pages but boy, does it pack a punch. Suspenseful and shocking, but also poignant and hopeful, this is an incredible read that I hope gets lots of attention. I can’t wait to read whatever Pattee writes next.

With many thanks @netgalley @harpercollinsire @harpercollinsuk for my early copy. Tilt is available to buy now. All opinions are my own, as always.

One of those novels where everything and nothing happens all at the same time, this is so much more than a typical dystopian thriller. Clearly thoughtfully researched, and artfully crafted, the careful balance between the before and after narratives beautifully build the reader's empathy both for Annie, and the fellow Portland inhabitants experiencing the unthinkable,. The result is a genuinely page-turning plot set against the background of an ordinary city going about its ordinary lives until its normality is literally shaken to its core. Stunning read.

I devoured this book and was cranky that life got in the way of reading it! This is a near-future novel set in a single day when Annie’s home town is hit by a city-destroying earthquake. But Annie is 39 weeks pregnant and just wanted to pick up the crib she needs from IKEA. What the book becomes is almost a walking meditation as Annie navigates both the earthquake itself and her and Bean’s place in the world. A fabulous read. Loved it.

Tilt is a fantastic novel following a pregnant woman as she navigates the aftermath of an earthquake. This is easily my favorite character driven novel, and I need a million more books from Pattee. The dual timeline created a phenomenal atmosphere with the earthquaked altered world and the general unhappiness of a normal day.

I cannot recommend this book enough, and I will be starting a book club just to talk about it with friends.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Disasters really bring the best and worst in humanity and this book touched me in a way I didn’t expect. I inhaled it in one sitting and just couldn’t turn away from what was happening on the page.

It is unbelievable to me this is Emma Pattee’s debut - the writing was witty and engrossing, but the story is heartbreaking. I could relate a lot to Annie - from growing up in poverty, conflicting feeling about artistic potential and your life trajectory, the fear of pregnancy - I felt she was a complex, fleshed out character. The characters she meet on her way - their individual stories broke my heart again and again.
I wish there was one more chapter at the end - a more concrete resolution - but I think I know what that would have been.
I hope, hope, hope everyone reads this when it comes out this March.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for providing a complimentary digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

The ghoul in me requested ‘Tilt’ because I wanted to read about a pregnant woman surviving an earthquake in Portland and how she was going to make it across a city in the aftermath, whilst heavily pregnant.
And so the book did not disappoint my ghoulish curiosity.

However, once a couple of chapters in, I kept thinking, where’s the bigger story? I know, I know, what’s bigger than the ‘Big One’ PSW earthquake hitting when you’re heavily pregnant in an Ikea in Portland??
But the ‘message’ behind it. And I think that the message might just have been, ‘life is tough - survive it’.
Through the flashbacks, as told to Annie’s unborn baby (bean) about her and her husband’s Dom’s life, we see an average couple. Started off with huge aspirations of fame, wealth and success, but ended up in the reality of waiting, hoping and crippling financial instability. Annie is scared and unhappy being pregnant. Her marriage was founded on a need for Healthcare Insurance benefit. Her mother died at the very start of the COVID pandemic. And everything she wants/needs, is always just out of reach.
So the story of most people’s lives then.

Peppered throughout the narrative as she makes her way through the shattered city are plenty of themes about ‘the human condition’, both modern and from time immemorial. Selfishness, fear, mistrust, greed, death, family. And then the fleeting glimpses of the zeitgeist - imagining how she would make this event into an Instagram story and how this would one day make a great after dinner story; suggestions of conspiracy theories; the American healthcare system; being priced out of desirable neighbourhoods; fear of men; murderous teens running amok…

I was utterly hooked from start to finish. I was waiting for a satisfying ending. But the events take place over the course of one day. It takes Annie almost the whole day to almost reach home on foot. And the day, and Annie’s journey finishes just shy of her home. I won’t add more so as not to include too great a spoiler. But I wanted the story to continue.

I am very grateful to have read Tilt as an Arc (thanks to the publishers and Netgalley) but the formatting made it so that the end of the book ran directly into the author’s notes, leaving me with a momentary confusion! I didn’t get my satisfactory ending but I was only left wanting because I didn’t want the book to end

Absolutely loved this! It’s only short, so has a quick read time, but boy did it pack the punches. It’s very difficult to write engaging books which span such a short period of time, and requires real skill, but Emma pulled this off beautifully. Emotional and moving, my sense of walking alongside the main character, Annie, grew with every step, until by the end, my own memories of labour were brought right to the fore. Visceral…. This was never going to be a book with a happy ending, or, I should say a neatly resolved ending, given the setting and circumstances, and in truth I think I would have been disappointed if it had. It would have certainly distracted from the overall power of the narrative. Many thanks to the author and publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

I raced through this in a day. I would like to say it was because it was so gripping and pacy, but I think it was because it was pretty short and I kept reading on expecting something to happen, which it does...kind of.

Tilt follows a day in the life of Annie, a heavily pregnant woman spending her first day on maternity leave buying a crib in Ikea when a major earthquake hits and she has to traverse the ruined city to find her husband. We also get some background on Annie's relationships with herself, her husband and her late mother. It's a great premise that, for me, didn't quite deliver, but I wonder if that's because we are all used to disaster movies where something crazy is happening at all times? In some ways, maybe the story told here is more truthful? There doesn't seem to be any real moments of suspense, just a long walk home with incidents a plenty but Annie seems numb to them and intent on getting to her husband (which again may be more a realist scenario). Maybe the numbness is a reflection of her life so far that started off with premise but fizzled as life took over?

Although it didn't quite hit the heights for me, I still enjoyed the story. There was a real moment of tenderness between Annie and two other women at the school, and I quite liked the abrupt open-ended ending. I am not sure how the story could have gone any further from that point.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

A perfect thriller/survival novel. Immediately I was hooked, Annie was a fantastic character to base this story on. As a fellow Portlander myself, I knew exactly what Pattee was describing. Growing up we were told about the great earthquake that was overdue, given earthquakes drills in school and warned about the aftershocks. She writes with such palpable fear in Annie that I could feel it through the book. I was right there with her, through the broken streets and houses. I loved the writing and the split timelines. I tore through this in one sitting, addictive!

The writing was as if the main character was speaking to her unborn child. It's set over the course of the day, on the first day of her maternity leave. It doesn't take long to realise her and her partner have money issues, regrets and not being happy with what they have and maybe with the earthquake and the aftermath - that day, that they should perhaps be happy.I think I was expecting more from this book, more emotions to be felt, a bit more of a powerful story, I felt something was missing.