
Member Reviews

This story was post apocalyptic climate change done well in a sci/fi setting that had me glued from start to finish.
The characters were all well fleshed out and the time travel aspect was woven smoothly to add depth to the story as a whole.
Thankyou to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this book.

Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for this ARC.
I enjoyed the premise of the book, that the whole Earth is a frozen wasteland where people can't survive unless they have the proper gear. How Thea and her family came to possess thermal skin that could change the world was fascinating. The appearance of the ant eaters, which could bring devastation to the community, added an intriguing element. The community has rules that everyone must abide by, or they will face death or other consequences.
There were some points where I was confused, such as when the change started and how long it took for it to really be a wasteland. Also, I was unclear on how they can astral project to another place and invite other people with their second skin. Since I thought this was only science fiction, I still enjoyed the book despite these uncertainties.
We see everything mainly from Brick's point of view and how he changes over time after meeting Thea. I don't know exactly how much time has passed in the book, but it's at least a month—probably more. Some parts of the story felt slow to read.
Additionally, I didn't like the big boss lady (I don't remember her name).

William Kaufmann wrote this perfectly and was glad I got to read this. I really enjoyed reading this book, it had that post-apocalyptic element that I was looking for. It uses the elements perfectly and made me believe in the characters and their world. It uses the climate failure element perfectly and was glad it told the story it did. I was engaged from the first page and was hooked to finish this.

Climate post-apocalypses offer various scenarios for the survival-minded, this one throws up a big bunker, defending itself from a savage outside world. We join with some new people trying to find this society - "The Community" hidden in the mountain, and its quite clear that the survival of said Community relies on being very picky. You have to offer them something to get in - the low bar is genetic diversity. Our viewpoint character is Brick, who interrogates those who come in, and it becomes quite clear that the Community is no Utopia, and may be worse than some of the seemingly more feral groups out in the world. This we see through Thea's eyes, the outsider that brings in her family, that seem to be covered in a self-healing, self-warming extra dermal layer, which is the beginning of the crisis.
I thought The Change had a decent set-up but started to fall apart for me in the middle. There are plenty of incidents, and the evil within is built up well, but it all ends up with too much going on and the stakes elevating beyond just the survival of the protagonists. There's also a little too much mismatched science and mysticism; I could take the second skin but wasn't so sure about the "mindscape space" that its wearers seem to be able to astrally project to. It feels like the setup to a longer series that I will probably not be onboard for, though if the idea of post-apocalyptic adventure appeals then it is worth giving a go.

4.5 stars rounded up- This was an epic and entertaining science fiction. I feel this is heavily underrated or overlooked. I really enjoyed this post-apocalyptic world of harsh wintry survival and broken territories where people live in underground shelters, relics of old technology. The characters are very captivating, the alliances and betrayals are surprising, and the new technology that is introduced through the gates is just the tip of the iceberg of technological potential. There’s even a spiritual element to the science which I found really poetic and human. I loved witnessing the characters explore their moralities of corrupt systems, and discover new truths and emotions that challenge the status quo. The strategic battleground of politics, beliefs and laws in an environment controlled solely by one cold-blooded woman and her AI that oversees everything creates constant tension to the very end. Throughout, I was thrilled, engaged, and touched by the heartfelt moments. Where I got lost was perhaps a bit towards the end where there are interactions between the other cultures. There was some repetition of movement back and forth from the community, where I would have perhaps really loved some more enticing reveals from a very different setting. A big crescendo! I understand the point was to wrap-up the story within the community but I felt something was missing. And there were just so many characters in the community, it was a bit hard to distinguish between them, eg. Emmett and Arthur, Riva and Ruth.. it may help to have more descriptions of the characters and have them have their personalities voiced sufficiently to anchor them in the story. Otherwise, what a brilliant find, I’m so glad I came across this and I highly recommend!