This book takes place in a post-apocalyptic scenario in which antibiotic-resistant superbacteria have evolved which can eat through any and all plastics as well as being deadly and contagious, a combination which swiftly destroyed humans and their society at the same time. Kit, our POV character, was all alone on her island for a long time before Crevan came along and changed her lonely world. But after Crevan rescues a drowning woman from the ocean, everything changes. One of the novel's strengths lies in the captivating voice of the narrator, a young woman living on the island. Her narrative style is archaic and poetic, drawing readers into her story. However, her reliability and the coherence of her tale are questionable, as she withholds crucial information about her past and the reasons for her presence on the island. This ambiguity adds intrigue but also leaves readers wondering if her account can be trusted. The plot was very straightforward though the end did have some good twists. I did feel slightly let down by the description as it applies to only a small portion of the actual novel. My main issues with the plot revolves around the dystopia aspect which will be discussed in more detail below in the spoiler section of the review. The author has used the unreliable witness trope to drive the plot. For me there's nothing wrong with using tried and tested methods to explore human nature and the darkness therein, the nature of reality and how suffering can break us and spread to those close to us. In this book, it worked a little sometimes and lapsed into dull cliché other times; generally bogged down by the language. On balance lukewarm. In fiction, not every apocalypse is apocalypse wow. It’s what you’re hoping for, looking for, but not all apocalypses are imagined equal. This one, was imagined well, alarmingly so, and even spun around into a neat twist in the end but getting there was as slog.

However, I thoroughly enjoyed the lyrical nature of the prose throughout this book and it is the reason that I continued reading even though I wasn't otherwise 100% sold on the book. I am a big fan of stream-of-consciousness writing and the fuzzy/daydream-like feeling that comes along with it. If you also enjoy this writing style, it might be worth a read! This was a mess. Actually, it may have been a two star mess until it made me mad, but the only thing saving it from being zero now is the actual world issues. I’m the first to rate and review this book. It’s always optimal when the book was great and one gets to sing its praises and attract it some much deserved attention, but sometimes it’s just… Intelligent and refreshing … The prose is intoxicating – dark, heady, lyrical.” – The Daily Telegraph

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This is a book about trauma, and Kit's inner monologues make up the majority of the novel. They are written in lyrical prose with lots of wordplay. Because so much of the story is told through Kit's eyes, with few brief moments of dialogue, the prose was overwhelming at times. This was definitely not a novel I could finish in one sitting. I needed breaks from Kit’s wandering, unsound inner monologues. I was also slightly annoyed that a lot of the story’s mysteries were resolved in info-dumpy sections. I thought the story could have been more compelling if as readers we got some of the details about the distopian world and Kit's past from more natural character interactions, or that Crevan could have let more information slip. While this narrative wasn't my favorite, I was intrigued by the prose style and look forward to seeing more work by this author. Whether Violent or Natural" is a dystopian novel with a rather interesting premise: antibiotic resistance is purging the world of humans. Bottom line up front? The main character is a psychopath. Jesus, by the end of it I couldn't help but wonder if reading this book made me one too. The writing is chaotic; from the first chapter all I could think about was that this author HAS to have OCD. She sure writes like it. Some people are definitely going to find Calder's writing beautiful, but it will take a very specific type of person.

Lets just say, I should have trusted the people and moved on with my life. Whether Violent or Natural was the most pointless addition to my life, ever. Barely an addition at all, possibly even a subtraction.In this world plagued by mutating bacteria, prevention of contamination is all consuming. The remaining survivors must do what they can to survive infection, including avoiding any other humans. When a woman washes ashore, barely alive, the real story begins. Kit and Crevan are always on the same wavelength so when Crevan wishes to save the woman and Kit disagrees, tension ramps up, events escalate and buried secrets surface. Is this idyllic existence all it seems or is the truth too much to bear? bones of an interesting story - dystopian chaos future where a superbug has left a woman and a man to their own on an island. enter (on the tides) a floating mystery body.

With “Whether Violent or Natural,” author Natasha Calder has given us a dystopian novel about the end of humanity. While I admired some of her expressive, even lyric prose, I also thought the book burdened by a number of problems and inconsistencies. All in all, it’s not the best dystopian novel I’ve ever read. Some may take issue with Kit’s narrative voice – a combination of precocity and naivety – and the opaque chapter titles. She is a flawed but compelling character, her repetitive, dense language deliberately evasive. At times I felt information was dropped like stone, or maybe an avalanche. Here, the guise of narration in the MC's voice grew too thin. While I agree with other readers that the writing was VERY forced and overly flowery and confusing, I felt like it fit well with the unreliability and instability of the narrator. The main characters were creepy and unlikeable and the relationship between them was unnerving. I enjoyed reading this and liked the twist toward the end.In a world devastated by antimicrobial resistance, two survivors are thrown into crisis when a woman washes ashore on the remote island where they live For me the surface level story was arresting enough, the suspense sparingly sufficient to move me, occasionally grudgingly though usually willingly, through the read. An unconscious woman washes ashore on the island where 'Kit' and Crevan dwell in isolation and safety from an, ostensibly, savage post apocalyptic outside world. Drama unfolds from there.

Thriller lovers will most probably be left slightly disappointed, but as literary fiction it is indeed an enjoyable read.

Reviews

But oh was I disappointed. I struggled to finish it, irritated by the voice of the narrator, Kit, and uneasy about the relationship between her and Crevan, with its underlying hints of some sort of weirdness between them. (Is it supposed to be some form of consensual sado-masochism? Or a man taking advantage of a vulnerable woman? Later events throw some light on this but in an unsatisfactory way.) One evening a woman washes ashore, nearly drowned. Crevan wants to keep her alive, but Kit isn't so sure. Because you are not a body, not merely, not unless you mean it in the astronomical sense, not unless – by some glory of chance – you already see yourself for what you truly are: a heavenly body, a celestial body; vast and star-touched. That is what you are, don’t let anyone say otherwise.” Kit ran naked on the island until Crevan’s arrival. Only his embarrassment encourages her to put on clothes. Calder has created here a strange, toxic Eden – Crevan and Kit alternate between being parent and child to one another. As Kit says: “It’s my turn now. I have to be daddy, I have to be mummy. I have to take care of baby. I croon forward, press my lips to Crevan’s cheek, inhale the deep, sweat-musk odour of him.”