Thank you to Bookish First and February Media for the ARC. Despite the beautiful and vibrant cover illustration, unfortunately, this book was a real slog for me to get through and throughout the book I was tempted to just leave the book in my "Did Not Finish" pile.
After reading the publisher's blurb, I wasn't sure what to expect from this book and, on this count, the book certainly delivered - the plot was nothing like what I would've expected. I envisioned a charlatan NatGeo-esque explorer embarking on an actual Arctic exploration and that had potential for wit and sarcasm and commentary about a whole host of topics. Instead, the book is a long description of how Guy passes his days and it was tedious for me to get through. In fact, it wasn't until around the midpoint of the book when Guy actually sets out for the Edge. (and then it gets even more bizarre and dark from there!). While some of the characters in the remote, rural town had potential to be interesting, they were mostly relegated to incidental exchanges with Guy. As a protagonist, he was arrogant, entitled and the least interesting among the characters we met throughout the book.
After reading the publisher's blurb, I wasn't sure what to expect from this book and, on this count, the book certainly delivered - the plot was nothing like what I would've expected. I envisioned a charlatan NatGeo-esque explorer embarking on an actual Arctic exploration and that had potential for wit and sarcasm and commentary about a whole host of topics. Instead, the book is a long description of how Guy passes his days and it was tedious for me to get through. In fact, it wasn't until around the midpoint of the book when Guy actually sets out for the Edge. (and then it gets even more bizarre and dark from there!). While some of the characters in the remote, rural town had potential to be interesting, they were mostly relegated to incidental exchanges with Guy. As a protagonist, he was arrogant, entitled and the least interesting among the characters we met throughout the book.