Gollitok – Andrew Najberg

4/5 stars

I’m not a huge post-apocalyptic fan, but Andrew might just make me one. Gollitok is a marvel! Despite not having horrible monsters constantly chasing the characters (in the traditional sense anyway), the atmosphere is just beautiful. Andrew had me questioning myself, trying to figure out what was real and what wasn’t, the whole book. Complete mind bend!

Let’s talk characters. I love a book that gets me attached to a set of characters, then turns around and makes me question whether I should be or not. My heart pulled for them, even as things were revealed that made me give them a hard squint. Andrew made each character delightfully flawed, and I hated each of them even as I loved them. What a fun group of people to follow!

My only real gripe is the world building at the beginning. From the blurb, I knew that this was in post nuclear Eastern Europe, but I thought the setting itself was a bit vague in the book, almost like I was reading book 2 in a series. What happened to cause this total meltdown of society? Who is the Bureau, and how did they come to be in power? How did all these groups of people get established, and why is there so much conflict between them? Some of the answers I could guess at from things revealed later in the book, but I really wanted more detail into the world so I could fully understand the nuances in the plot.

Beautifully done book, though! I’m really excited to check out more by Andrew and see how else he can make me jump at shadows! Thank you to NetGalley and Wicked House Publishing for the early read!