A review by illustrated_librarian
Napalm in the Heart by Pol Guasch

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Thanks to @faberbooks for sending this my way. It'll be out on 4th July! 

In a near future devastated by unspecified disaster, society has become disconnected and militarised. A young man and his mother cling to life at the edge of a forest, in the shadow of a mountain and the ominous Factory. The unnamed narrator exchanges intense letters with his lover Boris filled with a desire that's forbidden in his small rural community. Eventually the pair flee across the blighted landscape, forced to reckon with the increasing violence necessary for their survival. 

This jagged, disorienting novel explores language and identity in a broken world. The narrative is presented as short fragments which jump from topic to topic and around in time, providing little context. I liked trying to decipher the world through his eyes and make sense of the information, but I guess the point is that ultimately you can't, and neither can the characters. 

The language is both muscular and beautiful, deliberately blurring the distinctions between human and animal. Guasch moves between describing blight and brutality to a tender moment of intimacy or natural beauty, and often it all coexists. It's definitely distinctive and stylish which I think will be a dream for those into experimental literary fiction, but some may find it too oblique. 

The only thing I can think to compare this to is The Doloriad - in both books the world is inhospitable, survival is violent, existence is gruelling, and the very rationale for clinging to life is called into question. If you're a reader who loves raw, strange stories that fuel questions without willingly giving answers, this is for you.