Out of the Dawn (pub. date 8/8/2023) by P.C. Cast is the sequel to Into the Mist, which I listened to earlier this year and reviewed just a couple of months ago. Once I realized there was a sequel, I was anxiously awaiting it, so I was thrilled to be approved to read it on NetGalley. I was not disappointed. Out of the Dawn was a page-turner–I found myself opening up the book every chance I could.
Teachers Mercury, Stella, Karen, Imani, and their found family are busy building a new settlement in the Painted Hills in Oregon after the world as they knew it ended with bombs dropping and a green mist still lying in wait in low spots. They have lost those they love, and there’s little time to deal with grief, as they still need to gather supplies and figure out building materials, because the people they left at the lodge are on their way to meet them.
After meeting an injured man–the owner and chef of a cafe–who wasn’t exposed to the mist, they bring him back to camp after Stella’s intuition tells them he’s safe. Mercury keeps having very strange dreams of Ford, as if he’s right there, when they buried him at the end of Into the Mist. And some of Mercury and Stella’s worst enemies may not be as dead as previously thought.
Teenagers do teenager-stupid things, and there is swift justice when it is necessary. The survivors learn how to live in a new way without violence, and in harmony with the earth. While Into the Mist ended with a lot of grief, Out of the Dawn ties up everything in a little bow–no cliffhangers here, although I suppose there’s always the possibility if Cast wants to continue writing this world.
I don’t recall any anti-fat bias, and there is a little more queer representation than in the first book. It’s great feminist entertainment, thoroughly enjoyable if you like post-apocalyptic new world-building and bad-guy fighting!
Reading While Fat 