Under The Blue is Oana Aristide’s debut novel, published in 2021. It chronicles the experience of a reclusive artist, Harry, in the midst of a plague-like pandemic that leaves Europe a deserted, soon-to-be-inhabitable wasteland littered with corpses in the year 2020. At the same time, researchers Lisa and Paul are ‘educating their baby’ Talos, an advanced AI program, out in the Arctic Circle. As time goes on, and Harry traverses a deeply unfamiliar and unsettling European landscape, these two threads begin to converge in a fascinating way.

The similarities between our recent history and the premise of this book is an unfortunate coincidence; Aristide began writing Under The Blue back in 2017 and so I was keen to see her take on a pandemic in Europe.

A contemporary eco-thriller, Under the Blue is a terrific piece of work. Largely through Lisa and Talos’ debates, Aristide forces us to take a long, hard look in the mirror. Although we very recently saw the outbreak of a pandemic play out in a much different way, the events of this novel are not impossible. Had COVID been more devastating (well over half of the English population dies in Aristides’ world) and we had AI as far along as Talos, it could be all too realistic. And though I didn’t love the ending, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

You can my full review here: https://readbyjaniene.com/2022/04/09/under-the-blue-a-pandemic-in-europe-sound-familiar/

And check out my bookstagram: @readbyjaniene