After being very confused with the first few chapters - the order of events, locations, characters and the general timeline of things - I was pleasantly surprised.

Having read the blurb, I did however expect the plot to mainly follow Damira and her experience being among the mammoths, and maybe that’s what added to my initial confusion. I was just waiting for things to go in another direction.

On the other hand, if I hadn’t read the blurb I don’t think I would’ve understood at all what was going on, since the blurb is basically telling you the backstory and not the plot: The book follows not one, but three perspectives, and much of Damira’s POV consists of memories from her human life as she’s already lived with the mammoths for several years. So that took some time to understand and was a bit of a bummer. But once I got into the story, I found myself enjoying what I was reading - having already accepted I was never going to be able to keep the names straight and decided to just roll with it…

It’s a short, quick read that packs a lot into its pages; ethical dilemmas about poaching and extinction, the future of humanity and questions about consciousness, all while blending in elements of thriller and science fiction in the Siberian tundra. The book balances being thought-provoking and engaging, though I have to admit I found some of the memories and moral debates a little slow and would have liked more time exploring the lives of the mammoths.

But overall its well-written story that’s easy to read once you start getting the timeline straight, and it gives you a lot to think about. It didn’t blow me away, but I found myself enjoying it and appreciate it not being dragged out just to up the number of pages. 4-

So stunning that I had to turn around and read it again when I finished. 
The way the narratives are woven together, the perspective characters who were chosen, the way information is pieced out, the language used, the futures imagined, all of it so interesting, stunning, thoughtful, impactful, (this could go on forever). This is so so good. 

If I had a nickel for every time I read a book about a scientist who studied an animal so passionately that when given the chance, they transported their consciousness into said animal in the name of science and extinction, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird it’s happened twice. 

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

I've had high hopes for this since I saw it, and reading it did not disappoint, although it was not what I expected. It packs a pretty good punch against extractionism, poaching, human greed, and wealth/power.

At just about 100 pages, it can be read in one sitting which makes it a great intro to climate fiction or a primer on many relevant topics (like extractionism and how it fuels the global economy while completely removing extracted materials from a sense of place, the violence that created them, and the responsibility for that violence we all have by mindlessly consuming them). It was also probably the most accurate representation of "good" wealthy people I've read. Having dated some Anthonys, the revealing and removing of his mask was the truest mirror of my exes I've ever seen.