Briar Minton's family was already falling apart--and then the world did, too. Her father had spiraled into doomsday prepping, ignoring his wife's pleas to stop and burying the family in debt. Her mother had given up on their marriage and the husband who wouldn't listen to her. Then a mysterious, catastrophic "Event" dealt a devastating blow to civilization.
Not with a Bang comes from Temi Oh, author of the speculative Do You Dream of Terra-Two? It blends the emotional intensity of family conflict with riveting apocalyptic action. The Mintons are scattered across London when the Event happens. They must fight their way back to one another as society collapses around them.
Briar tells her own story and the deeply internal stories of each family member, making for an intriguing and rare example of first-person omniscient perspective. Oh brings the full, flawed complexity of each character to the page. Briar's mother struggles to balance her needs with those of her kids, leading to some controversial decisions. Briar's sister finds herself revisiting her attempt to become a tennis champion and all the people she hurt along the way.
The narrative zooms in on the family's interpersonal tensions but has no shortage of postapocalyptic drama. Not with a Bang is original, unsettling, and thrilling. Oh renders the action in vivid prose that's not for the faint of heart. This is a nail-biter of a novel about family dynamics playing out as the world crumbles. --Carol Caley, writer