Ecofiction meets thriller. In near-future Vermont, Ash and his wife Pia are settling into their new house and town in his home state after leaving NYC.

But now the storms may be beginning. A series of hurricane-from-the-south-and cold-storm-from-the-north have begun, getting worse over time, as the seasons and temperatures aren't following historic patterns.

This novel looks at the different ways townspeople react to and prepare for these mega-storms. Some are in denial, some are only out for themselves, some think they can save everything, some talk a lot but actually do little.

I thought way too much of this book was about THE COMING STORM but then the storytelling of the storm and flooding aftermath was somewhat anti-climatic and quite short. But the look at home different views can affect relationships was quite interesting. ( )

We Are Unprepared was slow to start so it took me a few tries to really get into it. The concept is great but I don't feel like it was executed as well as it could have been.

When news of a superstorm breaks it creates a divide between the citizens of a rural town in Vermont. The focus is on Ash and Pia, a married couple who've recently moved to Vermont from New York in order to lead a simpler life.
I really enjoyed seeing how news of the storms affected the characters. As the weather conditions begin to deteriorate, so does their relationship. They both have different ways of dealing with the news - Pia joins the preppers (those who want to go off the grid) while Ash gets involved with town politics - and as time passes they find that they no longer want the same things out of life.

As for The Storm, when it finally happens it was a bit of a let down. With so much build up it just felt a bit anticlimactic and rushed. I also would have liked to read a little more about the aftermath.

Overall, I would recommend We Are Unprepared if you're a fan of disaster stories. ( )

We Are Unprepared by Meg Little Reilly is a thought-provoking novel that delves into the effects of climate change and the various reactions of people living in a small Vermont town who are preparing for a catastrophic weather event. Written in first person from relative newcomer Ash's perspective, the story also focuses on his rapidly disintegrating marriage to Pia as they deal with the impending disaster in completely different ways.

On the cusp of hearing the alarming news about the upcoming weather season, the only issue Ash and Pia are facing is distressing news from their recent appointment with a fertility specialist. Before they can fully absorb the unexpected diagnosis, Pia shifts immediately into disaster planning mode while Ash takes a more relaxed wait and see approach to the alarming weather forecast. As the months pass, Pia's erratic behavior is just as unpredictable as the weather as she becomes more entrenched with the local "preppers" who distrust the government and fall into the gloom and doom category. Ash, on the other hand, is slow to react and relies on local government problem solving to hopefully minimize the damage to the community from the impending cataclysmic storm. With each of them on such opposite ends of the spectrum, the cracks in their marriage begin widening and by time The Storm hits, their once happy union is on the verge of collapse.

Ash has happy memories of his idyllic childhood in a Vermont town similar to the one where he and Pia now reside. On some level, he always knew he would return to a less hectic life in a rural town and they have barely settled into their farmhouse when the weather becomes the focus of their lives. Ash has always embraced Pia's quirks and her somewhat neurotic behavior but since she has not yet found a job to give her days more structure, she is soon obsessed with prepping for The Storm. The traits Ash once found endearing and essential to Pia's creativity, he now recognizes as most likely symptoms of an undiagnosed mental disorder and he grows impatient with her erratic behavior and somewhat illogical ideas.

Not only do the couple disagree over preparations for the storm, but they also clash over Ash's unexpected desire to become a foster family for their neighbor's neglected seven year old son, August. He is completely charmed by the imaginative young boy whose love of nature reminds Ash of himself as a child. Hoping to save August from becoming lost in the foster care system, his suggestion to foster the boy is met with resistance from Pia and she stubbornly remains opposed to the idea. This is just one more major difference that widens the gap between them but it is not until The Storm and its aftermath that he figures out what he wants in life. Whether or not Pia is on the same track as Ash remains to be seen so their future remains uncertain for much of the story.

With a realistic and unique storyline, We Are Unprepared is an engrossing novel about the effects wrought by impending disaster. Diverse reactions along with philosophical differences between preppers and local government provide readers with an insightful and informative viewpoint of the various ways to handle such a calamitous storm that could, theoretically, happen at some point. Meg Little Reilly presents an intriguing scenario about the all too real effects of climate change and the disastrous impact this can have on weather systems. An unsettling but riveting debut that I highly recommend. ( )

This could have been really good, but instead it was just ok. It just wasn't developed enough. ( )

This is a story of people with their friendships, goals and personalities, and community cohesion; set against a backdrop of coming and passing natural catastrophe.

It would rate higher if the author had not diverged from earlier stating that the catastrophe would be followed by more and more in the future. Up to that point, the backdrop of global warming causing the storms was based on good science, complete with the weather changes. But when the author dropped all reference to the following natural super-storms coming after this one, the story lost realism.

Still, the book is exciting to read and does highlight the problem we have globally, and even addresses cultural changes at the ending that will alleviate some of the negative impact of the global warming and the human consequences of the warming. ( )