Debut Review: THE WORLD GIVES WAY by Marissa Levien
THE WORLD GIVES WAY is set on a spaceship transporting a large population away from dying Earth toward a habitable place called Telos. Over the span of the journey, there are generations that live and die within the manufactured environment that has no name other than “the world.”
Myrra Dal, an indentured servant to one of the most powerful families, learns a secret from her mistress: the ship’s hull is irreparably cracked. As if to prove the direness of their situation, the mistress hands her baby Charlotte to Myrra and jumps from a penthouse balcony to her death. Everyone is doomed, but Myrra is suddenly faced with a chance at freedom for the first time in her young life. She takes it, and flees with Charlotte.
Tobias Bendel, a young and methodical detective, hunts Myrra for breaking her contract and leaving the scene of a suicide. The narratives of Myrra and Tobias are intercut with vignettes about the places where Myrra hides; how their structures were first engineered on Earth, and how they will be destroyed when the ship’s cracked hull breeches. The vignettes were inspired by Italo Calvino’s INVISIBLE CITIES and exist to set expectations for readers while also worldbuilding beyond the experience of our two protagonists.
Myrra proves to be a wily survivor. Tobias chases her with obsession until earthquakes wreak havoc with increasing intensity. As Tobias realizes the state of reality and the nature of the law he enforces, his resolve cracks like the city walls surrounding him. Myrra, Charlotte, and Tobias all reach a last destination that is the most imaginative and emotionally moving. Delirium, despair, and love mix together as the known world comes apart at the seams.
The back cover of THE WORLD GIVES WAY describes the novel as having a darkly glimmering heart. I feel that the heart of this gem is multi-faceted, and its full range of shades are what make it so uniquely bold and beautiful.
Thank you to Hachette Book Group for providing me with a copy of the book in advance of an event with the author. I loved the book and our conversation.
I used a backdrop of foil with a tear running through it to visualize the crack in the hull.