Dystopian thrillers have become increasingly popular within the last couple of years, but if you’ve been craving a novel that expands the typical dystopian mold and turns the very fabric of the English language on its head, turn your literary gaze to Sandra Newman’s The Country of Ice Cream Star.
This novel is set in the aftermath of a plague that has destroyed society, killed off all adults, and continues to infect everyone who reaches 18 years old. Groups of children have banded together to recreate distinct primitive societies, each separately characterized by an aspect of civilization we know today: farming, manufacturing, thieving, and war. The story follows 15-year-old Ice Cream Star as she leads her band of children across the broken country in a quest for the cure when their former leader, Ice Cream’s brother, begins to show signs of the disease.
But what really sets this novel apart is the language. I cannot gush enough about how masterfully Sandra Newman has manipulated traditional English sentence structure and common phrases to reimagine descriptions, feelings, and actions in startlingly innovative and beautiful ways. You don’t have to take only my word for it though:
“Sandra Newman has an amazingly original way of thinking… Hysterically funny, profoundly strange, and unbearably beautiful. Often all at once.” — Jonathan Safran Foer
“What an astonishing achievement… I can’t remember when I last read something so original or sophisticated or emotionally engaging or so breathtakingly ambitious.” — Kate Atkinson, author of Life After Life
“Sandra Newman has created a language for Ice Cream Star that is unique, both broken down and rapturous, full of powerful feeling as well as laconic toughness, and flashing with gorgeous detail. This is a brilliantly plausible dystopia, a thrilling adventure and altogether an amazing book.” — Adam Foulds
And don’t just trust them either! Download the literary epic/dystopian thriller The Country of Ice Cream Star from Edelweiss and experience it for yourself. Like, right now.
-Amanda