I *think* this might be the first 1 star book I've read all year; I just could not get on board with it. I thought for the most part that the book would be a three star read (fairly interesting, not offensive, but not something I enjoyed that much), but the ending for me totally took the book into a nosedive.
Our Endless Numbered Days is about eight year old Peggy whose father is a survivalist. He's obsessed with working out how they'd survive in a post apocalyptic state. When Peggy's mum goes away, her dad takes Peggy on a trip. She doesn't know it yet, but things are going to be very different from now on. He takes Peggy from their home in London to live in a hut in a remote European forest. They learn to hunt and forage for food, living completely off the land. It's hard, and when winter approaches things become treacherous. But when her father tells her everyone she knows is dead because beyond the forest the world has collapsed, Peggy realises she's going to have to get used to life in the wilderness.
The book is a dark read right from the start: Peggy's dad constantly makes her practice their survival skills at home, without her really wanting to, and when he lies to her about what's really happening with their trek through Europe, she doesn't fully understand what's going on. As the book is told from a child's perspective you only understand slightly more than Peggy, and it hits home about how scary such a drastic change in living is. However, things get a bit more convoluted as Peggy is suffering from PTSD, which makes her recollection of all the events completely skewed, and the reader only finds this out at the end. Don't get me wrong, I love a good twist but *and this is a MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT*, not when it involved incest?
Whilst in the wood, Peggy meets a man also living out there and falls in love with him. Their relationship is completely romanticised throughout, and was fairly uncomfortable as you read the book, as you're aware he's definitely an adult whilst she's a teen at this point. Right at the end of the book it's revealed that not only is this man her father, but she's pregnant with his child. The last line of the book is 'I closed my eyes and remembered the warm summer sun turning the tips of Reuben's hair orange'; Reuben's the name of the alter ego she gives her father. Not only is this bit romantic, but when they have sex the author goes to great length to describe the girl's orgasms and pleasure in it.
I totally understand that there are really awful people out there and child abuse happens, and that PTSD can massively impact your memories, but it was making it seem like a love story, rather than a story of abuse that made me want to throw the book in the bin. The story also dragged a lot in parts, and I was just desperate to finish it so I could read something better. The author went to really great lengths to endlessly describe their live in the hut, and it felt like the incest story slotted in at the end was there as a desperate attempt to make the book retrospectively more interesting. I wouldn't recommend reading it.
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