'Severence' by Ling Ma

Plot Summary: Candace Chen, a millennial drone self-sequestered in a Manhattan office tower, is devoted to routine. So she barely notices when a plague of biblical proportions sweeps New York. Then Shen Fever spreads. Families flee. Companies halt operations. The subways squeak to a halt. Soon entirely alone, still unfevered, she photographs the eerie, abandoned city as the anonymous blogger NY Ghost.

Candace won’t be able to make it on her own forever, though. Enter a group of survivors, led by the power-hungry IT tech Bob. They’re traveling to a place called the Facility, where, Bob promises, they will have everything they need to start society anew. But Candace is carrying a secret she knows Bob will exploit. Should she escape from her rescuers?

My Thoughts: 

I did not go into the book knowing the plot because it's not actually written on the back (weird, I know). My great friend Ellie lended it to me after I was looking for some new reads, and honestly I was open to anything. What is written on the back is however a short quote: "Is it the end of the world or just another day at the office?". Some additional context: this book was actually written in 2018. You could imagine my surprise when I slowly began to realise that she was in fact writing about a fictional fever that took over the Earth ... whilst I am currently living in a very real reality of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Some key similarities that I've drawn out, foreshadowing our current situation: 

• Shen Fever was the name of the fever in the book, named after a city in China where the fever originated from 
• The world goes into lockdown, where they advise everyone to wear masks and stay away from others 
• People getting laid off their jobs because of corporate cuts 

The difference between the book and real life was that when people get the fever, they end up becoming a zombie ... then slowly become, yes, a zombie. Personally, I'm not a fan of zombies, and the whole part about the killings and the dystopian future - yeah that kind of scared me. The story-telling between past, present and future was enjoyable and fun to read. 

Overall, enjoyed this book but it was almost too close to the reality of this situation that it made me uneasy. I read books to escape reality, not to be reminded of it. Still recommend - perhaps better when you're in a positive, happy mood.