We also learn about the recommended hygienic practices, including for makeup, skincare, and personal hygiene (even “down there,” though not in any sort of graphic detail). For example, there’s the aforementioned days of the week. There are also subtle things that help shape the world. Exactly what happened to that fifth colony that just vanished, again? Everything seems like it’s great, but you slowly start to realize something’s not quite right. Is everyone ready to sing The Marking Song? Get your voices ready, kids! Too much contact with parents is bad for the kids as it makes them too dependent on the parents and less likely to be valuable members of the community.Īlso, things need to be marked and named every once in a while, or else they’ll turn into this weird gloop. Adults and children do not live together. Everything about them is very methodical. I found this to be a subtle yet effective way of building the world. We learn from the chapter titles alone that the days of the week have changed. It is a relatively short book, and like the society, it is very methodical. (I want to add here that this book does deal with mental health and depression as undertones.)

I would describe it as soft New Weird meets Sci-Fi. What if language not only had power but was essential for the very bed on which you sleep? In Amatka by Karin Tidbeck (originally written in Swedish and translated into English by the author), we explore a society where naming things is essential to life.

Amatka book