3 Stars - Solid, but could not quite grip me

This novella is centered on Lynn and her group of fellow diggers who live under ground in a probably dystopian future of the Earth. Their livelyhood depends on what they bring home on their digging excursions and it is not an easy life. The plot centers on one of those digging trips going south and the many dangers the group has to face in their attempts to turn the situation around again.

This novel is very much FINE. The characters are okay, the worldbuiling is maybe a bit loosey-goosey, which is maybe sort of expected in a novella, but I would have preferred a bit more background. For example, if this is taking place on some version of Earth, what is the deal with those very bizarre animals living under ground? I also felt like the plot maybe was a bit constructed in that it did not take all that much to bring this supposedly experienced group of diggers into serious danger.

The writing was mostly competent, but the autor does have a certain tendency to rely on passive constructions which I find rather awkward.

this was a great read, it had what I was looking for in this type of book. I loved the claustrophobic feel to the story and wish this setting was used for more stories. This was a really well done novel.

For all my love of novellas and dystopian fiction, this one was didn’t really sing to me. An interesting though underdeveloped concept of a striated futuristic society where the wealthy live above and the rest live below and scour the land for treasures and trinkets to sell, this book featured a tough as nails protagonist named Lynn who along with her team scavenge around in the dirt amicably enough until their latest mission throws enough dangers at them, both Trappers and Gangers, put not only their mission but their very lives at risk.
It’s like a spelunking adventure (without any of the concomitant frivolity) gone terribly wrong in all of its claustrophobic splendor. Or a survivor story. Compelling enough as both. The author chose to use very short sentences and clipped dialogue to create a very dynamic pacing and tough individuals not used to leisure and pontification, which worked. There was even some character development thrown in, explaining why and how someone might end up choosing this sort of life and vocation. But the overall worldbuilding left something to be desired. Ok, not something, specifically the grand scheme of things, you only get brief glimpses of the world outside the immediate story. It would have been nice tom learn more.
Granted, this is only a novella, there are certain limitations, but take it from someone who is something of a format connoisseur, there is absolutely a way to tell a complex and elaborate story within those limits if done right. This was more of a very specific story set within a very specific (mostly unknown) future world.
Entertaining enough, very competently done for a random read by an unknown author, potential is there. Didn’t quite work for me personally (something about waning interest, but also to be fair I was very sleepy), but it was objectively enough to merit an uncharacteristic round up. Thanks Netgalley.