I would suggest picking up this book on a day you have no plans as you will probably end up cancelling them, a truly propulsive and fascinating read and near on impossible to step away from once you begin reading.

Set in Portland in the US, on a hot day in the very near future, the novel unspools over the course of one day. Annie is 37 weeks pregnant, it is the first day of her maternity leave and she has gone to Ikea to buy a crib. While there, a massive earthquake hits, devastating the entire city. With no phone, no money, no car and a city absolutely descending into chaos and destruction, Annie realises the only way she can make it to her husband, is to walk. There is no power, no phone signals, it is hot as Annie makes her way across the wreckage of the city. On the way she reflects upon her life to this point , her marriage , her fears. She sees the full range of human emotions and behaviour, rioting in shops, the kindness of some and the opportunistic nature of others. She makes an friend along the way and for part of the book they walk together. Annie is determined she will make it home.

This is so bleakly realistic, from the detail of the earthquake itself ( the authors meticulous research is evident through out the book) to the observation of various forms of human behaviour. Annie isn't a character I easily warmed to yet I was deeply invested, I needed to know what would happen to her.

There was one part of the book I found really difficult to read, I won't add spoilers but brace yourself, this is a difficult to read at a number of points, that is how realistic it is.

A brilliant brutal debut novel, a well told and detailed story and like I said at the beginning, impossible to step away from.

A pregnant woman in IKEA buying a crib when a huge earthquake rips apart her world. We follow her as she tries to get back to her husband. This book is tense. I’m not sure what genre to really describe it as, it’s part horror, part love story and it’s got buckets of grief.

I absolutely love an apocalyptic story and my favourites are the “in the moment” ones. The ones where you out yourself in the situation and wonder what you would do. This book has that element of fear and uncertainty.

Tilt flits between before and after, showing Annie’s relationship with the father of her unborn child, and her journey to becoming a “grown up”. I loved the short snappy chapters and time jumps as they really kept the story moving. The whole book had a really relatable feel to it, which is great for apocalypse tales.

Set over one day. Not just any day, but a day where there is a major earthquake. Our main character is Annie, who lives in Portland, and is weeks from giving birth to her first child. I was horrified at the thought of having to endure such a disaster while pregnant, and this is what both attracted me to the book and kept me reading. We are introduced to the baby’s father, Dom, by joining Annie on her journey to save herself and the baby, and to find Dom. The insight into their relationship and her own life choices is well done and is revealed alongside details of the devastation of the city and the people she meets along the way. I was there with her, on her long walk, and was desperate to find out what would happen.
An accessible and quick read that made me think a lot about climate change (particularly with the horror of what is going on over the Pond right now.) I liked it.

A gripping read blending the themes of motherhood, survival and apocalypse. While this is more reading group fiction than scifi, it's engaging and humane and would pull in post apocalytic fiction fans.

Tilt does a great job at making you feel you are reading a real life scenario. The timeline being one day has great pacing and it’s hard to put down. The backdrop of the earthquake comes secondary to our vivid female main character. She is reflecting on her life and its downs. There is not much in the way of character development (this is over a day to be fair), things are happening to her and she is processing them but at the end there is no major revelation. I felt this again was true to life.
The aftermath of the earthquake itself is chaotic and well written, I definitely felt transported into the wreckage of the city.
The themes of motherhood, the anxieties of life and the use of metaphor make this for an engaging and human read.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

I liked this book and the gripping story of Annie, Bean and the people she meets on what is a terrible day. However I'm not going to lie I thought the ending was super disappointing. Soooooo many stories left unfinished and suddenly I was reading acknowledgements!! There either needs to be a follow up or an epilogue written.

Wow oh wow oh wow oh wow!
I’d give this 6 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 if I could!

Talk about on the edge of your seat. This is THE most compelling book I have read since Stephen King’s Cell.

Told entirely from the point of a 9 month pregnant woman, caught in the middle of a massive fault line earthquake in Portland, Oregon.
It switches between now and reminiscing about her life, and is brilliantly told. There’s no chapters, just to and fro. It makes you want to keep reading and reading. Quite philosophical at times, but without being annoyingly so. It’s tense. It’s scary. It’s totally believable.

I absolutely loved this book. I’ve been going through tough times myself recently which has massively affected my love of reading. But this has made me remember that there are AWESOME books out there!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

‼️Slight Spoilers:
Trigger warnings - Parental loss. Child loss.
The ending is rather open. Not for people who like their novels tied up in a bow!

Such an engaging read that makes you want to keep reading to find out what happens. The author vividly describes the immediate aftermath of an earthquake. You feel for the heavily pregnant main character as she strives to become reunited with her husband. You get to know the couple's story in interludes from the past throughout the present time story. I became so involved in the story that I found the end disappointingly abrupt. I wanted more!

An earthquake strikes while heavily pregnant Annie is in Ikea buying a crib last minute. With no phone, Annie travels downtown to try and find her husband all while trying to keep her sanity and protecting her unborn baby.

I really, really enjoyed this. I felt like I was traveling with Annie and experiencing the aftermath of the quake. It was so well written and visual. If this doesn’t get snapped up for a film then the film world is formally in the doldrums.

A novel about a pregnant woman experiencing the terrors of a natural disaster whilst reflecting on her relationship with the baby's father and her dreams of becoming a playwright. Beautifully written and realistic. A fine debut.

A fast and compelling read, which has you on tenterhooks early on and only gives you some reprieve in the form of flashbacks (which can also be uncomfortable so not always a break in intensity.)

Annie the protagonist is 37 weeks pregnant and in IKEA shopping when an earthquake devastates her city. She sets out in intense heat and through a series of aftershocks to find her husband rather than sensibly waiting for help where she is.

The book relays Annie's inner voice as she travels across the many obstacles she encounters- and explores her feelings about marriage, pregnancy, impending motherhood and the financial struggles she faces.

Annie's journey leaves you wondering how you would fare in a post apocalyptic event of this type. Her decision making was frustrating and erratic at times, but probably quite realistic for how people might behave in her situation.

An interesting read, but the open ending lost it a star for me! I would however recommend it as an unusual and quick read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

I was immediately hooked by the opening pages of this story: 37-week pregnant Annie is at long last out shopping for a crib in IKEA when the much feared and anticipated major Cascadia earthquake strikes Portland. I loved the way she addresses her unborn child as Bean and refers to “your father” (so beautifully old fashioned!) as she wittily retells various anecdotes about Dom and their roller coaster relationship. I was so immersed in the story I had to look up Cascadia earthquake zone and discovered that indeed the people of the area live in constant fear of the Big One and that this was a fictionalised imagining of a very credible catastrophe. So when that massive earthquake does strike Annie is rescued, essentially unhurt, from under a stack of IKEA boxes by the bored and lackadaisical sales assistant, who had moments before been neglecting to be helpful. Despite being so heavily pregnant she sets off to walk the streets of a devastated Portland to find Dom at the cafe where he works. The writing is brilliant - at times witty and at times reflective, but always engaging. Annie’s monologue/dialogue with Bean is so hopeful but tinged with sorrow and regret as we follow her journey through scenes of the horror and devastation all around. Highly thought-provoking and immersive 4.5 stars

This is a tough one to review because I liked parts of it, but felt it was missing something.

Tilt is tagged as 'thriller' and 'suspense', but, while the story follows a woman in the aftermath of an earthquake, I do not think either is truly accurate. Pattee shares her concerns about the Pacific Northwest 'Big One' in the Acknowledgements, but the story mainly uses the disaster as a backdrop to reflect on Annie's life, her marriage and her pregnancy through flashbacks.

At first, I enjoyed it enough. The author explores life dissatisfaction and pregnancy anxiety by revisiting Annie's recent past. In the present, a nine-month pregnant Annie begins walking across a devastated Portland, trying to reach her husband. During this walk, she contemplates all aspects of her life that have led her to this point.

I quite liked the idea of the earthquake as a metaphor, because Annie's story is ultimately about forces that move us and shape our lives, ones that we cannot control. Annie feels very much out of control of her life. Her dreams are unrealised; nothing has gone the way she planned or imagined. She fancied this one guy, but ended up with another. She got pregnant-- not by trying, but by not not trying. She is someone who clearly feels like her life is something that happened to her.

In fact, I really wanted Annie’s characterisation to go further. She was really unlikable and kinda inexplicably reactive in parts, so I was expecting that to be explored more, for an explanation to emerge from her past, or at least for her to experience some growth. It all felt like it was building toward a climax of realisation or epiphany but… it wasn’t?

I was extremely dissatisfied with the ending of the book, and I'm sure this will be many people's reason for not liking it. While open endings can sometimes be appropriate, I don't feel it was here.

I really enjoyed this short read by author and climate journalist, Emma Pattee. Set over a 24-hour period, it follows Annie, who is 37 weeks pregnant, as she struggles to make her way home after an earthquake has struck. Based in Portland, Oregon the long predicted Cascadia Earthquake has destroyed much of the Pacific Northwest from California to Vancouver. Annie has been crib shopping in IKEA when the quake hits and she must now must make her way to downtown Portland where Dom, her feckless, wannabe actor husband, is rehearsing in a local theatre. On her journey, she witnesses the best and the very worst of humankind.

Through a series of flashback chapters, we learn about Annie’s past, her stalled career as a playwright and the precarious state of her marriage. Annie talks to Bean, her unborn child, throughout this person narrative promising her she won’t repeat the mistakes of her past.

I really liked this easy read; short, sharp and filled with black humour. Many thanks to @Netgalley and @harpercollins for this advance read in return for my honest review. Tilt will be published on 4 March 2025.

"Tilt" by Emma Pattee is an intense quick read. The author made the brave decision to keep the book short and you can read it easily in 3 - 4 hours. The story starts in an every day situation: heavily pregnant women in Ikea trying to buy last minute essentials for her new baby. Then the earthquake hits. The rest of the story is her navigating this natural disaster, following the crowds and walking. Flash backs relieve the tension and you get to know her and her husband's past. This is bound to be made into a film. I'd watch it.

An excellent debut that firmly marks Pattee as one to watch for me.
There's some humour in this book, right from the beginning, when the earthquake hits and our main heavily pregnant character is having a strop in ikea.
It balances out so well, with all the trauma and chaos we are now going to witness as she tries to make her way to her husband.
A scarily realistic story of things that could, and possibly would happen when natural disasters occur.
I raced to the end.
Great read.

I really enjoyed this book, I read it in two sittings!
You can tell the author has researched the subject well, and can also tell she has been pregnant! She navigates well through the feelings both physical and mental of pregnancy.
My only wish is it had been longer and the ending was a slight letdown. Overall definitely worth a read.

So much of this book was enjoyable and I was really rooting for pregnant Annie to reach her husband after the earthquake hit. The ending felt a slight disappointment though, hence the three stars.

What a gripping read! This was horrifying and intriguing all at once, and I couldn't stop reading. I was desperate to find out what would happen. This covered so many relatable themes, such as pregnancy fears, childbirth, financial worries, relationship strain, unachieved dreams... And then added on the feared natural disaster and how would people deal with that. It was cleverly written, going back and forth between the day of the earthquake and the main character's past, leading up to the fateful day.

Annie, at 37 weeks pregnant, is in IKEA buying a crib and wishing she'd done so sooner, when an earthquake hits. She gets out, with help from the IKEA employee, Taylor, she'd previously complained to about the crib she couldn't find. These women form an unlikely bond as they both search for missing loved ones and much of the present day part of the story revolves around them and their experiences of (in Annie's case, impending) motherhood. Alongside this, told in alternate chapters, we get some back story of Annie's life from 17 years ago up to today. I found these chapters less interesting than those post-earthquake and raced through them to get back to the 'main' story. There wasn't anything wrong with these chapters, they just didn't have the same pull.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and will be interested to see what else the author writes in the future. I also found the note at the end, about how she'd researched aspects of the book, really interesting.