Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

How to Survive Everything

A Novel

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Longlisted for the 2021 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year

Shortlisted for the 2021 Bookmark Book of the Year Prize

""One of the most provocative, intelligent and original novelists working in Britain today"" (Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting) makes his American debut with this darkly comic and electrifyingly twisty thriller with echoes of Emily St. John Mandel, Lionel Shriver, and Richard Powers, in which a teenage girl and her brother are abducted by their survivalist father who believes the apocalypse has begun.

""An absolutely brilliant read.""—Lucy Mangan, journalist and author of Are We Having Fun Yet?

""Hilarious, foreboding with all of the brilliance and brutality of life in between. Haley is the hero of our times—bold, bewitching, and superbly drawn. Her voice rang in my ears long after I reluctantly turned the last page.""—Diane Cook, author of the Booker Prize nominated novel The New Wilderness

My name is Haley Cooper Crowe and I am in lockdown in a remote location I can't tell you about.

Children of divorce, Haley and Ben live with their mother. But their dad believes there's a new, much deadlier pandemic coming and is determined to keep them alive. He wants to take them to his prepper hideaway where they will be safe from other people. NOW. But there's no way their mother will go along with his plan. Saving them requires extreme measures.

Kidnapped by their father and confined to his compound far off the grid, Haley and Ben have no contact with the outside world. How can they save their mother? Will they make it out alive? Is the threat real—or is this all just a dark fantasy brought on by their conspiracy obsessed father's warped imagination?

Propulsive and chilling in its realism, How to Survive Everything is the story of a world imploding; a teenage girl's record for negotiating the collapse of everything she knows—including her family and sanity.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from December 5, 2022
      Haley Cooper Crowe, the narrator of this outstanding if often disturbing thriller set during a near-future pandemic from Scottish author Morrison (Nina X), and her brother, Ben, who have been living with their mother after their parents’ divorce, are kidnapped by their “prepper” father, because he believes a second pandemic is coming. Now in a remote compound, Haley has lived off the grid for so long that she doesn’t know her age, but she does know that she was “fifteen years, seven months, two weeks, and one day old” when she was abducted. Can Haley and Ben somehow escape from the compound and reunite with their mother? Haley’s voice and comic flair never falter as she successfully transforms her father’s rules into her own manual for survival. Morrison succeeds in making readers empathize with Haley even as she admires the “genius” underlying her father’s criminal behavior. This elegantly conceived and written novel provides an unforgettable interrogation of whether coming to terms with one’s own family always involves a degree of insanity. Morrison is a writer to watch.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      In the future, with threats of another deadly pandemic on the horizon, Haley and her younger brother, Ben, are kidnapped by their noncustodial father, Ed, and taken to a prepper hideaway in the UK. Caitlin Kelly perfectly portrays 15-year-old Haley, who tells this dystopian story in the first person. Kelly's pacing and inflection make Haley's voice entirely believable as she is frustrated by her parents and unsure of whom and what to believe. Listeners struggle along with Haley--and a wild cast of supporting characters--to determine what is really going on in the outside world. This is a story of extremes in actions, beliefs, and attitudes and may make listeners uncomfortable despite the fascinating questions it raises about society, family, and the future. K.S.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      June 10, 2024

      Hayley and Ben are children of a particularly rough divorce and as a result, live with their mother most of the time. When a pandemic threatens to break out, they are kidnapped by their father, who takes them to a remote survivalist compound in a hidden location, where Hayley and Ben are forced to adjust to their new world while the rest of civilization breaks down. They only know what their father is telling them, and it's not long before Hayley starts to doubt his honesty as well as his sanity. Scottish novelist Morrison's (Nina X) new thriller offers an all-too-plausible look at a disturbing near future. Narrator Caitlin Kelly, known for her work narrating YA audiobooks, provides a youthful voice for Hayley, tapping into the emotional undercurrent of the story. Even so, listeners may be confused as to why the narration was done with an American accent, since the story is presumably set in Scotland. Occasionally, Kelly's accent distracts from the story, particularly when the characters use British slang. VERDICT Despite the mismatch with Kelly's accent, this riveting story is a fine addition to any postapocalyptic collection. A good crossover book to recommend to YA fans as well.--Victoria Kiszka

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Loading