Your Shadow Half Remains

Riley lives alone on the shores of an isolated lake in the home that belonged to her grandparents—that is, before they murdered each other. She lives in a slowly collapsing world, where for the last two years, looking a human in the eye, be it a real person, an image, or even a reflection, will spur them to violence, causing them to killing everyone near them. Then Riley meets Ellis on the road and dares to connect with another person. Riley is an engaging narrator, recounting the “horrifyingly banal” downfall of society, drawing readers in and gaining their trust even as she slowly becomes less and less reliable. While the setup warrants comparisons to Bird Box by Josh Malerman or The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson, the reading experience of Moraine’s latest (after Sword and Star), with its multiple layers of discomfort, is reminiscent of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca.