Arborescence is a dystopian novel that has lingered in my mind since finishing owing to the original premise and the deeper meanings threaded throughout. I was fascinated by the plot – people willingly transforming into trees is quite the epic shift for cognisant beings. How? Why? What? It was a bumpy start as we navigate the lives of Bren and Caelyn who seemed to float around listlessly in life. I didn't connect with them initially. Caelyn is intrigued by the reports of people disappearing, seemingly growing into trees with time. She sets out to learn more pulling Bren along. He isn't terribly bothered as his job is a virtual one and seemed rather pointless. We crack on with vignettes into their shared existence and the oddities of these secretive camps of people living off grid supporting those who have 'dug in' or in the process of digging in. But with time it catches on all over the world, in the strangest of places, changing the world and how we live. This comes to define life for Caelyn and Bren, in his own way. Once arborescence seems to take off the story shifted gears and I felt more engaged with it. The phenomenon of saving the planet by turning into trees, what the implications were for Bren's one time friend, Miles and the career Caelyn acquires all converge in new and interesting ways. I thought I knew where the book was headed, and was desperate to know how it would end, pleasantly surprised by a number of turns in a more meaningful direction. By the end I was hooked and this book went from 3/4 stars to 5. Bren's attitude adjustment and his experiences, particularly with his new job, seemed to bring the book full circle on an emotional level. It's difficult to explain without giving bits away. This book has a quietly poetic resonance that spoke to me. If this could actually happen, I would be onboard with having a go. My heart breaks every time I hear a chainsaw digging into trees in our village and would love to give back and help heal the hurt we've done to the world. If only fiction was reality... But, if it were, I would miss all the books I so enjoy.

Caelyn feels lost and directionless in life, Bren has been working for a shadowy company he knows nothing about. A global movement begins where people believe they can turn into trees. Caelyn and Bren's strained relationship reflects the clash between the natural and the artificial. It's a conflict that leads to a strange sort of daylight dystopia. The world doesn't end with explosions, fire, and violence, but with trees, stillness, and quiet. Rhett Davis evokes a very beautiful image of an apocalypse where humans simply choose to stand still and let Mother Nature take over again. The premise is strange and simple. The plot is somewhat thin, but that is very much deliberate, as this is more a book about musings and coming to terms with the unpredictability of life and its branching pathways. The story is written with a very loose sense of chronological order; chapters will jump to different times and to different character perspectives. Sometimes these swaps will be chapter-length, sometimes they'll be a sentence dropped in the middle of a completely stream of consciousness. It's as chaotic and directionless as the characters' own lives. This book will certainly be an acquired taste. Some may not appreciate the slowness and the way thoughts and emotions take precedence over plot; I, however, loved the eerie feeling this book evoked. It's a unique bit of weird lit.

What does it mean to be alive? Really alive? Davis really pinpoints what it is to exist in a world that requires your attention in a thousand different directions, each as troubling as the last, and how quickly and easily dystopia creeps up on us in this modern age. Existential and gorgeously literary prose paired with an incredibly compelling plot and cast of flawed yet loveable, funny, and deeply human characters -- what's not to love? Musing on how it feels to consider the climate crisis and climate guilt, AI and the future of technology, and the failings of end-stage capitalism, all while trying to find your own place in the world and put food on the table, Arborescence is a quiet and grounded dystopia that feels gut-churningly real, and is already one of my favourite reads in a very long time. An absolutely incredible novel that I think everybody should read -- lots of writings are given the label "of our times," but this truly is a novel for our times. I loved it.