The City Below the Cloud

 “[E]very dystopia is someone's utopia.”

I devoured this novella in one sitting and if the second book was out, I'd have devoured that one too.

The writing and point of view is very introspective, which I think adds to the dreary and lonely feeling of the world. The city is described to be dark and gray but you can feel the lack of color in how the characters interact with each other and how they internalize their thoughts rather than speaking to each other. The writing style works so well for this story and setting.

The mysterious aspects of the story are unique and mind boggling at times, but I really liked way the suspense was handled. There's some mild “body horror” scenes that might keep some readers from enjoying this, but overall, if you like dark sci-fi and dystopian themes (and mushrooms), you need to read this.

Content disclaimers: Very mild and infrequent cursing. No sexual content (or romance). Strong themes of death and semi-detailed descriptions of body horror (no gore).