Blurb:
| Remember the '90s? Well...the town of Demise, North Dakota doesn't, and they're living in the year 1997. That's because an alien worm hitched a ride on a comet, crash landed in the town's trailer park, and is now infecting animals with a memory-loss-inducing bite--and right before Christmas! Now it's up to nineteen-year-old Realene and her best friend Nate to stop the spread and defeat the worms before the entire town loses its mind. The only things standing in the way are their troubled pasts, a doomsday cult, and an army of infected prairie dogs. |
All Realene wants is to get out of Demise, North Dakota and
become a doctor. Instead, she’s stuck in a dead-end town she hates with a dead
dad and a mother who is slowly succumbing to Alzheimer’s who she has to care for. Realene‘s
best friend, Nate, is in a similarly tough spot. His father is an abusive
asshole who threw him out as soon as he turned 18 and continues to terrorize
Nate’s mother. Because he got busted for selling weed, Nate is now ineligible
for finical aid, which he can’t afford college without. It seems both will be trapped
in Demise for the rest of their lives.
And then the meteor strikes. Realene is first on the scene and
witnesses the meteorite crack open and leak out a black sludge, which is
quickly absorbed into the ground. She contacts the police about the meteorite,
but chooses to leave out the part about the black sludge. The next day the
strike site is a zoo, with police, military, scientists, newscasters, and
locals crawling all over the scene. Most of the town views the meteorite as a
reason to celebrate, even going so far as to have special shooting star sales
at all the local stores, but the local religious zealot, reverend Zebadiah,
sees it as a sign of the end times. And that’s when the prairie dogs start to
attack.
 |
| Dramatic prairie dog! |
Despite being a comedy about alien parasites, the book has
some pretty depressing themes. As much as Realene loves her mother, she resents
being stuck taking care of her and how it’s holding her back from her dreams. Does
she give up her dreams and possibly her future to care for her mother, or does
she abandon her best friend and the one family member she has left to try and
make life better for herself? What you think Realene should do probably depends
where you fall on the scale of individualism
to collectivism and how you feel about filial piety. Regardless of the
“right” answer it’s a complicated and crappy position to be in and whatever
decision she make is going to leave her hurting.
Then there’s Nate’s situation with his abusive dad. I got
incredibly frustrated with Nate’s mom and how she would choose her abusive
husband over her own son. I understand intellectually that she is a victim. She
was physically and emotionally abused first by her husband, and then by
reverend Zebadiah. There are a
myriad of reasons she might stay, and it’s likely her husband would have killed
her if she tried to leave anyway. And I know that Nate’s father is the one
at fault, not his mother, who was put in an impossible situation. I’m not upset
that she couldn’t protect Nate when she couldn’t even protect herself, that was
beyond her control. But the fact that, when given the opportunity, she chooses
first her abusive husband and then her abusive reverend over her own son feels
like a betrayal. But like Realene’s situation, the situation for Nate’s mother is
complicated and there are no easy answers.
This is a book about killer prairie dogs, family, and a doomsday cult that comes with its own ‘90s playlist. And it works so well. The story manages to balance tragedy, horror, humor, and some genuinely heart-warming moments perfectly and in a way that doesn’t feel like you’re jumping from genre to genre. There’s also an orange cat named Pumpkin and I love him (don’t worry, nothing bad happens to him). Frostbite is a fun, heartfelt romp full of suspense and horror movie references. Definitely check it out, unless you love prairie dogs.
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