A mysterious plague known as the Grey grips the small village of Pilam, which the world has quarantined without pity. Laying waste to Pilam’s residents, the sickness saps its victims of strength, drains the color from their eyes, and kills all promise. Only the young are immune. But beyond the barricades and walls of soldiers—the manifestation of a nation’s terror—there are rumors of a cure. Dunka, the eldest son of a family reeling from the Grey, takes on the daunting task of leaving Pilam to find that cure for his siblings and save them before it’s too late.
His brother and sisters, however, have plans of their own. Navigating the chaos of violence, hunger, and death, each of them tries to make sense of the bleak circumstances, forging new bonds with other juvenile survivors left to their own devices. Now an unlikely family of six, they choose their own perilous paths, at first separately and then together, coming to terms with the decisions they make and the ghosts they cannot leave behind.
SUCH A BEAUTIFUL THING TO BEHOLD by Umar Turaki is not the usual type of plague book I read, so I did not have any expectations going in. Very little is revealed about the Grey, aside from the symptoms. The POV alternates between characters and the timeline moves in concentric circles rather than a straight line. There is far more dialogue and descriptions than action, but the characters are very-well written.
The children are not afflicted, and they eventually become feral and brutal with each other and the few remaining adults. As terrible as the sickness is, there are more horrifying events outside the quarantine walls. The ending is full of revelations I didn't see coming.
If you enjoy stories such as ALAS, BABYLON, I recommend this novel.
As always,
AstraDaemon
