Dear Station Eleven,

I have fallen head over heels in love with you. I’m talking the type of love that if you were a person I would write your name in a note book and draw a heart around it. Yeah, that kind of love. But I feel that I must confess something before we go any further. Before I fell in love with you, you weren’t really on my radar. I know, I know it’s such a terrible thing to say but hear me out. I’m not trying to be mean I’m just explaining how truly wonderful you are.

Last week I didn’t know what to read. I didn’t have a clue. I even turned to Faceyspace and asked the Geeklings to choose from three options. Yes, you were one of them but I was leaning more towards a spy book and Faceyspace wanted me to read The Wind Up Bird Chronicles. Don’t be upset. I know it seems you were the number three option but I turned to you second. I opened up the spy novel, Red Sparrow, and started to read the first page or so and instantly wasn’t feeling it. This wasn’t the time for espionage. Then I turned to you.

Right off the bat there was something different here. There was something bubbling underneath the surface. Something electric. The way the words flowed together and the imagery you provided instantly grabbed me. It only took three pages before I knew there would be no testing of a third book. I had found what I was going to read, and I’m so glad it was you.

You are one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I really mean that. This isn’t something I’m just saying to make up for you being the third option. I love end of the world stories. There’s just something there that I find appealing. Maybe it’s what the end of the world does to humanity or maybe it’s because I like zombies or maybe it’s because I like the landscape. It varies from story to story. This is part of the reason why I purchased you in the first place. But you did something different. You presented the end of the world and instead of it being overcast and dreary and filled with doom I found it… beautiful.

Granted what happens to the world is pretty awful and I get that. And yes I get that the visuals paint a world that’s dangerous and different, but it also paints a world that’s full of hope and potential. A way for humanity to start over with the past playing as a what was to the what could be. This is a story aspect that I find sometimes gets glossed over in apocalypse narrative. You were willing to focus more on what could come next opposed to what destroyed the world, and I appreciated that.

You provided a narrative that spanned various different time lines and effortlessly connected in the end. As the narratives shifted and the story grew I started to see the larger picture and instead of being upset about figuring things out I became excited and admired the story you were telling. It was ambitious in it’s simplicity and was fueled by it’s love for the characters. Speaking of…

Your characters are vivid, life like, and instantly relatable. I really enjoyed how Arthur was at the center of each characters narrative, whether they were aware of it or not. And can I just say Miranda… Miranda was a gem. What a fantastic character. I think she was the first thing I really loved about this book. But everyone shines here. From Clark to Katie to Charlie. Each character resonates and never seems like filler or background fodder.

I’m not only writing this letter to proclaim my love but to tell you I can’t wait to see you again. One of my favorite parts about reading is finding a book I know I’ll be revisiting with, and you, Station Eleven… we’ll definitely be meeting again. Now, while I can’t promise when that time will be I know it’ll be sooner rather than later. I look forward to seeing what time does to our relationship.

Thank you for your gorgeous imagery and your beautiful story telling. I could have fallen into a book hole, searching hopelessly for something to dig me out, but you prevented that. You provided me with one of my favorite books of the year. Until next time Station Eleven…

Hearts and Kitten Whiskers,

~ Kevin