Susan's Reviews > We Speak Through the Mountain

In the sequel to The Annual Migration of Clouds, Mohamed depicts Reid's experiences at Howse University and the ways that Reid fights to maintain the promise she made to herself: that she would return home with whatever she could to help her community. It's not a surprise that she has to fight, but what's interesting is watching the ways she changes the people at Howse, even in the brief year she's there.

We Speak Through the Mountain is significantly different in pacing and plot development than its precursor - it moves quickly, easily jumping over unnecessary scenes while still providing emotional connections to Reid and the other characters. These supporting characters are a bit sketched out in comparison to the supporting characters of Clouds, but they're still and unique enough that, by the end of the novella, I regretted not having more time with them.

At the same time, the strong worldbuilding continues in this novella, with Reid sharing even more details about her community while learning about Howse, from its creation to its present-day utopia. Of course, Reid (being Reid) sees the issues behind the utopia, in particular its unjust isolation from the rest of the world, and she makes a few comparisons to H. G. Wells's The Time Machine that suggest more could be going on beneath the surface. Mountain engages with a number of dystopian literature tropes, as well as magical school and YA tropes, but Mohamed uses them to enhance the narrative and keep it steadily moving. Then, at the end, she plays with the tropes, twisting narrative expectations in a way that makes the ending more exciting, creating a fresh take on the YA dystopia genre that isn't couched in violence or malevolence, but instead in community.

Ultimately, my only critique is that the novella is too short. It was just getting thrilling when it ended, and it leaves so many unanswered questions - more than even Clouds did, with its greater sense of finality when Reid leaves home. Here, there's so much up in the air, so much Reid needs to do and figure out before we reach a satisfying ending. Hopefully, the third book is longer and able to further explore this world and these characters' lives. For now, I may have to re-read Mountain more slowly to better savour Mohamed's vivid and lyrical writing.