We Are Unprepared -Meg Little Reilly

"Meg Little Reilly places a young couple in harm’s way—both literally and emotionally—as they face a cataclysmic storm that threatens to decimate their Vermont town, and the Eastern Seaboard in her penetrating debut novel, WE ARE UNPREPARED. Ash and Pia move from hipster Brooklyn to rustic Vermont in search of a more authentic life. But just months after settling in, the forecast of a superstorm disrupts their dream. Fear of an impending disaster splits their tight-knit community and exposes the cracks in their marriage. Where Isole was once a place of old farm families, rednecks and transplants, it now divides into paranoid preppers, religious fanatics and government tools, each at odds about what course to take.  WE ARE UNPREPARED is an emotional journey, a terrifying glimpse into the human costs of our changing earth and, ultimately, a cautionary tale of survival and the human..." I'm finished and thank goodness for that. If I had had to read anymore of this writing I would have plucked out my eyeballs. I'm not sure why this book is getting so many rave reviews...all I can think is that the reviewers connect more with these protagonist's,  the style of writing and maybe I am just too old to understand, empathize with or connect with protagonist's like this. (selfish, silly, stupid, whiny, possibly suffering a variety of mental illnesses, entitled, bratty and did I already say stupid? etc ) Since the first third or more of the book was back-story and very boring except to lay the foundation of the Ash and Pias' flaws. This was a good thing, because it explains so much later on in the book. The back-story also explains that this couple had just been playing at being Vermonter's, and nearly deserved what they got. Yes, they were THAT unlikable. The next third of the book just---I don't even know if I could explain it ---just bogs down. Slow and clumsily written. The sad thing is that the concept was such a good one, but in my opinion the author tried to be too literary (fancy-shmansy)with it. To much introspection on the male protagonists part, not enough battening down the hatches preparing and waiting for THE STORM! The last 1/4 of the book was almost worth the time spent on it. I'm from New England and this book was insulting to me. *ARC supplied by publisher