The Age of Miracles was one of those stories that's objectively amazing but subjectively unremarkable. I get why this is a good book. Really, I do. Karen Thompson Walker wrote a great story with wonderfully insightful prose. As far as storytelling goes, The Age of Miracles knocks it out of the park. The problem was that it was a story that I just personally didn't like. Basically this is the perfect summation of the age of theory of "it's not you, it's me." 
 The Age of Miracles is the story of a 12 year old girl named Julia and her family as they navigate complex interworking's of their relationships as well as contend with the end of the world. It's a coming of age, family drama set amongst the backdrop of the apocalypse. The Earth's rotation has begun to slow down thus setting off a chain reaction of events that causes the entire human race to either adapt or die off. Here's the thing: The Age of Miracles is a family drama first and an apocalypse story second. So we don't particularly see the world fracture or see incredibly devastating natural disasters. We do see a gradual change and how people learn to adapt and cope with the fact that the world is dying. Realistically, the world might only be around for another few years at this rate. It's a very interesting concept to see people continue on in the face of their own destruction in mostly the same ways they would continue on if it wasn't the end of the world. The dichotomy of seeing normal adolescent tragedy coupled with the apocalypse is what makes this a truly great story. 
 Seeing the story told through the eyes of a young girl just entering into puberty is an interesting angle. I think it's fair to liken Julia's budding understanding of growing up and the world around her to Scout's in To Kill a Mockingbird. Both have a similar soulfulness to them where we as readers experience the heartbreak inherent in everyday life being seen for the first time through a child's eyes. We get to see how everything starts to deteriorate for the first time, whether it's relationships, health, or the very world around them. It's in the first acceptance of this decay that the first heartbreak happens in the process of coming of age. The apocalypse shines a peculiar light on the normal coming of age tale and at the same time shows just how universal some things are regardless of whether it's the end of the world or not. 
 Overall, the prose and soulfulness of The Age of Miracles was really something quite thought provoking. Objectively speaking, this was a great book and I would definitely recommend it to others. The only reason this isn't getting five stars from me is because it's not necessarily a story that I particularly liked. There's a difference between thinking something is good and liking it too. But, like I said before, this is more of a "me" problem. I'm the weirdo who reads entirely too many books that could be considered "werewolf porn" so what do I know, really?