California

A not-so-distant dystopian future about a couple living alone in the wild, trying to create some sort of normalcy, after everyday life blew apart in terrorist attacks, war etc leading to destruction of infrastructure, making cities uninhabitable and unsafe. The woman gets pregnant and fears of being able to raise a child in the wild makes them go look for others.

The setup has potential, first focusing on the peace but also negative effect of 2 people living isolated, only having each other. There are small beautiful character moments. Then the couple, reaching a settlement that is clouded in mystery and strict rules to ensure survival, bit for bit drifts apart through the stress of secrecy.

The novel has a lot of psychologically interesting aspects, what would happen with humanity after an apocalypse, the lord-of-the-flies vibe, going feral, what rules do you abide by to pay for safety, falling back into a strict men/women division, etc. it's all there in bits and pieces, but ...

... but the execution is lacking. I felt a lot like I wanted to read a better version of this book.