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The Life Lionel Never Chose
Duck It! follows one of the few survivors of a worldwide sickness who documents his journey from Florida to the Midwest and confronts his own past and fears. Why did you choose a notebook-style, first-person narrative rather than a more traditional structure?
I chose to tell the story first-person, notebook-style, because it’s how the character(s) became most real to me. I never start writing until my characters are truly real in my mind; and in today’s world, through social media, most people are always documenting themselves. It’s only fitting that Lionel tells his own story, and fearing the collapse of the worldwide web, he wisely does so old-school: pen and paper.
How does the collapse of society expose the life Lionel never chose for himself?
The collapse of society exposes the life Lionel never chose, because it forced him to finally make a choice. Before, despite not loving his chosen path, Lionel was quite comfortable on it and felt no need, no pull to diverge. Now, having to choose, needing to make his own decisions going forward, he can’t help but look back at his life and all the choices he didn’t make.
The book balances dread with dark humor. How did you decide when to let Lionel joke and when to let things hurt?
The answer to this question, I would have to say is the end result of my answer to the first question. I can’t honestly say that I “decided,” it was more so that, it’s who Lionel is. Dark humor is a part of him, because of his upbringing. He also believed it to be his shield, his superpower, but on his journey, because he finally made a choice, he soon realized he’s just a regular human. And pain, whether mental or physical, hurts. This is the best way I can explain how naturally it was written.
What kind of understanding did you want readers to have of Lionel by the end of the story?
The understanding I wanted readers to have of Lionel by the end of the story is… Honestly, it ties back into my answer to the former question. I want readers to see and understand that Lionel is just a regular person, but without a filter or needing “likes,” because the world we (he) live in no longer exists. So, by the end of Lionel’s exit from his home state, the question that remains is: How truthful would we really be if we really didn’t care about likes and subscribers, if we really didn’t fear being judged and persecuted? And let’s say you did find “your people,” people who hated everything you hated, is that really the world you want to live in, a hate-filled one? Because that’s ultimately what Lionel’s journey is about.
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Join Lionel on his journey to escape a past life, while he continues to struggle with his morality and mortality in a world between purgatory and paradise.
Duck It!
Duck It! follows Lionel Romero, one of the few survivors of a world crushed by a fast and merciless sickness. He leaves his dead parents’ home in Florida and heads toward the Midwest, writing about the trip in a plain notebook. The story blends road travel with emotional fallout, and it traces how he sees the ruined world around him while digging into the memories that shaped him. The book moves between his present journey and his old hurts, which come alive again as he confronts fear, quiet, and the strange freedom of having almost no one left.
I was pulled in by the voice. It is raw, jumpy, funny in dark ways, and full of chaotic honesty. The writing has a rhythm that hits hard because Lionel keeps drifting between bold thoughts and quiet self-doubt. I appreciated how the author let him ramble, swear, and laugh at himself. Sometimes the scenes hit me with this weird mix of dread and warmth, like when Lionel finds comfort in silence or when he sees animals in the open fields and suddenly feels joy. I enjoyed that emotional swing. It made the world feel alive even though most of the people in it are dead.
The idea of being forced into a life you never chose, which Lionel describes through his years working under the Florida sun, came through with sharp detail. The book lingers on resentment. It lingers on guilt. It lingers on that strange sense of floating through your own life. Those moments felt personal. When he describes seeing the dead family on the road, I felt this heavy pressure in my chest. The scene pushed me to imagine what he was too scared to say straight out. The story works best in those places where the emotion sits just under the surface.
By the end, I felt like I understood Lionel’s loneliness, even if he masks it with jokes, curses, and stubborn pride. The book struck me as a study of what a person becomes when the whole world falls apart, and it does this without trying to be poetic or grand. It is simple in its words and messy in its feelings. That mix gives it a strong pull. I kept wanting to hear more of Lionel’s voice.
I would recommend Duck It! to readers who enjoy intimate, voice-driven fiction. Anyone drawn to end-of-the-world stories that feel grounded in real emotion would appreciate this book. It suits those who like flawed narrators, rough humor, and a story that cares more about the person than the plot.
Pages: 315 | ASIN : B0GDS32354
