The Millennial generation (also known as Generation Y, or the spawn of the Baby Boomers) is not the first to come of age in a time of terror, shrouded in a blanket of deadly pandemic warnings, perpetual terrorist alerts and devastating natural disasters. It just may be the first generation to have to cope with the looming threat of apocalypse nearly every minute of every day, by way of text message, tweet, blog post or online media report. So how do you hold still in a world that is in constant motion, that is perpetually crumbling around you?

Meet the trio of complex characters whose interwoven lives will provide the answer: Josh is a shy, dark-humoured, transsexual paramedic living in Toronto and confronting the demise of his longstanding relationship with Amy, a fashion-forward, bisexual filmmaker from a well-to-do family. Though Josh and Amy finally call it quits, actually leaving each other proves too difficult and the pair continue to share an apartment, even when Josh starts to date again. His new love interest is the washed-up pop idol Billy, formerly known as Hilary, now struggling to navigate a life that peaked at 16 and the detritus of agoraphobia, panic attacks and obsessive-compulsive tendencies left in its wake.

We follow the increasingly incestuous dynamic of the three protagonists as they each search for calm in tumultuous times. There is heavy drinking, incessant text messaging and crippling panic-attacks. These are the kind of characters that join knitting groups just to keep from unravelling themselves. They are twentysomethings sculpted with purpose and imbued with contemporary anxieties surrounding sexuality, identity and how to face life when the most important details are out of your control. As Billy explains, “I was without a doubt deeply terrified of the inevitability of death. And so I did what I could. I counted. I repeated. I breathed deeply. I distracted myself.”

This is the second novel from the award-winning Canadian writer Zoe Whittall, who presents us with a story that really speaks to the generation while offering some sage advice about living. The novel devotes most of its pages to character development through seemingly innocuous, often humorous, interactions. Although a few passages may feel contrived, there are moments of genuine, understated authenticity, especially in Whittall’s depiction of complex human dynamics. She manages to beautifully encapsulate that sickening feeling when you realize your ex might be over you and to convey how it feels to fall in love with startling brevity.

In what turns out to be a very lengthy lead-up to a ground-shifting accident, the use of extensive foreshadowing exacerbates mounting tension between the three characters.

And in a world where everything is connected — including your sexual partners — the anticipation of how these characters will be affected by the accident (and affect one another) is a real page-turner. Although the turning point comes late in the novel and falls short of the catastrophic conclusion we eagerly envision, the journey is enjoyable and the prescription for living is clear — and right on the money.