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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
Arghhh I wanted to love this one I really did, but for such an exciting premise I found myself constantly distracted and/or bored while reading.
American War starts off strong. The opener is written retrospectively and explains that between the years 2075 and 2094 America was engaged in a second civil war between the dominant North and the rebel South, largely over the outlaw of fossil fuel (which to me was a fairly weak catalyst for a 20 year war, when there are soooo many other things that could and should have contributed).
The world is a changed place with country borders flooded by the oceans, and new dominant world powers. The bulk of the story follows protagonist Sarat during the course of the war. We see Sarat experience unspeakable tragedies that slowly strip her of her humanity and turn her into the South's most powerful weapon.
So where did it go wrong? Something about it felt very impersonal. Despite the horrific things done to Sarat, I felt very little for her. There was a ginormous time frame of events to get through, and it felt like true character development was sacrificed because of this. I found the structure off putting, with a lot of jumping from event to event, and jumping from first person to third person.
It would have worked much better as a trilogy and probably will work much better as a movie. A+ for originality, D for execution.
American War starts off strong. The opener is written retrospectively and explains that between the years 2075 and 2094 America was engaged in a second civil war between the dominant North and the rebel South, largely over the outlaw of fossil fuel (which to me was a fairly weak catalyst for a 20 year war, when there are soooo many other things that could and should have contributed).
The world is a changed place with country borders flooded by the oceans, and new dominant world powers. The bulk of the story follows protagonist Sarat during the course of the war. We see Sarat experience unspeakable tragedies that slowly strip her of her humanity and turn her into the South's most powerful weapon.
So where did it go wrong? Something about it felt very impersonal. Despite the horrific things done to Sarat, I felt very little for her. There was a ginormous time frame of events to get through, and it felt like true character development was sacrificed because of this. I found the structure off putting, with a lot of jumping from event to event, and jumping from first person to third person.
It would have worked much better as a trilogy and probably will work much better as a movie. A+ for originality, D for execution.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
This was the bleakest novel I have ever read. Very well written and deeply tragic. I only wish I had finished it sooner before I soured on it. Highly recommend.
Grim, powerful, thought-provoking, and well-written, this is a future history of the second American Civil War, ca. 2074-2095. This time the southern states secede over fossil fuels, and the geopolitical map is vastly different than it was two hundred years earlier. The still-simmering resentment between south and north, Red and Blue, is overlaid with a case study of what it takes to dehumanize the "other" and to turn an average human being into a killing machine bent on revenge. It doesn't even matter if the underlying motive is based on mistake or misunderstanding. Describing the misshapen stars on the southern flag, “Sarat thought about how easy it would be to fix the mistake, to simply redraw the stars properly. But she knew that even broken history is history. The stars, cast wrong, must remain that way. It would be more wrong to change them.”
Even broken history is history. Perhaps we should be more careful with ours.
Even broken history is history. Perhaps we should be more careful with ours.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a plausible and terrifying view of a post-collapse America. It's set about 60 years from now, after climate change has led to major physical and economic changes to the earth, leading the US to ban the burning of fossil fuels. The South refuses to comply, and secedes. From then, El Akkad imagines a scenario that is clearly supposed to be an imagination of what an Israeli-Palestinian type conflict would look like in the near-future United States. Just for fun, he casts a post Arab Spring Egyptian empire into the manipulative overseas power meddling in a conflict for its own gains while openly appearing to be high-minded and helpful.
That's the setting. The story, which follows a family of displaced Southerners who become radicalized, is compelling if a bit pulpy. Just as a story, it moves really fast and is both a pleasant piece of escapism and a satisfying work of terrifying speculation.
That's the setting. The story, which follows a family of displaced Southerners who become radicalized, is compelling if a bit pulpy. Just as a story, it moves really fast and is both a pleasant piece of escapism and a satisfying work of terrifying speculation.
This is one of the most well-written and compelling stories I have ever read. So thoughtful and detail oriented that it could be true, eventually, couldn't it?
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
For full transparency, I had gotten this book through Book of the Month Club back in 2017. I didn't look too deeply into what it was about and thought it was more a sci-fi dystopian novel—but considering the political climate of 2017, I couldn't bring myself to read it. Over 7 years later, in a desperate attempt to get through my backlogged TBR or finally decide to simply donate some books, I decided to read it.
Man was it heavy.
I do feel that in general it overpaints a seconds Civil War with the brushstrokes of the first Civil War but with less of the historical value and more of the vibes. According to the book, the South hates the North for a number of things, the main thing being that they're not allowed to use fossil fuels anymore. It's never explained why the South is so hamfisted about needing fossil fuels beyond stubborn Southern pride along with a bunch of other colloquialisms assigned to the South. And considering I'm reading this book now, at the beginning of 2025, fossil fuels being the Main Thing just fell really flat for me. Maybe I would have felt different 7 years ago.
Also, the book was really heavy—that wasn't surprising to me, I just wasn't prepared for it to be heavy in the ways that it was, and heavy about a character that I was struggling to care about it. I didn't really find anything redeeming or even empathetic about Sarat as a main character. I just struggled to identify with her at all, and because of that she felt like an unmarked vehicle carrying the story.
The writing itself I enjoyed—it was well-written and evocative and I didn't struggle with the pacing or the prose, but I mostly struggled with the dialogue and the... characters were all sort of the same shape, but I did enjoy how the book was kind of like a poetic ouroboros.
I'm glad it's finally off my TBR, but it's not something that left me feeling good.
Man was it heavy.
I do feel that in general it overpaints a seconds Civil War with the brushstrokes of the first Civil War but with less of the historical value and more of the vibes. According to the book, the South hates the North for a number of things, the main thing being that they're not allowed to use fossil fuels anymore. It's never explained why the South is so hamfisted about needing fossil fuels beyond stubborn Southern pride along with a bunch of other colloquialisms assigned to the South. And considering I'm reading this book now, at the beginning of 2025, fossil fuels being the Main Thing just fell really flat for me. Maybe I would have felt different 7 years ago.
Also, the book was really heavy—that wasn't surprising to me, I just wasn't prepared for it to be heavy in the ways that it was, and heavy about a character that I was struggling to care about it. I didn't really find anything redeeming or even empathetic about Sarat as a main character. I just struggled to identify with her at all, and because of that she felt like an unmarked vehicle carrying the story.
The writing itself I enjoyed—it was well-written and evocative and I didn't struggle with the pacing or the prose, but I mostly struggled with the dialogue and the... characters were all sort of the same shape, but I did enjoy how the book was kind of like a poetic ouroboros.
I'm glad it's finally off my TBR, but it's not something that left me feeling good.
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book challenged my perception on a lot of complicated topics - including war, war crimes, radicalization, becoming hardened through lived experience through war, and more. Overall, the story was compelling and I wanted to read and get to know the characters, but I felt like the complexity of their stories could've been explored more and the best parts felt like they could've been delved into deeper. There was a lot of content to think through coming out of this and I think provides an interesting commentary on many topics.