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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
Admittedly, I read this book on the recommendation of my brother, whose reading tastes differ from my own, but I was so touched that he wanted to share one of his reads with me, that I read it. I did find the dystopian vision of a divided U.S. convincing though a little surprised at how many supplies seemed to come in to the south from a world I imagine being pretty tight on resources due to climate change. Anyway, if you're interested in how a vigilante/terrorist becomes one / gets recruited/activated, this is that story. I'm not sure it adds anything new to the ouevre, but if that's your jam, then you might like this one.
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-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
Yes, I'm sure it's a metaphor. I'm sure the author feels very clever for having come up with the idea of using a book as a metaphor. What it really needed, though, was a plot. Some interest. Something to move it along. The writing is good, not outstanding, but it's really missing a plot. The "NYT bestseller" bar keeps getting lower.
Liked the beginning and end, but everything in between was a bit boring. Emotionally, I'm lost. It attempts to tell a fair story, even if that means hating the protagonist as the book goes on... Which I respect and loathe... I don't know.
American War is a story told through the lens of a historian presenting what he's learned through firsthand accounts and primary documents. We get a linear plot to ground the novel - a family is sent to a refugee camp after the second civil war over oil. A daughter is radicalized and the full extent of her involvement isn't realized until the very end. The historian isn't the narrator, adding information or his opinion along the way. His perspective bookends the novel and encapsulates how we all try to make sense of our world and our loved ones.
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Can you imagine what a second American Civil War might look like? What might be wrought by even more changes in climate? How a democratic, unified Middle East might come to be--at the same time as a debilitating second American Civil War? If not, I have a novel for you....
Great dystopian book. Dark in parts and I cried in some parts. Very different from anything I've read. Almost reminded me of Handmaids Tale.
Really well written about a post-climate savaged world.
Meh . . . the book read as a young adult novel making an effort to help teens better understand the Syrian war by placing them in the future where America has begun its second Civil War. The way the author discussed the first Civil War bothered me, as if it wasn't about race or slavery and instead it was about the South being stubborn. This outlook on American history seems too simplistic and cuts out a large number of important people and ideas that contributed to the war and the gradual change in our society.
In the teaser for the book much is made about Akkad's depiction of climate change, a cli-fi book; however, the book barely grazes over how much the world had been changed by the rising of the oceans and the use of fossil fuels. It discusses the climate changes a bit, but they do not seem that important, just as the author softly touches every topic in this book without really digging into what is going on.
The book is rather clunky in places and rushes through spots that could have been unfurled to make the narrative feel more fluid and cohesive. I take offense to the way southern people are depicted, poor grammar, stubborn, unreasonable, and I am not even from the south. The whole book came across as being written by someone observing American culture from the outside making broad generalizations. Reading this book didn't add a whole lot to my life; I wasn't terribly sad when it was over, but at the same time it wasn't a awful waste of time . . . it was jut okay.
In the teaser for the book much is made about Akkad's depiction of climate change, a cli-fi book; however, the book barely grazes over how much the world had been changed by the rising of the oceans and the use of fossil fuels. It discusses the climate changes a bit, but they do not seem that important, just as the author softly touches every topic in this book without really digging into what is going on.
The book is rather clunky in places and rushes through spots that could have been unfurled to make the narrative feel more fluid and cohesive. I take offense to the way southern people are depicted, poor grammar, stubborn, unreasonable, and I am not even from the south. The whole book came across as being written by someone observing American culture from the outside making broad generalizations. Reading this book didn't add a whole lot to my life; I wasn't terribly sad when it was over, but at the same time it wasn't a awful waste of time . . . it was jut okay.