Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
This book has so much heart and is about so many things other than a fictional civil war in the future. I'm sure I'll be thinking about it for weeks to come. This may be getting added to my favorites list. Too many thoughts right now. Everyone should just read this damn book.
3 1/2 stars but I'm rounding up. This was less dystopian speculative fiction and more alternate (future) history. It's about the second civil war when 4 southern states secede and there are many years of war and then plague between the Red and the Blue. But it's really the story of one southern girl and how she gets turned into a revolutionary or a terrorist (depending on your point of view). So it ended up being less about possible results of our current political situation and more about how a refugee becomes a terrorist. It's told with a lot of empathy for the main character and is fairly compelling.
To be completely accurate, this book was more of a 2 1/2 star book for my personal taste, but for what it is in the genre I felt it deserved more. It's not the book's fault that I'm not a fan of apocalyptic, dystopian, or any sort of war story and only read it for a book club. And as a book in that genre, I highly recommend it! The characters were compelling (even if unlikable) and the story was good. A little terrifying, actually, because I could see it happening pretty easily.
This is now one of my top 3 favorite books, alongside "Of Mice and Men" and "The Masterpiece". It is not a page turner, parts of the novel are certainly slow, but it is a rewarding read. I could easily see this becoming a classic. This novel is beautifully written, thought-provoking, and relevant to today's political and cultural environment. Although the novel takes place during war, it's more about the impact war has and the different ways in which people react. This novel follows a girl from childhood through adulthood as she loses family and friends, and the way in which the war shapes and breaks her, as well as the legacy she leaves behind. I'm telling all my family and friends about this novel and encouraging them to read it.
The remarkable thing about this book is that, as prescient as it may seem, a mere three years after it came out, it really isn't about an American war at all. As it says in the prologue, this isn't about war, it's about ruin. Specifically, the ruin of Sarat, a character who we default to seeing as having chosen the wrong side, whose horrifying experiences, at the hands of the "right" side, leads her inevitably to the decision she makes at the end of the book. It is impossible not to sympathize with her and to wonder, were you placed in the same position, if you would not make the same decision as her.
The doing and undoing of a "terrorist" from childhood trauma to ultimate martyrdom as the martyr ne plus ultra. The America of the future engaged in a civil war that has its roots, of course, in our first civil war, but over a subject - the use of fossil fuels as a state's rights issue - that seems a little slim. Thinking about it, all the politics are slim, but that didn't undo the book for me because the trajectory and development of the main character seemed true.
The nature of war, terrorism, hagiography, hasn't changed much since the Iliad, but that's not to say that insights don't become deeper or more interesting with individual authors. The insights here are worth the time.
I must say, I enjoyed it more in the reading than in the considering for this review.
The nature of war, terrorism, hagiography, hasn't changed much since the Iliad, but that's not to say that insights don't become deeper or more interesting with individual authors. The insights here are worth the time.
I must say, I enjoyed it more in the reading than in the considering for this review.
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Challenging and painfully prescient. Appreciated this point of view and nuanced look at war and refugee experiences, as well as how anyone can be made to move to extremes.
Futuristic and Dystopian reads are not my favorite, and my rating reflects this. I must say the book was well written, and the characters well developed. One of my overall thoughts is why would "the South" band so heavily to fossil fuels? I can see the Southern mentality, and the domestic terrorist acts - very disconcerting read. Sarat is not a character I liked, or identified with, but I understood why she did everything she did.
The story was a little clunky at times, I found some of the aspects absurd (and not in an interesting way, but in a technical this author doesn't understand how physical things work sort of way), and I don't get how you can write a book about an American civil war in any era without touching on race at all... That said, like any good piece of future history, this story shines a light on our world and invites questions that we ought to be asking about how we interact with each other today and what the eventual consequences are if we stay on that path.
Well worth the read. I'd put it alongside something like Ghost Fleet in terms of provoking thought, but not up there with something like World War Z, that I want to own and consistently recommend.
Well worth the read. I'd put it alongside something like Ghost Fleet in terms of provoking thought, but not up there with something like World War Z, that I want to own and consistently recommend.