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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Excrement, Kidnapping, War
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3 to 3.5 stars
Popsuger 2018: book by an author of a different ethnicity than you
ARC copy received at ALA conference.
Honestly, I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I've been trying to define this book's genre, and it's really hard to do. Dystopian, yes, but not entirely. Speculative fiction? Maybe. Literary fiction, possibly. In any case, I was quickly and easily engaged by the story of a United States irrevocably altered by climate change, ultimately causing a second civil war. The first third of the book (roughly), was incredibly well-written and sucked me in. The middle section was fine, but the pace slowed quite a bit and left me wanting something more. My only issue was the last part of the book. It took an incredibly dark turn that I found off-putting. And then it felt like the author went out of his way to make amends for that and then tried to tie it up in a pretty little bow. I do have some issues with the author choosing to make this another north vs. south thing - he had the choice to split the country any way he wanted. In any case, I definitely recommend this for anyone wanting something dystopian-like that is far different from the typical book of that genre.
Popsuger 2018: book by an author of a different ethnicity than you
ARC copy received at ALA conference.
Honestly, I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I've been trying to define this book's genre, and it's really hard to do. Dystopian, yes, but not entirely. Speculative fiction? Maybe. Literary fiction, possibly. In any case, I was quickly and easily engaged by the story of a United States irrevocably altered by climate change, ultimately causing a second civil war. The first third of the book (roughly), was incredibly well-written and sucked me in. The middle section was fine, but the pace slowed quite a bit and left me wanting something more. My only issue was the last part of the book. It took an incredibly dark turn that I found off-putting. And then it felt like the author went out of his way to make amends for that and then tried to tie it up in a pretty little bow. I do have some issues with the author choosing to make this another north vs. south thing - he had the choice to split the country any way he wanted. In any case, I definitely recommend this for anyone wanting something dystopian-like that is far different from the typical book of that genre.
Oh my. This book. it grabbed my by the lapels and demanded my attention from the first page until it's last. A must read. Knowing from a BookRiot podcast that all the events in the book happened somewhere in the world, just not the United States gave the reading even greater impact. I couldn't stop reading it. I read it in two sittings in two days something I rarely do. Only breaking to take a breather from the nuanced questions, views and warnings the book heeds. Sarat, the main character is incredible well written. Unlike other dystopian novels of war, this is near future, the events are plausible. It's scary, and gripping. You never know where the story is going to go next. The book leaves me absolutely astonished. Speechless. In awe. One of the most deeply impactful reads of my life to date.
I want to buy it and keep it near. A reminder of just how lucky we are, and just how arbitrary that is.
I want to buy it and keep it near. A reminder of just how lucky we are, and just how arbitrary that is.
I was expecting a book centered on late 21st century America, struggling through climate change and plagues and a 2nd civil war. But this book really focuses more on terrorism. The world was very interesting, but the author could have definitely fleshed it out for us a little bit. We follow Sarat and how she gets through leaving her house and growing up in Camp Patience (basically a tent city/refugee camp) as a child. And then we follow her life story after Camp Patience and how she maneuvers this American War.
I can see why this book is important and interesting to critics, but I never got a huge payoff; seems like I was always waiting for it to "get good." Felt like a chore, getting through this book, at times.
Sarat, the main character, was very unlikable. I also didnt get why her family was so important! Filing this one under No Thanks, Not For Me.
I can see why this book is important and interesting to critics, but I never got a huge payoff; seems like I was always waiting for it to "get good." Felt like a chore, getting through this book, at times.
Sarat, the main character, was very unlikable. I also didnt get why her family was so important! Filing this one under No Thanks, Not For Me.
medium-paced
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
Some parts of this book are beautiful -the writing, the characters, it all fits so perfectly together thats its nothing but beautiful.
But other parts of this book feel very unfinished, raw and ruff around the edges, leaving me confused and unsure about what happened, why or how the book got to this point.
I really liked the idea of this book -basically speculative futuristic fiction about how America could end up in the near future.
But i do think that the author could have done a better job in actually explaining what happened to get to this future he writes about as if the reader just knows what happened and how it all came to be.
How the "new" world worked, how it came to be, why things are happening as they are done... it all is left unexplained (at least to me it is not explained enough, since its basically just explained as: war happened, this is the consequence of it!) and for me that is not enough.
Now i don't need five chapters detailing me exactly how change happened or how it all came to be -i don't need a history lesson. BUT i do need to understand why people react as they do, especially if it influences a lot of why the characters are as they are.
But the idea is still good, and if the author would have put a little bit more work into developing the actual futuristic world, given a little bit more thought into understanding that the reader is NOT inside his head and did not follow along with his development and ideas before he wrote the actual book, i am sure it would have been a fantastic book.
Sadly since that did not happen, so this book is "only" a good book.
If you love different world views, enjoy getting one perspective of where our future might be heading and generally enjoy a good book idea -even if the actual book itself could have been done better- and different characters and easy to read writing, defiantly give this book a try.
If you are someone that needs actual good plot, that makes sense from start to finish, need character development that you can follow along, see happening and understand, want consistency in the writing and how the story is told... i don't think that this book will give you what you are looking for.
*Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for a free and honest review!*
I finished this book last night. I had book club today where the author, who lives in Portland, came and talked to us about the book. I may now be giving this book 5 stars because I thought he was a very relatable human. But I honestly did love this book. It's hard to read. It's violent. But it tells the story of war and violence and how the things around us and and how the things that happen to us shape us. Sarat is shaped by the violence in her life and that guides her actions. This is a fictional telling of America's second civil war but it also mirrors the horrors of the Iraq War but puts it in the context of 'what if it happened here.'