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encgolsen's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
When the narrator of Red Pill is awarded a stipend to write at the Deuter Center near Berlin, he has no idea his stay will lead him down a rabbit hole of conspiracy that will threaten to unravel his life. The Deuter Center's rules about transparency and openness create a stubbornly contrary reaction in him; he retreats into escapism, absorbed in a garishly violent cop show called Blue Lives, which takes on increasing significance when he meets the show's creator at a charity event in Berlin. That's when things really start to spiral out of control. Concluding with the 2016 US presidential election, Red Pill brilliantly captures the anxiety of an uncertain age, the fear that something terrible is coming, that poison is seeping into the cultural ecosystem unrecognized and unopposed, even as sea levels and temperatures rise. I would not recommend reading this book if you're prone to existential crisis; at least wait until the results of the next election are in.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Suicide
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