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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-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
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I think I found the people more interesting than the political ideas which maybe wasn’t the point
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
I really enjoyed listening to this climate thriller, but it also got repetitive and could have been even better with some edits. The teen character's parents are societal heroes who led the way in preventing society from complete collapse as floods and fires raged before she was born (our time). She has a lot of questions about the before times: didn't people in the 2000's notice the planet changing and the disasters looming? Also, their tunes are so vintage and cool, let's turn up Beyonce and Nine Inch Nails.
The parents represent two different outlooks, and their conflict lends a lot of thoughtfulness to the novel: her dad is proud of his work, but considers it a vehicle to reestablish normalcy and family; he considers their worker owned zero emissions society a victory that can offer their child a life that was easier than theirs and full of more choices. Her mother, who was trapped in a "go back to Mexico even if it's completely on fire and you're an orphaned kid" concentration camp, gave up the idea of normalcy when she witnessed death and sexual abuse of her sibling and friends as a teen; she thinks that their daughter has it too easy and people going back to normal life is going to start the climate crisis over again.
When the rich "climate criminals" begin to be assassinated and it looks like Emi's mom is involved, Emi and her dad go on the road to try and track her down. Perhaps the author thought that siding with the mother would drive home the message that if we don't change our society now we'll be trapped in this world where vigilante justice is the only justice, but doesn't give any compelling urgency to justify Kristina. We don't discover that emissions have begun again or that the rich are up to new schemes and people are living in social structures that seem to work, which makes this a very hopeful climate crisis thriller but also makes the people killing the rich seem a bit off the rails. The presumption that the rich will be above the law even during a climate breakdown rang true in a lot of places, but there never seems to be a movement for either activist groups or the government to seize their wealth or put them in jail even at the height of a global meltdown, which makes it a bit weird that we go straight for peacetime lead to the head, especially in public gatherings where civilians are likely to be injured.
The parents represent two different outlooks, and their conflict lends a lot of thoughtfulness to the novel: her dad is proud of his work, but considers it a vehicle to reestablish normalcy and family; he considers their worker owned zero emissions society a victory that can offer their child a life that was easier than theirs and full of more choices. Her mother, who was trapped in a "go back to Mexico even if it's completely on fire and you're an orphaned kid" concentration camp, gave up the idea of normalcy when she witnessed death and sexual abuse of her sibling and friends as a teen; she thinks that their daughter has it too easy and people going back to normal life is going to start the climate crisis over again.
When the rich "climate criminals" begin to be assassinated and it looks like Emi's mom is involved, Emi and her dad go on the road to try and track her down. Perhaps the author thought that siding with the mother would drive home the message that if we don't change our society now we'll be trapped in this world where vigilante justice is the only justice, but doesn't give any compelling urgency to justify Kristina. We don't discover that emissions have begun again or that the rich are up to new schemes and people are living in social structures that seem to work, which makes this a very hopeful climate crisis thriller but also makes the people killing the rich seem a bit off the rails. The presumption that the rich will be above the law even during a climate breakdown rang true in a lot of places, but there never seems to be a movement for either activist groups or the government to seize their wealth or put them in jail even at the height of a global meltdown, which makes it a bit weird that we go straight for peacetime lead to the head, especially in public gatherings where civilians are likely to be injured.
This was a book I was reading for my book club. I don’t like science fiction very much so I wasn’t really looking forward to the book. But I am glad to say I loved this book! I liked all the themes of capitalism and climate change but I think the best theme was do you give up everything for the collective good or do you do what you can but take care of things for the people in your world. The story itself was great. I like how Mr. Googins arranged the book with different chapters for Larch and Emi. It was interesting that he didn’t have a lot from the mom’s point of view. Why was that? I will have to discuss it with my book club! Thank you for a wonderful book with a lot to think about in its pages.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This should be required reading for every high school student. I couldn’t put it down!
Loveable characters:
Complicated