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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked the concept, but the writing could be boring at times and the characters felt flat to me. I wanted to be more emotionally connected to them. The dystopian world was intriguing but I felt I was given too much information and not enough at the same time.
With the exception of a couple of plot holes, I really enjoyed this and found it so interesting how Earth was reimagined post-climate catastrophe.
This is described as hopeful, and I agree, I found it hopeful but not in a facile way -- real challenges, hardships, loss, and political disagreement, including a bit of violence, but not extinction. Engaging characters who felt real to me, both the teenage girl and her parents.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Emi is a 15 year old girl in the world created after climate emergency and rebuilding. Her parents helped with the rebuilding effort known as the Great Transition. At an annual celebration of 0 carbon emissions, former oil and carbon company leaders are killed across the world. Emi’s mother stops all communication with her so her father and she fly to New York to find the mother. Emi is captured, and it is revealed that her mother secretly participates in the decentralized group that planned the attacks - Emi is captured as collateral by the “exploiting class.” Emi escapes and she and her father start new identities in a new city.
This one was pretty bad. First, there is a ton of flashbacks to her parents time in the Climate Corps. This isn’t that interested as it’s mostly to set up the author’s political message about mutual-aid socialism. Which is fine, but it wasn’t subtle and got old after a while. In the present, Emi and father mostly don’t “do” anything in their investigation and her escape is very quick and very easy. Emi is believable as a 15 year old, but she’s also annoying and clueless so it’s hard to evaluate whether that’s good for the character - sure she acts 15, but that’s what makes her chapters annoying.
I just got bored of the book after it became clear it was mostly written for the author to deliver his politics since it doesn’t come across very subtly or in an interesting way.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found one of the narrators to be a little irritating at times, enough so that it dropped my rating. I initially felt like this was going to be a good read--the kind of subject matter I would write about if I had the motivation to write a book. But the execution wasn't great.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Confinement, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes