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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The impact of this novel is less what it says about America than what it says about the reactions and adaptations of individuals, families and groups to conditions of war. I became frustrated at being denied the 50,000 foot view of the world; the ability to see the big picture and to understand the complex political and global forces that led to the conditions in the novel. Eventually I came to recognize that to a father in a migrant refugee camp, to a Palestinian in Gaza, to a family in detention at the US border, to a mother trying to survive in the rubble of a Syrian city, the geopolitics of their situation are secondary to their rage, their hunger, their sickness, their victimization.
The protagonist, Sarat, allows us to see into the heart of one who has been "radicalized" by enduring in an environment minimally of their making. The factual horrors of the character's lives are amplified by how they are accepted as everyday life challenges. To cite just one, the solar-powered killer drones that have become disconnected from their command-and-control network, and are governed solely by their internal Artificial Intelligence algorithms to identify and attack targets; algorithms that seem to have either deteriorated (or were faulty from the start) such that their attacks seem random and capricious. Everyone goes on as if this is just a normal part of every day life, which for them, it is.
Very well written, and highly engaging, it evokes complex feelings about the protagonist. Not a difficult read, but at times uncomfortable.
The protagonist, Sarat, allows us to see into the heart of one who has been "radicalized" by enduring in an environment minimally of their making. The factual horrors of the character's lives are amplified by how they are accepted as everyday life challenges. To cite just one, the solar-powered killer drones that have become disconnected from their command-and-control network, and are governed solely by their internal Artificial Intelligence algorithms to identify and attack targets; algorithms that seem to have either deteriorated (or were faulty from the start) such that their attacks seem random and capricious. Everyone goes on as if this is just a normal part of every day life, which for them, it is.
Very well written, and highly engaging, it evokes complex feelings about the protagonist. Not a difficult read, but at times uncomfortable.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
I really wanted to like this more than I did...the story was told in an emotionally distant way and I think it really could have packed a much more significant punch.
maybe i would have cared in 2017
it's not that it didn't age well, it's that oh god, i don't want to read this right now
it's not that it didn't age well, it's that oh god, i don't want to read this right now
I'm not quite sure how to rate this book. It took me a very long time to read it and get into it, but the last 3rd of it really gripped me and kept me reading, so I'll settle on a 3.5 rating.
This well written book tells the story of Sarat, a young woman in a dystopian (but not unrealistic) future trying to survive a second American Civil War. She was a very well written character, but at times I found she was borderline one-dimensional. It was heartbreaking to see how the war slowly started to ruin her (and many others) from a very young age and reading it became increasingly devastating and when I figured out where it was going, my heart broke.
The thing that really made me up this book from a very solid 3 to a 3.5 was how realistic this version of our future seemed. The war is based on the Southern States creating their own Union due to refusing to give up their fossil fuels for more green energy as the rest of the world has and the side effects are terrifying. It isn't hard to envision this future for our world when we look at what is currently happening, and when a book that is supposed to be seen as a dystopia seems a bit too accurate it takes the intensity of the book up a level and made it a much more gripping experience.
This well written book tells the story of Sarat, a young woman in a dystopian (but not unrealistic) future trying to survive a second American Civil War. She was a very well written character, but at times I found she was borderline one-dimensional. It was heartbreaking to see how the war slowly started to ruin her (and many others) from a very young age and reading it became increasingly devastating and when I figured out where it was going, my heart broke.
The thing that really made me up this book from a very solid 3 to a 3.5 was how realistic this version of our future seemed. The war is based on the Southern States creating their own Union due to refusing to give up their fossil fuels for more green energy as the rest of the world has and the side effects are terrifying. It isn't hard to envision this future for our world when we look at what is currently happening, and when a book that is supposed to be seen as a dystopia seems a bit too accurate it takes the intensity of the book up a level and made it a much more gripping experience.
A well written and horrifying near future dystopia. While some of the coincidences and dramatizations seem a bit too easy and over the top, I overall enjoyed it and had a hard time setting it down.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated