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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
This is one of those books that is important, but not enjoyable. It's too dark, too painful, too real. American War is about a fictional but entirely plausible future American civil war that begins in the year 2074; this time the South secedes over the prohibition of fossil fuels rather than over the emancipation of slaves. Sarat Chestnut is only six years old when her father dies and her mother moves Sarat and her siblings to a refugee camp that becomes their home for the next several years. Sarat is a tomboy with a strong will and a sharp mind. When a mysterious and fascinating stranger arrives at the camp and feeds her thirsty mind with politics, history, science, and more, Sarat finds her perspective, and her loyalties, shifting. As she grows into a young woman, Sarat in her grief and anger throws herself into the war...but is her revenge worth the consequences?
Having been born and raised in the South myself, many of the characters' sentiments (however misplaced) are familiar to me. The author really hit the Southern feelings of resentment and injustice right on the head. Fossil fuels have become the modern resource of the Southern economy, and it feels like Southern spite over a future prohibition of fossil fuels could easily ignite the underlying flame of Southern anger. The book is more than a commentary on the tension between the American north and south, however. It's an example of the insidious creep of radicalism; how consistent, subtle messaging can bend a willful mind to follow a cause blindly and indefinitely. It shows how there can be cracks and infighting even within a "unified" front in a war. The story demonstrates how war, particularly civil war, tears families and minds and souls apart. It examines the horrors and the fallacies of the use of torture to extract tactical information. The book was vividly and thoroughly written, but the characters are too broken and their pain is too raw to be relatable or likable. This would be a great choice for a book club discussion, but otherwise I'm glad the book is behind me.
Having been born and raised in the South myself, many of the characters' sentiments (however misplaced) are familiar to me. The author really hit the Southern feelings of resentment and injustice right on the head. Fossil fuels have become the modern resource of the Southern economy, and it feels like Southern spite over a future prohibition of fossil fuels could easily ignite the underlying flame of Southern anger. The book is more than a commentary on the tension between the American north and south, however. It's an example of the insidious creep of radicalism; how consistent, subtle messaging can bend a willful mind to follow a cause blindly and indefinitely. It shows how there can be cracks and infighting even within a "unified" front in a war. The story demonstrates how war, particularly civil war, tears families and minds and souls apart. It examines the horrors and the fallacies of the use of torture to extract tactical information. The book was vividly and thoroughly written, but the characters are too broken and their pain is too raw to be relatable or likable. This would be a great choice for a book club discussion, but otherwise I'm glad the book is behind me.
By imagining a future civil war in which America fractures along similar lines as the original one, only without the emotional weight of slavery, this story allows a fresh perspective on our divisions in our country, even though it isn’t entirely clear the true issues of this war are. At the same time, the language (“insurgents”) and distance weaponry recall our real conflicts in the Middle East. By having an American character face the tactics we employ, this book allows for a more poignant understanding.
I’m glad I read it, but I’m going to have to find a light-hearted comedy to cleanse the palate. This book was bleak and I found the main character hard to sympathize with, which only made it harder.
I’m glad I read it, but I’m going to have to find a light-hearted comedy to cleanse the palate. This book was bleak and I found the main character hard to sympathize with, which only made it harder.
Such a riveting and troubling story about a possible near future for Americans.
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-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
challenging
dark
emotional
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
informative
reflective
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:
Complicated
This fell very flat for me, both on a writing and emotional level.
It's set roughly fifty to seventy years in the future, which didn't seem to have a huge impact on a story or character level. It just felt like a pointless, tacked on for a fairly important detail. There was brief mention of some newer/different technology, but it wasn't explained very well or comprehensibly to understand what their purpose was or how some of it worked.
Maybe if I had read this sooner, it would have rubbed me so wrong, but the plot of it being a second civil war just felt so myopic. Or I should say the cause of the war felt ridiculous and unrealistic. It was about the South wanting to continue to use fossil fuels. I think even when this was published, it's ridiculous to not think that race or religion or any of those issues would be a factor. Reading it now, it felt especially unrealistic. The protagonists are biracial and not white, so it's just so hard to believe that they wouldn't be experiencing any kind of oppression or racism, especially when they need to flee their home for refugee camps.
It was also hard to understand the stakes, partially because of the war and it's cause, also because of being set in the future, and just the writing itself made it feel like, okay, they're here at this camp now and they talk as if it's bad but it sounds like being there isn't really that bad? There wasn't a lot of detail or texture emotionally to make me understand how dire or not dire the plot developments were for the characters. This flatness and apathy extended to Sarat's relationship with her family members. It was just hard to get a sense of the depth of the relationships and how meaningful anything was, whether it was dialogue or a major plot development.
This just didn't land for me. I read through some other reviews to see if anyone else had similar issues or picked up on anything similar, but I saw complaints about it being too anti-American, so I had to stop (haha). I could have used a much stronger dose of anti-American and felt that the cause of the war made it too toothless in it's critique. Not to humble brag, but reading this was harder than reading Les Mis just because of sheer boredom with everything about it.
It's set roughly fifty to seventy years in the future, which didn't seem to have a huge impact on a story or character level. It just felt like a pointless, tacked on for a fairly important detail. There was brief mention of some newer/different technology, but it wasn't explained very well or comprehensibly to understand what their purpose was or how some of it worked.
Maybe if I had read this sooner, it would have rubbed me so wrong, but the plot of it being a second civil war just felt so myopic. Or I should say the cause of the war felt ridiculous and unrealistic. It was about the South wanting to continue to use fossil fuels. I think even when this was published, it's ridiculous to not think that race or religion or any of those issues would be a factor. Reading it now, it felt especially unrealistic. The protagonists are biracial and not white, so it's just so hard to believe that they wouldn't be experiencing any kind of oppression or racism, especially when they need to flee their home for refugee camps.
It was also hard to understand the stakes, partially because of the war and it's cause, also because of being set in the future, and just the writing itself made it feel like, okay, they're here at this camp now and they talk as if it's bad but it sounds like being there isn't really that bad? There wasn't a lot of detail or texture emotionally to make me understand how dire or not dire the plot developments were for the characters. This flatness and apathy extended to Sarat's relationship with her family members. It was just hard to get a sense of the depth of the relationships and how meaningful anything was, whether it was dialogue or a major plot development.
This just didn't land for me. I read through some other reviews to see if anyone else had similar issues or picked up on anything similar, but I saw complaints about it being too anti-American, so I had to stop (haha). I could have used a much stronger dose of anti-American and felt that the cause of the war made it too toothless in it's critique. Not to humble brag, but reading this was harder than reading Les Mis just because of sheer boredom with everything about it.
Not sure how to rate this book. It's a great important story, but I didn't enjoy it. This isn't a story about the future, or about climate change, or how different the world is. This is a story about war only. And it's too familiar, the title says it all - this is any and every American war.
What I liked most about this book is that it's so uncomfortable to read. Our (anti)heroine, Sarat Chestnut, is clearly fighting for the ideologically wrong side (one defending the fossil fuels that wrecked the planet). But that's irrelevant to her, because she is simply fighting for her people who were wronged.
She is arrogant, cruel, and consumed by hatred for the other side. But as a reader you empathize with her because you know that everything she has become is a product of the awful things she's seen and been through in the hands of the other side, and of indoctrination when she was very young. She never redeems herself, never changes her mind, or learns any meaningful life lessons.
In the meantime you also get to see the atrocities committed by the side fighting for the fossil fuel ban, all the massacres and torture and awful things done to human beings in the name of ideology. Either side refuses to let go, and war keeps feeding on itself, neverending.
Ultimately this story is like what war itself actually is: violent, senseless, pointless, repetitive, and sad.
What I liked most about this book is that it's so uncomfortable to read. Our (anti)heroine, Sarat Chestnut, is clearly fighting for the ideologically wrong side (one defending the fossil fuels that wrecked the planet). But that's irrelevant to her, because she is simply fighting for her people who were wronged.
She is arrogant, cruel, and consumed by hatred for the other side. But as a reader you empathize with her because you know that everything she has become is a product of the awful things she's seen and been through in the hands of the other side, and of indoctrination when she was very young. She never redeems herself, never changes her mind, or learns any meaningful life lessons.
In the meantime you also get to see the atrocities committed by the side fighting for the fossil fuel ban, all the massacres and torture and awful things done to human beings in the name of ideology. Either side refuses to let go, and war keeps feeding on itself, neverending.
Ultimately this story is like what war itself actually is: violent, senseless, pointless, repetitive, and sad.
A solid 3.5 stars, good but not great. It was pretty hard to identify with the Southern cause although I did find some of the plot points insightful.