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hankatcol's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Deadnaming, Rape, Vomit, and War
smellie_mooo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
maiaw27's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
kaimekolreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Rape, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
lettuce_read's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Deadnaming, Homophobia, and Rape
Minor: Transphobia
cnnr876's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I think my reading experience suffered from a mismatch in expectations - I was expecting something very different from what I got, and I need to sit with that more.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Police brutality
Moderate: Death, Racism, Suicide attempt, and War
aeons_v_atlas's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Deadnaming, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Vomit, Colonisation, and Dysphoria
caseythereader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
- THE FREE PEOPLE'S VILLAGE is unlike any book I've ever read before. I never thought a book about the internal struggles of a group of activists would rivet me, but I absolutely could not put this down.
- This book is entirely from the POV of Maddie, a young white woman joining a Black-led movement to preserve a Black neighborhood. She doesn't always handle new information and situations perfectly (or even well), and she eventually has to reckon with her place in the movement and take accountability for actions she does or does not take. I think Kern struck the right balance here - Maddie is not a white savior, but she is given space to catch up on the history and politics she does not know (and even then, she is reprimanded for never bothering to learn these things!)
- Looking at this book from a wider perspective, I appreciated how Kern took the fork in the road that we often romanticize - Gore winning the 2000 election - and showed how even if there was massive movement on the climate, our society would still find a way to use those changes to enrich white people and push out poor and BIPOC people. Honestly, this book is one to give to white liberals who you wish would consider leftist ideas.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia and Suicide attempt
Minor: Deadnaming and Pregnancy
ebook_em's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The plot unfolds in an alternate timeline in which Al Gore won the 2000 presidential election and declared a “War on Climate Change.” As a policy researcher, I was so impressed by how Sim Kern revealed what can go wrong in the implementation of liberal policies — like rich people abusing the carbon tax system and greenwashing galore — and how the Democratic platform on climate change is totally insufficient to tackle environmental racism and imperialism. In fact, this story shows how the “war” on climate change could be weaponized in very conventional ways against people of the global majority. The fact that climate policies in this story were used to further expand the scope of policing also felt chillingly realistic.
The coalition of organizations, activists, homeless folks, and others who made up the Free People’s Village seemed very real as well. I loved Kern’s depiction of the boring and mundane aspects of organizing (figuring out how often to empty the port-a-potties is something I’ve had to do and didn’t care to remember, lol) plus the circular, mind-numbing infighting that is inevitable in any long-term organizing effort. Around the middle of the story, there’s an inciting incident when the movement fractures into very different tactics — the secrecy, guilt, and political questions around this incident were really compelling.
I also appreciated the treatment of SA in this book. Rape culture and flimsy restorative justice responses to violence within activist spaces are way more typical than many organizers want to acknowledge. Not including some mention of sexual violence in an encampment setting would’ve felt like a major omission, but it didn’t feel perfunctory as a plot line either. All these examples highlight Kern’s explorations of power dynamics throughout the book: between landlords and tenants, cops and citizens, people with criminal records and those without, Black & Indigenous organizers and white voyeurs, cis and trans people, etc. The depiction of the technologies and media also seemed true to life; in many ways, this book felt like a fiction analog to Zeynep Tufekci’s “Twitter and Tear Gas.”
Now for the aspects that will be unappealing to some readers. The first-person POV of the white main character, Maddie, is cringeworthy more often than not. The cringe factor is intentional, as Maddie is a young white teacher and baby activist entering Black-led organizing spaces for the first time, and she messes up a lot in the process. I thought the author did a pretty good job of not making this a white savior story, though there were times Maddie could’ve taken more ownership of her actions without endless coaching from Black and brown people. Maddie participates in some actions but repeatedly chickens out and mostly does grunt work while her friends and bandmates do the more high-profile leadership work. Even though her inner thoughts are painful to read, I think her perspective will resonate with people. Some readers might also be turned off by the didactic tone of the book. Personally, I don’t mind heavy-handed social commentary in fiction and thought it made sense to learn fundamental theories and principles through Maddie’s naive POV.
Overall, this was a great read that left me with a lot to think about. My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Addiction, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation
meganpbell's review
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Grief
Moderate: Deadnaming, Racism, Rape, Blood, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, and Death