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oriana095's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
There were a lot of things that left me confused or disappointed in the end. I have no clue what the point of Grant’s POV was. It seemed to not really add anything at all to the story? I wonder if there will be a second book to tie up the loose ends of this one. I didn’t really care for any of the characters. Rose was alright but not a character I really loved. The beginning of the book was very slow. There were a couple things I saw coming. Overall it wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t great. Wouldn’t read it again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Classism, Sexual content, Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcohol, Child death, Car accident, and Death of parent
prosenheim's review
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Classism, Sexism, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Death, Child death, Colonisation, and Car accident
Minor: Animal cruelty and Blood
r_j_setser's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
1.0
*crickets chirping*
I have no idea why I finished this. Maybe because I received it for free to review and felt guilty abandoning it early? Maybe because I hoped that the resolution would be worth the cringe? I don't know. I just know that I wish I had stopped reading it back at 20% as I felt I should.
There is so much to unpack with this, so I'll start with why I think I kept reading: I liked Grant. And I was curious about what secrets Camp Zero held. There is a truly masterful undertone of suspense in this book. I felt bored throughout most of the story because of how slowly it moved, but the curiosity of what the camp was, the mystery shrouding all of the characters, and the heaviness of the world, all of it together just kept reeling me in. I had to know what happened, even though every revelation and new plot development left me even more appalled than I already was. Truly, this writing is unlike anything I've ever encountered. A slow burn suspense with a plot twist that repulsed me; I've never read anything like it.
However, personally, I almost dropped this book several different times. First, I feel like the main character's job should've been disclosed in the blurb because had I known that she were a "pleasure" worker, I would've known right away that this book wouldn't have been for me. As the blurb is now, I was quite shocked by her career of choice, though I do have to say that I was surprised at how "clean" the s*xual content is in light of that. There are conversations about her work and a couple of very brief, dry descriptions, but there is no spice. So, I chose to honor my pledge to finish and review the book and skipped over the parts that made me uncomfortable and just focus on the story.
I think my biggest reason for disliking this book is the doom and gloom feeling of everything. It was an incredibly depressing book and felt to me like a "all men are evil s*x fanatics and deserve to die" message. I'm all for women-empowerment stories and men paying for their evil deeds, but this one just painted such a focus on the darkness in our world that even the "good" male characters were roped into the same categories as the "bad" ones. And call me naive, but I know that there are still a lot of really good men left in the world.
Upon finishing the book, I just didn't feel satisfied with the plot. There were a lot of implied resolutions, but no absolutes, and honestly that just frustrated me.
Overall, I don't think I'll forget reading this book which is a compliment to the writer, but it's not a book that I would ever recommend to my circle of friends. And as I said earlier, I'm still shocked that I actually finished it.
I have no idea why I finished this. Maybe because I received it for free to review and felt guilty abandoning it early? Maybe because I hoped that the resolution would be worth the cringe? I don't know. I just know that I wish I had stopped reading it back at 20% as I felt I should.
There is so much to unpack with this, so I'll start with why I think I kept reading: I liked Grant. And I was curious about what secrets Camp Zero held. There is a truly masterful undertone of suspense in this book. I felt bored throughout most of the story because of how slowly it moved, but the curiosity of what the camp was, the mystery shrouding all of the characters, and the heaviness of the world, all of it together just kept reeling me in. I had to know what happened, even though every revelation and new plot development left me even more appalled than I already was. Truly, this writing is unlike anything I've ever encountered. A slow burn suspense with a plot twist that repulsed me; I've never read anything like it.
However, personally, I almost dropped this book several different times. First, I feel like the main character's job should've been disclosed in the blurb because had I known that she were a "pleasure" worker, I would've known right away that this book wouldn't have been for me. As the blurb is now, I was quite shocked by her career of choice, though I do have to say that I was surprised at how "clean" the s*xual content is in light of that. There are conversations about her work and a couple of very brief, dry descriptions, but there is no spice. So, I chose to honor my pledge to finish and review the book and skipped over the parts that made me uncomfortable and just focus on the story.
I think my biggest reason for disliking this book is the doom and gloom feeling of everything. It was an incredibly depressing book and felt to me like a "all men are evil s*x fanatics and deserve to die" message. I'm all for women-empowerment stories and men paying for their evil deeds, but this one just painted such a focus on the darkness in our world that even the "good" male characters were roped into the same categories as the "bad" ones. And call me naive, but I know that there are still a lot of really good men left in the world.
Upon finishing the book, I just didn't feel satisfied with the plot. There were a lot of implied resolutions, but no absolutes, and honestly that just frustrated me.
Overall, I don't think I'll forget reading this book which is a compliment to the writer, but it's not a book that I would ever recommend to my circle of friends. And as I said earlier, I'm still shocked that I actually finished it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
Content warnings: Would be rated R if it were a movie. Cursing is very, very high. Gore is present, but not overly detailed. The nature of the deaths are more barbaric and disturbing, however. S*xual content is very present and talked about frequently in the nature of the characters' jobs, however, there are two mildly descriptive on-page scenes. Other topic warnings would be r*pe, child death, s*xual discrimination, racial discrimination, etc.mandi_lea's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Classism, Colonisation, Blood, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Death, Confinement, Sexual violence, Murder, and Misogyny
Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Car accident, Child death, Alcohol, and Pregnancy
torturedreadersdept's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I don’t always love dystopian stories but this one got me to love and fear it. Between the ominous update to our present-day social media addiction and the continuation of our climate disaster, as well as the well-placed references to the ways our societies have harmed the earth and stolen from indigenous communities, this novel taking place in 2049-2050 was a gut punch, as was realizing that one of the main bad (ish) guys was born in the 90s, making him younger than me…. Yikes! I really enjoyed this book way more than I expected to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Murder, Violence, Colonisation, Child death, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Body horror, Classism, Alcohol, Confinement, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Sexual content, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, and Blood
mtnest's review
dark
sad
tense
slow-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
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Cursing, Murder, Sexual content, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual assault, Vomit, Classism, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Confinement, and Alcohol
Dystopian
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