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prairieraven's review
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Sexism, Misogyny, Grief, Classism, Rape, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, and Violence
oceanwriter's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Dystopian plots fascinate me. Many times they’re prophetic. It’s especially interesting to read one set in the nearish future. Camp Zero has a great premise, but I wish I hadn’t spent most of the book trying to figure out what the focus of the book was.
Set in a future suffering from the results of harsh climate change, Rose agrees to work as a spy to provide housing for her mother. Meanwhile, Grant wants to break away from his family’s past. The two meet at Camp Zero. It becomes a part that this place is harboring secrets.
As I mentioned, I have no idea what the central focus of this plot is. Climate change is the obvious answer, but with minimal world-building and context so much was lost. From page one it felt like I was supposed to already know what was going on as I entered the story. The names (or lack of) were confusing, the POV shifts added to the trouble getting my bearings… I overall felt like I was left out of the loop.
I enjoyed the writing itself. With more world and character building I think I would have loved it. My feelings are mixed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Misogyny, and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent, Racism, and Pregnancy
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
booksbeyondthebinary's review
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Racism and Pregnancy
maregred's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Murder, Death of parent, Racism, Alcohol, and Death
Moderate: Suicide and Sexual assault
Minor: Pregnancy
kylieqrada's review
adventurous
dark
reflective
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? No
3.0
This had me for about the first half and then it lost me. The themes are so on-point but I just couldn't get on board with the execution. Womp wompppppp.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Misogyny, Alcohol, and Death
Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Racism
aileron's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Murder, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Classism and Misogyny
Minor: Racism
starrysteph's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This eerie little tale felt dreadfully real and captivated me from cover to cover.
It’s very-near speculative fiction. The slightly elevated technology that encourages total detachment from the world. Violent impacts of climate change and ecological disaster. A continuation of those with a sense of power ripping away land and shaping it in their image.
And interwoven through all that - classism, possible collective utopia after criss, survival, curious gender binaries.
We follow three different POVs in the far north of Canada. Rose is an escort who has a secret reason for her placement at Camp Zero: she’s spying on its head architect in exchange for a secured future for herself & her mother. Grant is running away from his powerful family and the mistakes of his past, hoping to solidify his life in the north as an English professor. And the female collective of White Alice learns to survive and thrive in a climate research station.
We flip-flop through past and present during each POV, and layers of the mysteries surrounding Camp Zero and White Alice are slowly unfurled.
In my opinion, calling this a dystopian thriller is a mischaracterization. It is a slow, character-driven piece. Each POV is lost in swirling memories, and the action of the present is much shorter. The world of Camp Zero is very much our own.
The weakest point to me was a lack of intersectionality. While classism and sexism come into play quite a bit, race is curiously missing from the picture. Indigenous voices were referenced but not really explored; Rose is half-Korean but it was never significant outside of some discussions of her family’s immigration. I think there was an opportunity to dive deeper into gender & expanding boundaries and perceived binaries during the White Alice chapters, and that was missed a bit.
I thought the writing was incredibly strong, and there are elements here that will sit with me for a bit. I think it would be a great book club pick as well - and a group of readers would probably have vastly different takeaways and opinions on the final segment.
CW: murder, death, misogyny, sexual assault, animal cruelty & animal death, gore, toxic relationship, grief, classism, colonization, racism, pregnancy, sexual content
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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Classism, Misogyny, Sexual content, Colonisation, Racism, Pregnancy, Death, Animal death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, and Animal cruelty
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Thanks to Atria Books for the free advance copy of this book.
- CAMP ZERO is a near future dystopia, terrifying in that it's not all that different from the path we are currently on.
- I flew through this novel, fully immersed in its world and invested in the characters, all of whom have come north for different reasons, all of whom have done good things and bad things and are simply trying to survive.
- CAMP ZERO mainly explores how gender effects each character's path in this melting world, but it also gets into class, race, education and more. I already want to read more by Sterling.
- CAMP ZERO is a near future dystopia, terrifying in that it's not all that different from the path we are currently on.
- I flew through this novel, fully immersed in its world and invested in the characters, all of whom have come north for different reasons, all of whom have done good things and bad things and are simply trying to survive.
- CAMP ZERO mainly explores how gender effects each character's path in this melting world, but it also gets into class, race, education and more. I already want to read more by Sterling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Colonisation, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual content, Cursing, Violence, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault and Racism
kellysbookverse's review
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
thank you to the publisher, john murrays, for sending me an advance copy for review!
‘camp zero’ was a slow burner for me, but it really hit its stride around the halfway point. we follow three different perspectives - rose, grant, and the white alice camp - as they contend with a world which has been almost entirely destroyed by climate change and human greed.
all three perspectives were fascinating but i think white alice was my favourite - a nebulous narrator that never really gets named, a camp in the middle of nowhere ostensibly carrying out research, and an entire group of women just fighting to survive.
at first, these three perspectives seem unconnected, though rose and grant are in the same location. as the book continues the three intertwine in surprising ways, and the end feels very satisfying having followed them. i really enjoyed learning about the slow burn of the world in this book, terrifying though it is, and seeing how different people with different privileges experienced.
i particularly enjoyed the focus on strong women and how women specifically have to learn how to survive differently in this kind of apocalyptic landscape. one of my favourite quotes from the novel is along this line: “she knows now that power is never granted but seized. she never should have waited for it to be given to her. she should have taken it with her own hands and made it her own.” the white alice camp’s continued survival is testament to the power of women to overcome and adapt.
i would definitely recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed similar books from emily st john mandel.
‘camp zero’ was a slow burner for me, but it really hit its stride around the halfway point. we follow three different perspectives - rose, grant, and the white alice camp - as they contend with a world which has been almost entirely destroyed by climate change and human greed.
all three perspectives were fascinating but i think white alice was my favourite - a nebulous narrator that never really gets named, a camp in the middle of nowhere ostensibly carrying out research, and an entire group of women just fighting to survive.
at first, these three perspectives seem unconnected, though rose and grant are in the same location. as the book continues the three intertwine in surprising ways, and the end feels very satisfying having followed them. i really enjoyed learning about the slow burn of the world in this book, terrifying though it is, and seeing how different people with different privileges experienced.
i particularly enjoyed the focus on strong women and how women specifically have to learn how to survive differently in this kind of apocalyptic landscape. one of my favourite quotes from the novel is along this line: “she knows now that power is never granted but seized. she never should have waited for it to be given to her. she should have taken it with her own hands and made it her own.” the white alice camp’s continued survival is testament to the power of women to overcome and adapt.
i would definitely recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed similar books from emily st john mandel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Violence, Death of parent, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Death, and Racism
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