Scan barcode
tc_booksandmore's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Confinement, and Police brutality
Minor: Alcohol
sarahmreads's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Jamal is a journalist from his local high school set on using photos from a Black Lives Matter protest to help push his application for colleges. However, the last thing anyone expects is for a massive dome to encompass all of Baltimore and leave everyone there victim to the police inside. Through the help of unlikely allies and determination, Jamal will have to find a way to make it out alive and bring the dome down.
This story is set in our world, but more futuristic, where advanced technologies make it more possible for institutionalized racism to be carried out. As a result, this story is slammed with a lot of powerful messages and images that need to be heard. However, because these make up a majority of the book, it does make it extremely heavy emotionally, and I highly recommend reading this if you feel you are emotionally and mentally prepared for this kind of book.
As dark as it is, I really loved the concept. The horrifying reality of what this kind of situation would be like and the repercussions it would have on marginalized communities was terrifying to think about, that in some world, this could be our future. Reading how cops and higher authorities treated the characters of color was disgusting and immediately threw me back to June 2020 when all the protests occurred and how things took a turn for the worse when cops got involved. It could be our future, and sometimes even fictionalized renditions of real life events have just as powerful as an impact, which I felt this did. However, I will say I cannot speak to the accuracy of this representation of police brutality and racism as I am not a person of color, and instead push you to read reviews from people of color and marginalized communities to understand the quality of the representation.
When it came to characters, they felt pretty two-dimensional for me. Jamal had his moments that broke through from this, but otherwise he read to me, especially at the beginning, as just being defined by the fact that he is a journalist and he needs to break down the truth. I'm a journalist and I also understand that drive. However, it's not something that fully defines a person, and I felt it was Jamal's main character trait for a while. He breaks away from it a bit at the end, which I liked. Catherine was absolutely badass, and I liked Marco. I will admit that I wasn't a huge fan of the romance between Jamal and Marco, and felt the story could have been better off without it, even though it never took a major forefront of the story.
The ending for me felt... kind of anticlimactic? It's weird for me to describe. I don't want to say it was predictable but it kind of was? I like how it doesn't end with "racism is solved hooray" because that will take so long to fix. It gives us and the characters this hope that they'll be able to make a bigger difference, and maybe sets up for a sequel but I don't think this book needs it. But a part of me also thought it went too smoothly. I don't want to get into too much without reaching into spoiler territory, but it felt like the ending could have been more solid.
Survive the Dome is a powerful, jaw-dropping story about community, love, power, and the brutality of the real world we find ourselves in.
I received a copy of this story as an e-ARC from NetGalley. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
This story is set in our world, but more futuristic, where advanced technologies make it more possible for institutionalized racism to be carried out. As a result, this story is slammed with a lot of powerful messages and images that need to be heard. However, because these make up a majority of the book, it does make it extremely heavy emotionally, and I highly recommend reading this if you feel you are emotionally and mentally prepared for this kind of book.
As dark as it is, I really loved the concept. The horrifying reality of what this kind of situation would be like and the repercussions it would have on marginalized communities was terrifying to think about, that in some world, this could be our future. Reading how cops and higher authorities treated the characters of color was disgusting and immediately threw me back to June 2020 when all the protests occurred and how things took a turn for the worse when cops got involved. It could be our future, and sometimes even fictionalized renditions of real life events have just as powerful as an impact, which I felt this did. However, I will say I cannot speak to the accuracy of this representation of police brutality and racism as I am not a person of color, and instead push you to read reviews from people of color and marginalized communities to understand the quality of the representation.
When it came to characters, they felt pretty two-dimensional for me. Jamal had his moments that broke through from this, but otherwise he read to me, especially at the beginning, as just being defined by the fact that he is a journalist and he needs to break down the truth. I'm a journalist and I also understand that drive. However, it's not something that fully defines a person, and I felt it was Jamal's main character trait for a while. He breaks away from it a bit at the end, which I liked. Catherine was absolutely badass, and I liked Marco. I will admit that I wasn't a huge fan of the romance between Jamal and Marco, and felt the story could have been better off without it, even though it never took a major forefront of the story.
The ending for me felt... kind of anticlimactic? It's weird for me to describe. I don't want to say it was predictable but it kind of was? I like how it doesn't end with "racism is solved hooray" because that will take so long to fix. It gives us and the characters this hope that they'll be able to make a bigger difference, and maybe sets up for a sequel but I don't think this book needs it. But a part of me also thought it went too smoothly. I don't want to get into too much without reaching into spoiler territory, but it felt like the ending could have been more solid.
Survive the Dome is a powerful, jaw-dropping story about community, love, power, and the brutality of the real world we find ourselves in.
I received a copy of this story as an e-ARC from NetGalley. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Police brutality
jamesflint's review against another edition
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
kelliejean's review against another edition
dark
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Racism
Minor: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Racial slurs, and Torture
More...