Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Yours for the Taking by Gabrielle Korn

20 reviews

zosia_rose's review against another edition

3.75

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

She had me in the first half…not gonna lie.

This started out as a 2.5 stars for me; until the characters stories were elaborated I believed this to be the author’s personal commentary on current politics/trigger-word topics. Eventually it became a more speculative scrapbook of these most pressing issues in our current day, and what (beauty, the power of money, income inequality in relationships, puberty, pursuing a career versus passion, mental illness, abuse, comparison/competition, grief, curriculum in schools, leaving home as a young adult, motherhood-by choice or otherwise, addiction, love later in life, public surveillance) problems remain when one or another is addressed.

-yes, I did keep a list of every topic she tried to breach-

Overview- first thoughts

A slice-of-life peek into the everyday trials and successes of young queer women in New York…just in a tentative future where my generation (Zoomers) are now at the age of leadership. We get to see The Main Characters, the young and promising youth or the powerful/intelligent girlboss interact with a post-modern world ; one where their queerness is not the obscenity plaguing society, but the no-longer-impending threat of climate change has forced innovation and capitalism to the forefront of our minds.

What seemed sterile and kind of bothersome in the first third, slowly built characters I came to love and even when the message or purpose was too obvious I enjoyed the story enough to continue, eventually finding the (almost) 4 stars within.

Summary

Following the success of environmental activist Jacqueline Millender in inventing a solution for overuse of reusable goods, her book Yours for the the Taking is published in America. During the uncertain years brought on by climate and social instability in the 2050s she becomes a figurehead for female empowerment and leadership. The book’s message garners Millender and the company she inherited (JMinc) fame amongst both the scientific and female public influence.

Jaqueline is an experimenter at heart and soon proposes her newest idea: the construction of multiple structures which she calls “Inside”s in key cities across the world filled with those deemed appropriate for the task of creating new societies separate and immune to both the physical and ideological toxicity of our near-future setting. Millions of applicants across the world apply for these positions in hopes of salvation and change for them and their families while the Earth and its people continue to suffer unrest and destruction from human and environmental instability.

That is not what this book is about though. This book follows the lives of several women over the next 25 years as they interact with Jacqueline’s undercover sociological experiment. She has chosen the New York Inside to be special. This Inside is to be completely free of men, a perfect society in her eyes, controlled and observed by people she has specifically chosen as both inhabitants and employees. Because Jacqueline Millender had even bigger ambitions than fixing humanity Inside. From the safety of the space shuttle where she has escaped with the other wealthy elite of the time, she is able to focus her attention on advising her hand-picked employees in surveilling, providing for, and manipulating the environment Inside. Not only are the staff highly curated, so too are the inhabitants, only those who identify as women, are well educated, mostly healthy, and of childbearing age receive acceptance and begin their new lives in the polished, comfortable Inside. Now removed from everything they knew on Earth, the women are freshly shaved and onboarded into their new existence. Their every need is provided for and they soon find motherhood, collaborative work, and open relationships are all rewarded. Beginning with Ava, a young woman in what used to be Brooklyn in 2050, the book gives us detailed looks at the experiences of life Inside.

Olympia is Jacqueline’s Head Physician who soon finds that being at the top is even lonelier on the Inside and has to grapple with the knowledge that a perfect life often involves keeping secrets from those you serve. Shelby is the youngest of the POVs and a transgender woman who makes the heart wrenching decision to cut leave her tight-knit family and must watch from relative safety as they struggle to survive on Earth. Soon, a new generation is born Inside and we get the view of Brooke (Ava’s daughter), raised without challenges and unaware that her life is considered massively “cushy” compared to her mother’s just years prior.

Review

I was uncertain for the first couple chapters whether this book would work for me, as such a high-concept premise seemed like it would become a very scientific and explanation-heavy read. The lead-up to the main body of Korn’s story was very on-the-nose and thinly veiled commentary on social issues, but once an understanding of the style and characters was solidified, I was pleasantly surprised to find the narratives to be the focus and shining skill of the writer. While the introduction did have me worried it would be gratingly feminist and preachy I was delighted with these women’s’ stories and only wished there were more time with each.

Korn definitely had a well-elaborated story planned out before filling her world with characters that fit it, but her character writing is so good I soon found myself hoping for each character’s opinion while another was “speaking”. The narration switched back and forth as it fit the story, so huge amounts of time were often skipped over in a few sentences. While frustrating in the moment, it was necessary to encapsulate the full experience (from Shelby in space, Olympia with inside knowledge, and Ava actually living Inside) living in a sterilized community. As time progressed and we learned more about each character, their loved ones also became my loved ones and Korn chose to sporadically include those POVs too. I really did come to love and be engrossed in each person’s life so, while interesting and wonderfully detailed, getting to know Orchid (Ava’s lost love), Camilla (Shelby’s sister), and July (Jacqueline’s secret daughter and the under-wraps entire purpose of Inside) only when it served to push along the plot was irritating. Even though I think exploring the problems of this “man-free” and curated to (what Millender sees as), perfection world was the author’s purpose, her character studies were extremely skilled. I found I wanted to see more from each character over a longer period as opposed to jumping between time and space to fill in every gap.

Everyday life on the Inside was definitely well-thought-out and the descriptions were personal and though not overly flowery, I could picture life there easily through the writing. The interpersonal relationship were touching and actually felt realistic, unique, and meaningful.

I chose a couple quotes to help explain the different mentalities/opinions about Inside:

This is a good example of how Korn blended discussing current issues with a storyline:

Ava (whom I think was the author’s self-insert) on removing men from society-

“…𝒔𝒉𝒆’𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎, 𝒂 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒄, 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎- 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑨𝒗𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒂 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒆, 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎; 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒎 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎. 𝑨𝒗𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒐 𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝑶𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒅. 𝑴𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒃𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝑨𝒗𝒂 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.”

Here’s my favorite quote that I actually found both relatable and realistic (from my favorite character, who was a POV seemingly there mostly to move the plot along)

Shelby: 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. ‘𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦’, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥’𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴…𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘹 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳: 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰? 𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘵𝘰-𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸-𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦…𝘢𝘸𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩.

Content Warnings

kalagrace's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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: Complicated

A fast read, the pace was really propulsive. But, with that, some nuance that I would have enjoyed was missing. Really looking forward to the sequel.

Content Warnings

dkamada's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

jaguarshark's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Content Warnings

that_robin's review against another edition

4.0

challenging reflective 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

I really struggled with the narration in the book, but the stories of the individual characters and their choices were compelling for me. Lots of parallels to our current world; good food for thought.

Content Warnings

kers_tin's review against another edition

3.0

dark reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

himpersonal's review

4.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This was interesting - almost like a reverse Handmaid’s Tale. Some might even say a feminist’s Utopia. Except of course it can’t be, because it’s built by flawed humans. There are forces who want to resist, and plenty more who want to ignore what is wrong because it’s inconvenient to question what feels like a good deal, especially when they are the chosen ones. Some might even say it feels a bit like it could be a prophetic metaphor for our current situation in the US.

This book might be a call to action for the woke who need to be further woken. As for those whom I call asleep (as in not woke), this book might just be a bit of science fiction that could someday make a good movie - with the right director. (Let’s take the red pill people, please!)

Content Warnings

alexijai98's review against another edition

2.75

challenging reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Milquetoast, heavy handed dystopian critique of cis, white, capitalist feminism. I could see what the author was trying to do but it just felt simplistic and at some points silly.

Content Warnings

k_shimer's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

Content Warnings

lexyan's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I was skeptical early on reading this, but I ended up really liking it. It's a good takedown of gender essentialism set on the backdrop of early apocalypse-level climate change. There's heavy use of dramatic irony that works really well to keep you invested in reading it. All of the POV characters are well-written, including the perfectly hateable villain. The ending is hopeful but a little unsatisfying, which sort of feels perfect for the story.

Content Warnings

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