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jtredd05'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? No
4.75
Minor: Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Colonisation, War, and Classism
jnavbar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Colonisation and Classism
laurenipsum's review
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
brewdy_reader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘖𝘣𝘢𝘮𝘢'𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳 [2020]
Here's the good stuff. This book:
- is obviously extremely well researched, hard sci-fi, referencing actual science
- started off with a bang of an opening: a gripping vignette that had me riveted to my seat
- deals with a rather grim topic without wallowing in the depths of despair
- combs the solution space for an answer that is not the mass extinction of the human race
- poses a compelling near-future prediction scenario that confronts morality and whether the ends justify the means
- shines light on an important topic: the very future of humanity when our planet becomes unlivable
Real talk.Clocking in at 577 pages, this was way too long and the writing style did not work for me. I almost quit many times. Some chapters were written as literal board meeting minutes and others were more text-book lecture style: hard sciences ranging from carbon sequestration to glacier science to biosphere to global economics and fiscal policy to international treaty law to psychology to colonialism and nationalism. There were a few recurring characters but by the end I did not care what happened to them.
I would have enjoyed this a lot better if it had been edited down to make key points rather than going for comprehensivity on every topic, in an encyclopedia-like format.
Give this a try if you love climate science non-fiction or speculative fiction leveraging hard science where you cannot tell where facts end and fiction begins. Environmentalists and sustainability aficionados will also find this book fascinating.
Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Classism, and Deportation
shashashasha's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Murder, War, and Classism
random19379's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Grief, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Murder
Minor: Racial slurs
skudiklier'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? It's complicated
5.0
At first, I was worried it would be too dark--not that it was unrealistic, but it was bringing back all my climate anxiety/despair, and I thought it might all be very hard to read. But by the end (or even by halfway through, really), I flipped to wondering if the book is too optimistic. Even given all the challenges, all the "too little too late"--
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Slavery, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Racism, Sexism, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War
kathleencoughlin's review
- 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
4.0
There were a lot of povs which helps highlight that this is a global issue with global solutions. This was a risky stylistic choice in my opinion and I think, at least for the most part, it did pay off. In large part, I think the many narrators could be successful because we do have a core cast of characters led by Mary Murphy who pulls us through this timeline's approach to the climate crisis. Mary's agency, The Ministry for the Future, is given the seemingly impossible task of advocating on behalf of generations to come and ensuring their wellbeing through promoting management and ultimately reversal the catastrophic effects of climate change. Mary has an interesting perspective, and I thought her relationship with Frank was so compelling. I think many readers have found themselves in Mary's position of feeling like you're doing what little you can within your limits and there needs to be some outside force to push you to find new solutions(hopefully not through
Graphic: Body horror and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, and Kidnapping
Minor: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism