Scan barcode
blue_txt's review against another edition
2.0
I've never wanted to experience fictional leftist in-fighting.
I don't enjoy books with thought-experiment based plots, so I knew it wasn't going to be a great read for me. I guess I expected more from the characters since the plot was so paper-thin.
Graphic: Addiction, Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Classism, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Violence, Suicide, War, Death, Confinement, Racism, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Transphobia, and Xenophobia
bobbi'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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Police brutality, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Vomit, Gun violence, Rape, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Deadnaming and Transphobia
kchamp's review
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
And oh god, don’t get me started on Red and the romantic subplot. Maddie just hops from toxic relationship to toxic relationship and it’s boring. And there was not a single moment of this book that convinced me that Red was “charming.”
I did not give a shit about Red or Maddie, and it infuriated me to have to trudge through their story for the scraps of what was actually compelling in this book. I want books about hope, not just in the last 5 pages.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Drug use, Sexual assault, Gun violence, and Police brutality
Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Police brutality, Death, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Addiction
miggyfool'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Medical content, Misogyny, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Rape, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Animal death, Physical abuse, War, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Racism, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Vomit
hankatcol's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Hate crime, Violence, Homophobia, Gun violence, Drug abuse, and Addiction
Moderate: Rape, War, Vomit, and Deadnaming
howard's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The most impressive thing this book does is have political conversations in real time between characters with different political opinions. This is a great way to cover these topics and gives the reader different viewpoints to consider, though there is usually a character who the text clearly thinks is "right".
I also really liked the characters. Everyone felt really fleshed out and real, even the characters who were assholes or I didn't like I felt like I understood where they were coming from/why they are the way they are. Gestas is a gem I love him.
I'm not sure how the narrator Maddie reads to BIPOC. As a white person who has been on a journey of anti-racist awakening, I sometimes related to and found Maddie sympathetic. I liked her, and I think a lot of white people will see themselves in her, problematic though she is.
The way this book is told is really weird. It's told as a memoir retelling of the events 5 years after they happened. In part 1 it bounces back and forth between timelines 6 months apart, but it also reminds you that it's being told from the future. This whole device felt really clunky to me and every time we were reminded of this narrative device I kind of rolled my eyes.
The last 40 pages are where it really fell off for me. The story of the Free People's Village as a character ends pretty abruptly and the rest of the book is wrapped up in Maddie's personal life and a "where are they now" montage of all the rest of the characters. While Maddie's personal life was present throughout the book, it definitely took a backseat to what I though of as the main plot; the Free People's Village and it's legacy (although thinking about this now maybe that's not fair because part 1 is mostly about Maddie? idk it just felt like a really abrupt tone change)
The final pages are basically a manifesto about activism and why it is important to continue doing the work even though it can feel hopeless. Unlike the earlier conversations with multiple POVs this felt more like a force fed moral of the story with no room for the reader to use their own critical thinking. While this isn't unimportant, I think there could have been a better way to handle the ending.
Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, and Police brutality
Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, Animal death, Classism, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, and War
aeons_v_atlas'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? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Death, Rape, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Racism, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Slavery, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Transphobia, and Vomit
ebook_em'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? Yes
4.5
The plot unfolds in an alternate timeline in which Al Gore won the 2000 presidential election and declared a “War on Climate Change.” As a policy researcher, I was so impressed by how Sim Kern revealed what can go wrong in the implementation of liberal policies — like rich people abusing the carbon tax system and greenwashing galore — and how the Democratic platform on climate change is totally insufficient to tackle environmental racism and imperialism. In fact, this story shows how the “war” on climate change could be weaponized in very conventional ways against people of the global majority. The fact that climate policies in this story were used to further expand the scope of policing also felt chillingly realistic.
The coalition of organizations, activists, homeless folks, and others who made up the Free People’s Village seemed very real as well. I loved Kern’s depiction of the boring and mundane aspects of organizing (figuring out how often to empty the port-a-potties is something I’ve had to do and didn’t care to remember, lol) plus the circular, mind-numbing infighting that is inevitable in any long-term organizing effort. Around the middle of the story, there’s an inciting incident when the movement fractures into very different tactics — the secrecy, guilt, and political questions around this incident were really compelling.
I also appreciated the treatment of SA in this book. Rape culture and flimsy restorative justice responses to violence within activist spaces are way more typical than many organizers want to acknowledge. Not including some mention of sexual violence in an encampment setting would’ve felt like a major omission, but it didn’t feel perfunctory as a plot line either. All these examples highlight Kern’s explorations of power dynamics throughout the book: between landlords and tenants, cops and citizens, people with criminal records and those without, Black & Indigenous organizers and white voyeurs, cis and trans people, etc. The depiction of the technologies and media also seemed true to life; in many ways, this book felt like a fiction analog to Zeynep Tufekci’s “Twitter and Tear Gas.”
Now for the aspects that will be unappealing to some readers. The first-person POV of the white main character, Maddie, is cringeworthy more often than not. The cringe factor is intentional, as Maddie is a young white teacher and baby activist entering Black-led organizing spaces for the first time, and she messes up a lot in the process. I thought the author did a pretty good job of not making this a white savior story, though there were times Maddie could’ve taken more ownership of her actions without endless coaching from Black and brown people. Maddie participates in some actions but repeatedly chickens out and mostly does grunt work while her friends and bandmates do the more high-profile leadership work. Even though her inner thoughts are painful to read, I think her perspective will resonate with people. Some readers might also be turned off by the didactic tone of the book. Personally, I don’t mind heavy-handed social commentary in fiction and thought it made sense to learn fundamental theories and principles through Maddie’s naive POV.
Overall, this was a great read that left me with a lot to think about. My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy.
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Racism, Police brutality, Drug use, Violence, Alcoholism, and Vomit
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Rape, Colonisation, Deadnaming, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Addiction
kays_reading_journal'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Police brutality, Transphobia, Violence, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Addiction, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Deadnaming, Grief, Classism, Mass/school shootings, Rape, and Suicide attempt