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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
The Shutouts is the sequel to Yours for the Taking picking up sort of where we left off. Here, new characters are (clunkily) introduced, and their storylines eventually weave in with the characters we knew from the first book. Half written through letters written by Orchid's mother in 2041, and the other half of the book taking place nearly 40 years later in 2078 where the characters try to survive in a world that is nearly uninhabitable. Where we got a full view of "the Inside" in the first book, this is the view of the outside in all it's desolation.
I loved Yours for the Taking, it was one of my favorites of the year so I was excited to pick up its sequel just a few months later upon its publication. Unfortunately nearly from the first few pages of this one however, I was disappointed. The magic is gone! Genuinely. I wonder what happened. The magic couldn't have been only in the Inside? We have many of the same characters still, but there's just not the same life in them as in the first book. Maybe it's the lack of a baddie, because in this the baddie hasn't happened yet/has already happened in the past. The book is still very queer, very feminist, very imaginative however.
The series is set up as a duology, which I enjoy because sometimes a trilogy can drag out a story far too long. The dystopian future feels all too plausible again, and can really punch the heart occasionally. Like the line about instead of solving climate change, billionaires are making civilian space travel a thing?? Hah. The book did get some better as the separate character's storylines intertwined, and the conclusion was decent if not overly satisfying. I'd read this author again, and hope to pick up more well-written dystopian novels in the future.
A couple of reviews I saw said you can read this novel as a standalone and I have to strongly disagree with that. I can't see how you could understand the world building, even though half of this book happens in the past. It's the past we already learned for one, and the half of the book in the future is almost meaningless unless you learned about their lives and struggles in the first book.
I loved Yours for the Taking, it was one of my favorites of the year so I was excited to pick up its sequel just a few months later upon its publication. Unfortunately nearly from the first few pages of this one however, I was disappointed. The magic is gone! Genuinely. I wonder what happened. The magic couldn't have been only in the Inside? We have many of the same characters still, but there's just not the same life in them as in the first book. Maybe it's the lack of a baddie, because in this the baddie hasn't happened yet/has already happened in the past. The book is still very queer, very feminist, very imaginative however.
The series is set up as a duology, which I enjoy because sometimes a trilogy can drag out a story far too long. The dystopian future feels all too plausible again, and can really punch the heart occasionally. Like the line about instead of solving climate change, billionaires are making civilian space travel a thing?? Hah. The book did get some better as the separate character's storylines intertwined, and the conclusion was decent if not overly satisfying. I'd read this author again, and hope to pick up more well-written dystopian novels in the future.
A couple of reviews I saw said you can read this novel as a standalone and I have to strongly disagree with that. I can't see how you could understand the world building, even though half of this book happens in the past. It's the past we already learned for one, and the half of the book in the future is almost meaningless unless you learned about their lives and struggles in the first book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
3 stars… though I don’t know that it’s an accurate rating given that I feel the first book should be read prior to this one- and I did not. I think this book is not correctly marketed as it is implied it’s simply “set in the same world” rather than letting the reader know that it is more accurately a book 2. I was lost in some places and missed the impact that inevitably would have hit me had I already known who a lot of these characters were.
In a world where unmitigated climate change wreaks havoc, those who continue to survive wrestle with moral dilemmas of what is necessary to ensure individual and collective survival. Alternating between the years 2041, where a mother desperately races back to her teenaged daughter, burdened with the knowledge what is to come, and 2078, where most of the world has been shutout of the eugenicist "Inside", a group of individuals come together to not only survive but thrive in their broken world. Balancing discourse on climate anxiety with the effects of a capitalist society on those who fall outside cultural norms, The Shutouts is a complex portrait of the power of love and connection in the face of adversity. Despite the fact that Korn's latest novel is in many ways a sequel to her debut Yours for the Taking, The Shutouts is its own story, making it an enjoyable read for all no matter their familiarity with Korn's work.
actually liked this better than the first book, a lot of the issues w world building and characterization were addressed
adventurous
inspiring
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
reflective
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:
No
Gabrielle Korn has crafted an incredible duology of queer speculative fiction. Because every great work of SpecFic builds on reality and asks "what if?", the effect in Your For the Taking and The Shutouts is often chilling. The reader is reminded that the very near future could be well reflected in this work of fiction. I feel that is what makes a strong piece of SpecFic - not the fabulous outlandishness of the future, but the plausible reality of a fictional outcome.
Each character these two books follows is a masterpiece. At once a hero and villain, showing that humanity lives within the shades of gray. On one page, you love Ava and another you hate her. You understand Jacqueline's motivations in one chapter and in another find her methods abhorrent. In the first book, we empathize with Ava in her struggle with her relationship with Orchid and in the second book, we are given the gift of Orchid's history even if she never knows it for herself.
The first book sometimes felt rushed, as though some elements of the story were skipped over but in reflection on the two books as one story, I see that sometimes a lived experience is felt the same way. As though the details of the day to day are unimportant and what matters are the punctuations of significant events. The second book is a dual timeline, the "past" told in letters written to Orchid by her mother and the "present" in third person limited omniscient POV from multiple perspectives. This allows the story to feel like it's unfolding at a sufficiently progressive pace.
By the second book's conclusion, the reader is left with a fairly clear image of most of the factors that led the story to its end and we're left with a beautifully reflective final passage that gives the reader the opportunity to consider what can be done to change the paths our planet is on while also giving us the hope of a believing that a better world is possible.
I genuinely loved these two books and if queer speculative fiction is your jam, I think you will too.