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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
"The Shutouts" alternates between multiple time periods as a group of people grapple with catastrophic climate change and a government conspiracy that keeps humankind from addressing the problem. Human civilization is no longer life as we know it, and small microcommunities (some might say cults) crop up in response to the crisis. The conflict between "tribes" is inevitable.
This is a tough book for me to rate, because I came into it not realizing that it was the second book in a series. Perhaps because of that, I often had trouble keeping track of the characters and how they related to each other. The time jumps were a little difficult to follow on audiobook as well. As is common of speculative clifi fiction, there's a meandering, slow pace to it as the characters nomadically journey from one place to another. It did fine as a standalone, but I would recommend that readers start with book one if possible. There's strong repesentation for nonbinary and LGBTQ, which is always a win in my book but may be jarring for some readers who are not used to they/them pronoun use.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley, and Gabrielle Korn for an advance copy for honest review.
This is a tough book for me to rate, because I came into it not realizing that it was the second book in a series. Perhaps because of that, I often had trouble keeping track of the characters and how they related to each other. The time jumps were a little difficult to follow on audiobook as well. As is common of speculative clifi fiction, there's a meandering, slow pace to it as the characters nomadically journey from one place to another. It did fine as a standalone, but I would recommend that readers start with book one if possible. There's strong repesentation for nonbinary and LGBTQ, which is always a win in my book but may be jarring for some readers who are not used to they/them pronoun use.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley, and Gabrielle Korn for an advance copy for honest review.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
While I’ve seen some say this is a standalone novel, I would have to disagree. This is very much a sequel and without reading Yours for the Taking, you will be missing a lot of nuances and shared history between the characters. It adds depth and emotional connection to the story, so I highly recommend reading it first.
The world building in this novel and its predecessor is starting to hit close to home with climate change ramping up right before our eyes. The government and billionaires not doing anything to curb the change, women’s rights, trans rights, etc. It’s all very relevant and thought provoking to the world we live in. I think the events here are slightly exaggerated to add more tension and dread to the whole experience. It’s nicely done overall, but I found a few nitty gritty things that probably wouldn’t work in real life.
With that said, I quite enjoyed this book. Even more so as the stakes are much higher and I really grew to like these characters, even though they sometimes annoyed and frustrated me to bits! All the different POVs really came together and I started looking forward to Kelly’s letters or how Ava and Brook’s journey to find July progressed. This was more emotional and poignant because of the time jumps and how the story unfolded. All the details about the survivalist cult really made my blood boil. The government’s/rich people’s selfishness and that whole subplot really was a mind trip. I thought the ending wrapped up a bit abruptly, a bit sad but still hopeful for the characters surviving and adapting to their new world.
Narration by Gail Shalan was effortless, the perfect amount of emotion and great pacing to keep me enthralled in the story.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the review copies.
I was not the hugest fan of Yours for the Taking, but figured I'd give this one a shot regardless. YftT felt so surface level in its commentary and critique, and I think The Shutouts suffers from the same problem. Maybe if you do not spend much time in activist spaces, this will seem wildly new and groundbreaking to you. If so, that's GREAT (genuinely), but keep going bc I promise there's more out there with actual depth that will push those boundaries for you in a way that doesn't come from a place of Cis White privilege (like maybe adrienne maree brown and Margaret Killjoy).
A good starting place, but ultimately lacking.
A good starting place, but ultimately lacking.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
What an engaging story. I enjoyed Gabrielle Korn’s book, and was thrilled when I discovered that the second one was coming.
I listened to the audiobook, and was engaged throughout. The narrator was fantastic, however I wish I could have seen how some names were spelled (I’ll read the book and find out).
While the novel was character driven, the plot didn’t disappoint. I appreciated the time spent building the world within the story. There were multiple timelines and despite worries that it would be hard to follow on an audiobook, it wasn’t. I enjoyed how the various storylines came together, and I was not disappointed with the ending. I’d recommend this book!
I listened to the audiobook, and was engaged throughout. The narrator was fantastic, however I wish I could have seen how some names were spelled (I’ll read the book and find out).
While the novel was character driven, the plot didn’t disappoint. I appreciated the time spent building the world within the story. There were multiple timelines and despite worries that it would be hard to follow on an audiobook, it wasn’t. I enjoyed how the various storylines came together, and I was not disappointed with the ending. I’d recommend this book!
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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:
Complicated
Thank you to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for this advance reader copy of the audiobook for The Shutouts!
The Shutouts is a continuation of some character stories from Yours for the Taking, so I won't go too into too much detail with the plot in an effort to avoid spoilers.
This novel follows several characters along various timelines who are facing a world ravaged by the effects of climate change, and a government who does not seem to care for more than those who are most wealthy. Sounds familiar… Anyway, these characters are all searching in their own ways for companionship and survival in what feels like it may be the end of the world.
I listened to the audiobook of Yours for the Taking earlier this year and really enjoyed it. I was pleased to find out there would be another installment in the series, and loved listening to the audiobook of The Shutouts. I thought this was a great continuation of some of the character stories I became familiar with in the first book, and I found the additional stories added depth to the world, and very loveable characters who I felt just as invested in as the original ones. The climate and political factors of this dystopian world feel very plausible, making the story feel tangible and easy to immerse yourself in. Sometimes I find dystopian concepts so outlandish that it's hard to immerse myself in the world, but this series is not one of those stories. The way the different storylines overlapped and intertwined was exciting and kept me looking forward to finding out how characters would continue to be connected and how their journeys would resolve.
As always, Gabrielle Korn does a beautiful job weaving diversity into their stories without making it feel performative or forced. I love the natural feeling of the inclusion of characters with various identities, and always appreciate seeing this represented in my reads. These characters have diverse identities, but that is not their whole identity, and I hope to see that be represented more in the publishing industry.
The only big drawback for me was that it became difficult at times to keep the different timeframes and individual characters separated in my mind, but that could have had to do with the format in which I was consuming the book (audio versus ebook or physical). Either way, the difficulty to follow did pull me back from being as engaged as I would have liked to have been in the story. Overall, I find this series to be a unique take on dystopian fiction that is high;y enjoyable. I look forward to reading future works by this author if they are to publish more in this series or otherwise.
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Tender-hearted, with an under-current of terror, this novel is a wonderfully inquisitive exploration of how relationships are what carry us through difficulty.
This novel is set in the world of the author’s previous novel, Yours for the Taking, but it stands on its own. I have not read that novel and didn’t even read the jacket copy for that novel until I was more than halfway through this one. I imagine if you have read that novel this one may be even better, but I didn’t feel like anything was missing reading this as a standalone. And that is saying something, because this novel doesn’t really have a whole lot of plot to speak of. This novel is more concerned with the characters and their relationships, and uses a post-climate apocalypse as the background to exacerbate the power of those relationships.
The writing itself is incredibly compelling. There are two narratives, that somehow tell the story of three time periods. The first narrative is an epistolary story, a series of letters written by a woman who is crossing the country to return to her young daughter, who she hasn’t seen for a number of years. In the letters she is telling her daughter her own life story, or at least a part of it, and so these letters tell the story of the woman crossing the country in 2041 but also of her life from when she was a teenager in the late 2020s. These letters are intimate, first-person narratives that are filled with heartbreak and regret but also inspiration and pride, with a low-simmering frantic nature infecting them all as she is afraid of being tracked or monitored and that leaks into her letters. This is paired, in alternating chapters, with a handful of different POV characters telling a story in 2078, characters that seem disconnected at first but whose connections are made clear, as is the connection between their stories and the 2041 story, as the novel progresses. These close third-person POV chapters still give us intimate portraits of the struggles and joys of a number of characters. The writing is straightforward, not overly florid or sentimental, but the character portraits are so vivid, told through their actions as much as in description, that I was always disappointed when leaving any character’s chapter. The epistolary chapters are much more emotional feeling, and this balance between the two writing styles and across the multiple timelines is really smart. It really makes the story feel like it has continual forward momentum, even though there is not a whole lot of plot pulling you through the story.
I mention the story is a little terrifying, and that is because the world-building is really stellar and also bleak. We see a climate apocalypse as it unfurls across the six or so decades that these stories span, and it feels way too real and kind of devastating. We don’t just see the weather and its consequences on human life or habitation, but we see the human decisions that lead to the changing climate, we see when and how greed is prioritized over people. This is not a political thriller; I think some of those elements were heavier in her previous novel in this world. Our characters are in play to make any government-level decisions, they are just the folk who are living with the consequences. The world-building is done across these three timelines and through our characters’ experiences, and it is a robust world that feels genuine and complete. There are countless details of the world we don’t know, it is wide open enough for another half dozen stories in this world, and yet it never feels lacking. The big picture is really clear, and it is through our characters’ actions and traumas that we understand how the world is, which is a smart way to build it.
Which brings me to the characters. The characters are the heart of this novel, and they are wonderful. They are diverse and personal and everything about them feels both very specific and entirely relatable. I was rooting for every character we got to spend time with. All of them are the same, insofar as they are trying to survive this world and maybe eke out a little joy while they’re at it, yet their lives are so different that just what that means takes a different shape in each. There isn’t necessarily a lot of character growth, because we see their potential right from the beginning. Instead, this story is a chance for them to unfurl, a chance for the characters to show us who they really feel they are. The queer representation in this story is great, especially seeing how queer identities are discussed in the different timelines. But more important than any individual character or identity are the relationships they create. Because this novel is all about relationships. The way to survive an apocalypse, Korn is telling us, is through other people. It is through community and connection. Sometimes that can go awry, sometimes expectations aren’t equal, and that community or relationship can become harmful, true. But that is why we need to invest in a complex emotional maturity that centers others’ needs. The relationships here are beautiful and tragic and rocky and tender and spicy and complicated and sometimes painfully simple. We depend on others, and they us, and if we have any hope of anything resembling salvation it is in relationships that we will find it, we will build it, together.
I want to thank the author, the publisher St Martins Press, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
While Yours for the Taking explored what it was like to be Inside, The Shutouts illustrates both how it got so bad and what happened to society on the outside.
The scariest part of this book is how easily this could be our reality. None of the characters were all that compelling, though, and the low stakes for them given how dangerous things were supposed to be was rather strange. Overall, an interesting story about doing what feels right versus what's necessary.
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.
The scariest part of this book is how easily this could be our reality. None of the characters were all that compelling, though, and the low stakes for them given how dangerous things were supposed to be was rather strange. Overall, an interesting story about doing what feels right versus what's necessary.
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Dystopian novel wherein the world has drastically changed due to climate change. It follows generations of parent and child as they learn to navigate the new world. The only thing that hasn't really changed is the patriarchy still being alive and well.
All of our main characters are queer in some way, but it's only an issue for the first generation and only in their relationship with their conservative parents, who eventually adjust.
I think maybe I missed something, because for me this book is just okay.
All of our main characters are queer in some way, but it's only an issue for the first generation and only in their relationship with their conservative parents, who eventually adjust.
I think maybe I missed something, because for me this book is just okay.