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stb_14's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
whatsbookinjenni's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Weird and wonderful -- similar in some ways to Something New Under the Sun, but a bit plottier. Great explorations of motherhood, climate change, and American West/California culture -- definitely eager to read I Love You but I've Chosen Darkness soon too
tildahlia's review against another edition
4.0
Whew, not a great book to read when it feels like the world is ending. Incredibly evocative cli-fi, this book describes a futuristic dystopia in California where nature and human society as we know it has fried and decayed in an overheated world. The start and finish of this book were very strong; the middle lost some of its momentum for me. The writing was very strong (the oppression of the conditions had me reaching for water) but a hard read during a time of global instability.
cryingalot49's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
seereeves's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I think we’re supposed to pretend to like this book because the author is some break out star, the text is so dense, and the story is so murky that otherwise you risk looking like you don’t get it. But, I’m ok with saying I don’t get it.
I did not like nor was I interested in any of the characters or what happened to them. I did not see some greater point or theme. And it maybe because I’m too dense myself.
Why did all three main characters have a name that has to do with light? Luz, Ray, and Estrella (Ig)? What was the strange detour to the story (even further in the future?) of the people who lived outside the nuclear waste containment facility and the mutant(?)? Or the transcribed patient records (?) of Levi?
I was just slogging through at the end to get it over with.
I did not like nor was I interested in any of the characters or what happened to them. I did not see some greater point or theme. And it maybe because I’m too dense myself.
I was just slogging through at the end to get it over with.
mahiccup's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is executed beautifully. The writing is so lush and descriptive, and I loved the playing with perspective - mostly from one POV but with interludes of others, moments of a Greek chorus style commentary, macro views of the state of current events, and micro examinations of the flora and fauna. Kind of experimental, kind of a thought experiment - a letter to California that blurs the lines between love and hate. I especially loved the beginning of Book 2 (descriptions of the desert) and the end about Luz as all of California - the desperate dreamers, the California quitters.
That being said, don't know if I was ever fully absorbed in the story. I didn't find Luz as unlikable as some other reviews, but the plot was a bit predictable and honestly seemed like a pale imitation of Parable of the Sower (now THAT's a groundbreaking post apocalyptic climate novel about womanhood and religion). I would recommend this book, but only if you love climate fiction and the Western US and flowery writing (which admittedly I do).
Some passages that caught me:
"She had thought the holes to be the burrows of chipmunks, but knew them now to be snake holes. Mammals were out. LA gone reptilian, primordial. Her father would have some scripture to quote about that."
That being said, don't know if I was ever fully absorbed in the story. I didn't find Luz as unlikable as some other reviews, but the plot was a bit predictable and honestly seemed like a pale imitation of Parable of the Sower (now THAT's a groundbreaking post apocalyptic climate novel about womanhood and religion). I would recommend this book, but only if you love climate fiction and the Western US and flowery writing (which admittedly I do).
Some passages that caught me:
"She had thought the holes to be the burrows of chipmunks, but knew them now to be snake holes. Mammals were out. LA gone reptilian, primordial. Her father would have some scripture to quote about that."
"In the pixel promises of satellites it could be the Grand Canyon, its awesome chasms and spires, its photogenic strata, our great empty, where so many of us once stood feeling so compressed against all that vastness, so dense, wondering if there wasn't a way to breathe some room between the bits of us, where we once stood feeling the expected smallness a little, but also a headache where our eyeballs scraped against the limits of our vision, or rather of our imagination, because it was a painting we were seeing though we stood at the sanctioned rim of the real deal."
"Drained lakes, sulfur seas, yucca forests dried to paper, redwoods blighted and departed, sequoias and pinyon pines tinder for a never-satisfied wildfire. These were her people. Speculators and opportunists, carnival barkers and realtors, imag-ineers, cowards and dreamers and girls. Mojavs. Eyes peeled for the flash of ore, the flash of camera, the wet flesh of fruit. Gold, fame, citrus."
Ps. Honestly just love the title for where it fits in the "Gold God Glory"/"Guns Germs Steel" chronicle - the entry, the destruction, the exodus.
Ps. Honestly just love the title for where it fits in the "Gold God Glory"/"Guns Germs Steel" chronicle - the entry, the destruction, the exodus.
mayagekosky's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
i didn’t enjoy the book at all. it felt too abstract. the ending was even worse then the whole book.
sillylily88's review against another edition
2.5
hm
feel like there are some missed content warnings here,,,,,
on the note of the warnings, most were so indulgent and unnecessary in the grand scheme of the book. additionally, the author wrote about sex and bodies like a man would :/
feel like there are some missed content warnings here,,,,,
on the note of the warnings, most were so indulgent and unnecessary in the grand scheme of the book. additionally, the author wrote about sex and bodies like a man would :/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Excrement, Sexual content, Suicide, and Child abuse
Moderate: Misogyny, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Trafficking, and Torture
grayjay's review against another edition
4.0
Such a weird book! A romantic, post-apocalyptic cult thriller. It is about climate change without ever lecturing the reader about climate change. It is about a woman who is not a hero but so real she jumps out of the novel at you. She is sick of being objectified, but is weak, is not a great person, is a quitter, yet somehow you hope things will work out for her. Watkins' style is poetic and experimental. With its lists and taxonomies and odd non-narrative chapters it calls to mind Melville or Verne.
geekwayne's review against another edition
3.0
'Gold Fame Citrus' by Claire Vaye Watkins is a literary tale of a dystopian near future. The premise promised me more than I felt like I got. I've read a few critically acclaimed literary fiction books that dabble in speculative fiction, and they leave me puzzled because it seems that the authors don't really understand the genre that they are setting their stories in.
In a post-water California, most people who have been able to have left the state behind. The rest, the 'mojavs,' are not welcome anywhere. Luz and Ray live in an abandoned house in the hills overlooking the city. She reads about famous historical figures and dresses in the clothes the starlet who owned the house left behind. He does chores around the house and thinks of turning the empty pool into a skate park. Things happen and they find themselves trying to make their way East. They find themselves among different groups of people: those who want to party until it all burns out, or people on an almost religious quest to chase a dying dream, or dreamers on the edge of the ocean in the fading light.
I liked the concept, most of the characters and I liked the writing, but I found it tough to actually care about anyone in the story. Especially when one of the main characters is presented with the kind of life shaking turning point that would force anyone else to act, and then that character decides to not actually change. Maybe that's realistic, but it made me dislike the journey I was on with this book.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Quercus Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
In a post-water California, most people who have been able to have left the state behind. The rest, the 'mojavs,' are not welcome anywhere. Luz and Ray live in an abandoned house in the hills overlooking the city. She reads about famous historical figures and dresses in the clothes the starlet who owned the house left behind. He does chores around the house and thinks of turning the empty pool into a skate park. Things happen and they find themselves trying to make their way East. They find themselves among different groups of people: those who want to party until it all burns out, or people on an almost religious quest to chase a dying dream, or dreamers on the edge of the ocean in the fading light.
I liked the concept, most of the characters and I liked the writing, but I found it tough to actually care about anyone in the story. Especially when one of the main characters is presented with the kind of life shaking turning point that would force anyone else to act, and then that character decides to not actually change. Maybe that's realistic, but it made me dislike the journey I was on with this book.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Quercus Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.