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A review by renstrange
The Free People's Village by Sim Kern
challenging
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
hoo boy! okay, so i have a lot of critiques:
1. why did the characters at the center of a social justice story not seem to really care about the issues they claimed to fight for? at every turn, their main focus was themselves. plus, they just kind of sucked as people. i’m all for flawed- and even unlikable- characters, but this was to a whole other degree.
2- all of the organizing and a good chunk of the action was off-page. our protagonist isn’t even present for some of it. so much of the action is presented in summary. additionally, the protagonist does almost nothing to further the plot. she’s just kind of there. it felt like the author wanted to write a protest story but knew nothing about protesting.
3- this book really reads as little more than an opportunity for the author to spew leftist talking points at the reader. perhaps i’d have gotten more out of it if i wasn’t already well aware of leftism, but it really detracted from the book.
4- why, in this alternate reality story, does a character hypothesize about what the world would be like if gwb were elected and somehow predict exactly what happened in this reality?
5- why is this social justice book mainly about people partying?
6- there’s a bit halfway through where the author remembers her characters are in a band, they start playing again, become suddenly famous, and then their fame is never mentioned again.
7- at least there was lots of trans rep (including a character with neo-pronouns). so that’s… something?
1. why did the characters at the center of a social justice story not seem to really care about the issues they claimed to fight for? at every turn, their main focus was themselves. plus, they just kind of sucked as people. i’m all for flawed- and even unlikable- characters, but this was to a whole other degree.
2- all of the organizing and a good chunk of the action was off-page. our protagonist isn’t even present for some of it. so much of the action is presented in summary. additionally, the protagonist does almost nothing to further the plot. she’s just kind of there. it felt like the author wanted to write a protest story but knew nothing about protesting.
3- this book really reads as little more than an opportunity for the author to spew leftist talking points at the reader. perhaps i’d have gotten more out of it if i wasn’t already well aware of leftism, but it really detracted from the book.
4- why, in this alternate reality story, does a character hypothesize about what the world would be like if gwb were elected and somehow predict exactly what happened in this reality?
5- why is this social justice book mainly about people partying?
6- there’s a bit halfway through where the author remembers her characters are in a band, they start playing again, become suddenly famous, and then their fame is never mentioned again.
7- at least there was lots of trans rep (including a character with neo-pronouns). so that’s… something?