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A review by justgeekingby
Burrowed by Mary Baader Kaley
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
The aftermath of a genetic plague is the setting for Burrowed by Mary Baader Kaley. As a result of the plague humanity has been split into two separate groups, the sickly yet super-intelligent Subterraneans who can only survive under the earth and healthy but weak-minded Omniterraneans who live above the earth. The Subters run the intellectual areas of human society, such as science and medical while the Omnits are the builders and heavy lifters.
Only Omnits are fertile, which means that Subter children are taken from their Omnit parents when born and are then raised in group nurseries underground. Burrowed follows the story of one such child, Zuzan, from the nursery to a burrow where she continues her studies as a teenager. In addition to the compromised immune system that all Subters have, Zuzan has a visual impairment that requires her to wear specialised googles that offer her some degree of vision, although it remains very limited and does not correct her colour blindness.
Zuzan eventually finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy that is linked to the growing war between Omnits and Subters. She has the skills to help cure a new plague that is killing Omnit babies, and the Subters need to find it fast. Tensions are rising between the two groups as Omnits believe that Subters are stealing their Omnit babies away from them rather than trying to help cure them. It’s a race against the clock and there is much more going on than Zuzan realises.
On the surface, Burrowed seems like a book with positive chronic illness representation. The problem is that the more I got into the book the more I realised that this representation was just on the surface. For instance, Baader Kaley emphasises the weakened immune system that Subters have throughout the book yet the only example given of it in practise is that they are very susceptible to allergies. As someone who has a compromised immune system and a condition where my immune system constantly attacks itself, I’m very aware of the ways in which this can manifest. Likewise, the range of chronic health conditions that the Subters had were very limited and if I’m honest, either obvious or stereotypical. Again, mostly allergies, and susceptibility to infections. The only specifically named condition, other than Zuzan’s visual impairment, was brittle bones which was named at the start of the novel. After that none are mentioned again as though this part of the plot had been established for the reader.
Instead, the focus moves onto what I believe is the main point of this book; finding a cure. In an interview Baader Kaley mentions that her personal experience with her daughter becoming ill with meningitis played a large part in creating “virus-as-a-villain”. That is fair enough if this was just a book about viruses and pandemics, it’s not. Baader Kaley has chosen to write a book where half the world’s population are physically disabled. It’s a little unclear whether the Omnits are also disabled. While the synopsis suggests mentions “condition of the mind”, in the book they are only referred to as being weak-minded. It is not specifically mentioned whether they have intellectual or learning disabilities, something that I feel was overlooked. The active choice to have disabled characters and such a forceful ongoing narrative for a cure sends the wrong message. It is saying that disability is a problem that needs to be fixed, and that is what it felt like a lot of the time reading this book.
The sub-plot to cure the Omnit babies is one thing, but it is linked to a larger plot to then cure the damage done to humanity by the original plague. Helping Subters is always discussed as a cure rather than ways to relieve symptoms or pain. Of course Subters don’t want to live under the earth, have weakened immune systems or be in pain, but so much emphasis was placed on how terrible their lives were. It was always one bad thing after the other. The very few moments of joy that Zuzan had with her childhood friend always evolved into some catastrophe where the reader is reminded how bad the situation for Subters is. This is unfortunately a common viewpoint from non-disabled writers, where they see every part of disabled lives as being inherently bad and the Subters are the ultimate metaphor of that view.
In the same interview, Baader Kaley is adamant that Burrowed is not a product of the COVID-19 pandemic although interestingly, she cites other outbreaks including HIV/AIDS which is a little concerning. While the author may see a separation between her book and the most recent pandemic, publishing a young adult book about curing characters with chronic illnesses during the pandemic is worrying. Many people, including children and teenagers, are now living with chronic health conditions as a result of COVID-19. Their lives are irreversibly changed and here is a book that talks about people who have developed chronic illnesses from a virus as something wrong, something that needs to be cured.
In case you’re thinking I’m just being pedantic, I’m not. I developed a chronic illness, ME/CFS, due to a virus (flu); I saw myself in these characters and the message I got throughout Burrowed was that I just needed to wait for someone to magically cure me. That isn’t going to happen and that’s a worrying message for a young adult book to be giving out to disabled and non-disabled readers.
I want to emphasise that the issue here is not writing a book about pandemics, viruses or finding a cure for a virus. It’s mixing that with chronic illnesses and disability representation. Essentially the good representation is overwritten by the cure plot line, and it becomes a plot device. And yes, despite the cure trope there is some good representation in Burrowed. There is very good representation of light sensitivity especially with regard to it causing migraines. Zuzan’s perspective throughout the book frequently covers some important topics, although please note that there are some very dark subplots, so please check the content warnings before reading. I’m also not sure if this is a standalone or part of a series as it ended very abruptly and there is no information anywhere with regard to a follow-up book. There were still some unanswered questions and Zuzan’s story does not feel completed to me.
Only Omnits are fertile, which means that Subter children are taken from their Omnit parents when born and are then raised in group nurseries underground. Burrowed follows the story of one such child, Zuzan, from the nursery to a burrow where she continues her studies as a teenager. In addition to the compromised immune system that all Subters have, Zuzan has a visual impairment that requires her to wear specialised googles that offer her some degree of vision, although it remains very limited and does not correct her colour blindness.
Zuzan eventually finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy that is linked to the growing war between Omnits and Subters. She has the skills to help cure a new plague that is killing Omnit babies, and the Subters need to find it fast. Tensions are rising between the two groups as Omnits believe that Subters are stealing their Omnit babies away from them rather than trying to help cure them. It’s a race against the clock and there is much more going on than Zuzan realises.
On the surface, Burrowed seems like a book with positive chronic illness representation. The problem is that the more I got into the book the more I realised that this representation was just on the surface. For instance, Baader Kaley emphasises the weakened immune system that Subters have throughout the book yet the only example given of it in practise is that they are very susceptible to allergies. As someone who has a compromised immune system and a condition where my immune system constantly attacks itself, I’m very aware of the ways in which this can manifest. Likewise, the range of chronic health conditions that the Subters had were very limited and if I’m honest, either obvious or stereotypical. Again, mostly allergies, and susceptibility to infections. The only specifically named condition, other than Zuzan’s visual impairment, was brittle bones which was named at the start of the novel. After that none are mentioned again as though this part of the plot had been established for the reader.
Instead, the focus moves onto what I believe is the main point of this book; finding a cure. In an interview Baader Kaley mentions that her personal experience with her daughter becoming ill with meningitis played a large part in creating “virus-as-a-villain”. That is fair enough if this was just a book about viruses and pandemics, it’s not. Baader Kaley has chosen to write a book where half the world’s population are physically disabled. It’s a little unclear whether the Omnits are also disabled. While the synopsis suggests mentions “condition of the mind”, in the book they are only referred to as being weak-minded. It is not specifically mentioned whether they have intellectual or learning disabilities, something that I feel was overlooked. The active choice to have disabled characters and such a forceful ongoing narrative for a cure sends the wrong message. It is saying that disability is a problem that needs to be fixed, and that is what it felt like a lot of the time reading this book.
The sub-plot to cure the Omnit babies is one thing, but it is linked to a larger plot to then cure the damage done to humanity by the original plague. Helping Subters is always discussed as a cure rather than ways to relieve symptoms or pain. Of course Subters don’t want to live under the earth, have weakened immune systems or be in pain, but so much emphasis was placed on how terrible their lives were. It was always one bad thing after the other. The very few moments of joy that Zuzan had with her childhood friend always evolved into some catastrophe where the reader is reminded how bad the situation for Subters is. This is unfortunately a common viewpoint from non-disabled writers, where they see every part of disabled lives as being inherently bad and the Subters are the ultimate metaphor of that view.
In the same interview, Baader Kaley is adamant that Burrowed is not a product of the COVID-19 pandemic although interestingly, she cites other outbreaks including HIV/AIDS which is a little concerning. While the author may see a separation between her book and the most recent pandemic, publishing a young adult book about curing characters with chronic illnesses during the pandemic is worrying. Many people, including children and teenagers, are now living with chronic health conditions as a result of COVID-19. Their lives are irreversibly changed and here is a book that talks about people who have developed chronic illnesses from a virus as something wrong, something that needs to be cured.
In case you’re thinking I’m just being pedantic, I’m not. I developed a chronic illness, ME/CFS, due to a virus (flu); I saw myself in these characters and the message I got throughout Burrowed was that I just needed to wait for someone to magically cure me. That isn’t going to happen and that’s a worrying message for a young adult book to be giving out to disabled and non-disabled readers.
I want to emphasise that the issue here is not writing a book about pandemics, viruses or finding a cure for a virus. It’s mixing that with chronic illnesses and disability representation. Essentially the good representation is overwritten by the cure plot line, and it becomes a plot device. And yes, despite the cure trope there is some good representation in Burrowed. There is very good representation of light sensitivity especially with regard to it causing migraines. Zuzan’s perspective throughout the book frequently covers some important topics, although please note that there are some very dark subplots, so please check the content warnings before reading. I’m also not sure if this is a standalone or part of a series as it ended very abruptly and there is no information anywhere with regard to a follow-up book. There were still some unanswered questions and Zuzan’s story does not feel completed to me.
Content Warnings