A review by getlitwithamy_
The Free People's Village by Sim Kern

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

this book takes place in an alternate 2020 where al gore was president instead of gwb. there was a “war on climate” instead of the war on terror, and the country became greenwashed while the poor, marginalized, predominantly PoC communities stayed in harsh material conditions. a popular home/community called “the lab” is under potential threat of being torn down, along with other neighboring buildings, so a new hyperway (highways) can be made to further gentrify the slowly gentrifying neighborhood 

this is a very interesting book so far since the protagonist is a femme white woman teaching at an all Black school and unknowingly contributing to gentrification. she slowly goes through a political awakening and wants to use her privilege to fight with the free people’s village 

there’s another character with neo-pronouns, which i’ve never read in fiction before!! the character who goes by Red used xe/xim/zir pronouns 

it’s not my favorite book but it’s also not my least favorite. i think sim kern knows how to scene build pretty well despite the fact that it feels more “tell” than “show” at times. however, it’s a good revolutionary story