A review by kleonard
Afterland by Lauren Beukes

5.0

I cannot lie: I love Lauren Beukes's writing. It's fresh and different and raw and honest and makes me pay attention. Her creations--places, people, beliefs, ideas--are always relevant. This novel is no different. When men all over the world die from a specific cancer targeting them, the few men and boys who survive are hunted, tested, claimed by governments and corporations. Cole's got a 12-year-old son, she's stuck in the US and needs to get to her home country of South Africa; and she's got a sister wants to sell her son for millions. Cole does what any mother would do: she puts her son in a dress and goes on the run, traveling across America and trying to escape the government, her sister, and other trouble along the way. It's a fast-paced, exhilarating ride that includes truly thoughtful discussions of death, gender and identity, personal choice and bodily autonomy, the nature of belief and religion, and coping with family. It's smart and fun and I loved it.