A review by sarahmatthews
HellSans by Ever Dundas

adventurous challenging dark funny fast-paced

HellSans by Ever Dundas 

Angry Robot Books, pub Oct 2022

Read on audio

___

I heard about this book on Twitter through following the author as she prepared for publication over the past  year or so. Having studied a bit of graphic design in the past I was drawn to the premise that a typeface could make people ill and others could be immune and how that could play out in an alternative world. HellSans is imposed on the population by the government and those who are allergic (HSAs) languish in the ghetto. 

It’s possible to read this book in different ways as it is in 3 sections and the first 2 can be read in either order with the third section being the final reveal of the story. Reading in audio, I just went with the flow.

You are straight into the action with a whirlwind of a first chapter which sets things up and has you intrigued. There’s a lot to catch onto as you go along and I loved working out how things fit together.

The author plays with themes of disability and surveillance/assistive tech in this world to comment on how badly people are treated in society. Ever has ME and  says ‘HellSans was influenced by my experience as a disabled person living under a Tory government that was investigated by the UN for human rights violations against disabled people. I experienced how quickly and easily you can fall through the cracks of capitalism, and I got a taste of the dehumanising punitive benefits system. Even with all the support I had, it almost broke me.’   There’s a fair amount   of body horror here  including plenty of vomit which some people might find hard to read. For me, it helped to underline The reality of living with a chronic illness where you’re not in complete control of your body. The main characters, Icho and Jane are complicated and unlikeable at times which made them come alive and the narrator, Sofia Zervudachi, played them so engagingly. This is a wonderful, smart thriller that makes for a compelling read.