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spaghettireads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The premise is a second American civil war, that started for the most part based on oil. The book follows Sarat through her life during the war, and her role in it.
I read this with a book club, and there was a lot to discuss. It all seems quite plausible that our current world could turn into this one, and in fact many of the dystopian features of this future America are already occurring. Omar El Akkad is a war journalist, and this is evident through the writing.
I had seen this reviewed as dystopian climate fiction. While it definitely is that, since the war is caused by the decline of oil, and differences in opinion over whether it should be used, I wanted more details about the climate crisis. You see a few details about how the world has changed, but throughout the book climate change seems like something that happened in the past and not something that is still occurring.
Overall, the book is quite fast paced and engrossing. If the premise interests you, I would definitely suggest picking it up!
I read this with a book club, and there was a lot to discuss. It all seems quite plausible that our current world could turn into this one, and in fact many of the dystopian features of this future America are already occurring. Omar El Akkad is a war journalist, and this is evident through the writing.
I had seen this reviewed as dystopian climate fiction. While it definitely is that, since the war is caused by the decline of oil, and differences in opinion over whether it should be used, I wanted more details about the climate crisis. You see a few details about how the world has changed, but throughout the book climate change seems like something that happened in the past and not something that is still occurring.
Overall, the book is quite fast paced and engrossing. If the premise interests you, I would definitely suggest picking it up!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, and Murder
hmatt's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Incredibly powerful. This is such a hard but also necessary time to read this sort of work - or just this work, in particular. I read quite a bit of speculative fiction and I still can't quite compare this book to much else. Think World War Z, but closer to home, more realistic, and more political. I was wowed at how I could both disagree with the protagonists and also empathize with them (the mark of great characterization, IMO).
If you like audiobooks, it's short-ish and extremely well narrated. Plot-wise, it almost lost me about two-thirds of the way through, but quickly turned back around and tied everything together.
If you like audiobooks, it's short-ish and extremely well narrated. Plot-wise, it almost lost me about two-thirds of the way through, but quickly turned back around and tied everything together.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Grief, and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Suicide