jennsbookshelves's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, and War
ashleysbookthoughts's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
2.5
I loved Hawley’s book, Before the Fall. So when I saw that he had a new novel coming out that was kind of a dystopian critique of America, I was excited. The jacket description of this book is bananas, but it begins as a compelling, insightful critique of America and how divided we’ve become.
But then it devolves into a bit of a mess. I think I get what Hawley was trying to do. He’s attempting to satirize the current state of America. But I think his point and his narrative get bogged down by the fact that he’s trying to do too much. There’s no issue that isn’t included. We get everything: the political divide, climate change, opioid epidemic, social media, COVID, the Me Too movement, Q-Anon, gun violence, the war in Afghanistan, and more. There’s even a Jeffrey Epstein type character.
To his credit, Hawley acknowledges within the text that the world he created is “ridiculous,” but his points still come across as heavy-handed. It isn’t helped by the dialogue, which is often clunky. There are too many metaphors; people don’t talk like this.
Somewhere in here, though, is a good story. I was invested throughout and anxious to see where it was going. Unfortunately, the problem, to quote from the book: “Simon sighs. It’s all so vague.”
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and War
Moderate: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault
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