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drjoannehill's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
It's maybe some time past the year 3000? Not stated. In a vaguely described part of what was once the USA (that at least is stated), the governing family and surrounding ruling families (the Elites) are all Black. Upper Residents are all Black. "Europes" or Lower Residents are the workers or are outcasts, in an authoritarian system that denies freedom, education, sufficient food, etc etc. to them. Harsh punishment is meted out. It's understood that the country (called the Union of Civilization) is run like this as pay back for the centuries of enslavement of Black people by White. The USA was overthrown 1000 years previously. That's a long grudge and a massive effort to maintain an unequal authoritarian rule. I suppose to ponder this, just imagine the period of enslavement and how enslaved people were treated, how much effort was put into maintaining the system. But in the future with so many technological, educational, and cultural developments, you just expect better I think?
There are many many plot holes in this. A few:
Anyone who is not Black or White in this nation? Not a mention. No idea.
Also no idea if the Union is the whole of the USA. If so, some of the characters walk/run over vast areas rather quickly. There are times when there's a hovercraft journey described as taking a while, but someone walking gets there quite quickly and moves over big areas of the place with ease. 🤷🏻♀️
There's a lot crammed in here, when it would be better to take time and explore in more depth a few of the plot threads. Viruses have been developed by the government to kill Whites but no one else; right so kill all the White workers and then replace them with droids; a rebel plot to fight back; an Elite gets involved in the rebellion; one of the rebels/workers is telekinetic ....and more and more. Cool it!
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Death of parent, and Classism
miranda226's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Both main characters are somewhat anti-heroes, complicated and naive. I struggled a bit with the plot - it felt like there were too many things to tell what was the main climax - but that could be partly because it’s the first in what will be a series. The fighting scenes felt jarring at times - I could see this being adapted as a TV series or movie, for all its abruptness, the writing was descriptive and painted a scene that I think might be better captured onscreen than in a novel.
Graphic: Drug abuse and Violence
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Sexual assault
gallivantingsushi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Also, given how the novel clearly intends to explore race politics, I'm shocked that it doesn't even mention what happened to Asian, Latinx, and especially Native people during the building of the Union.
Aside from those two big questions I also found the plot jumpy and somewhat illogical, and the characters one dimensional. I think Saige and Avi were intended as foils (strength/weakness, traumatized/pampered) but to me they read more like two sides of a complete person. Which made it extra weird that in this "story of friendship" the protagonists don't meet for half the book, and then don't really like each other.
Overall interesting and good enough to finish, but I was hoping for more.
Graphic: Genocide, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
kshertz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It’s interesting to see absolute power corrupting absolutely even in this future. Too many loose ends at the end for me to give it a super high score but I definitely couldn’t put it down and enjoyed the book and themes immensely.
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
arthur_ant18's review
3.75
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, War, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Deportation
Minor: Vomit, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury