Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling

12 reviews

24carrotgay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Camp Zero begins as a disjointed story told from three vastly different perspectives in a dystopian world we know next to nothing about. It ends as an expertly woven masterpiece that explores identity, family, patriarchy, exploitation, and ethics in a world ravaged by capitalism, climate crisis, and technology. I was more and more hooked as I gathered little nuggets of information throughout the story from each perspective. By the end,  I had the entire picture, and it is utterly human. This book is profound in a deeply humbling and real way. Here’s hoping for a sequel!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Dementia

Minor: Child death

lpdx's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Gore, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Racism, and Death of parent

prairieraven's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

oceanwriter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Dystopian plots fascinate me. Many times they’re prophetic. It’s especially interesting to read one set in the nearish future. Camp Zero has a great premise, but I wish I hadn’t spent most of the book trying to figure out what the focus of the book was. 

 

Set in a future suffering from the results of harsh climate change, Rose agrees to work as a spy to provide housing for her mother. Meanwhile, Grant wants to break away from his family’s past. The two meet at Camp Zero. It becomes a part that this place is harboring secrets. 

 

As I mentioned, I have no idea what the central focus of this plot is. Climate change is the obvious answer, but with minimal world-building and context so much was lost. From page one it felt like I was supposed to already know what was going on as I entered the story. The names (or lack of) were confusing, the POV shifts added to the trouble getting my bearings… I overall felt like I was left out of the loop. 

 

I enjoyed the writing itself. With more world and character building I think I would have loved it. My feelings are mixed. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Racism, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

mandi_lea's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Racism, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

booksbeyondthebinary's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Racism and Pregnancy

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide

Minor: Pregnancy

kylieqrada's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This had me for about the first half and then it lost me. The themes are so on-point but I just couldn't get on board with the execution. Womp wompppppp.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, and Alcohol

Minor: Racism, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

aileron's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny and Classism

Minor: Racism

starrysteph's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This eerie little tale felt dreadfully real and captivated me from cover to cover.

It’s very-near speculative fiction. The slightly elevated technology that encourages total detachment from the world. Violent impacts of climate change and ecological disaster. A continuation of those with a sense of power ripping away land and shaping it in their image.

And interwoven through all that - classism, possible collective utopia after criss, survival, curious gender binaries.

We follow three different POVs in the far north of Canada. Rose is an escort who has a secret reason for her placement at Camp Zero: she’s spying on its head architect in exchange for a secured future for herself & her mother. Grant is running away from his powerful family and the mistakes of his past, hoping to solidify his life in the north as an English professor. And the female collective of White Alice learns to survive and thrive in a climate research station.

We flip-flop through past and present during each POV, and layers of the mysteries surrounding Camp Zero and White Alice are slowly unfurled. 

In my opinion, calling this a dystopian thriller is a mischaracterization. It is a slow, character-driven piece. Each POV is lost in swirling memories, and the action of the present is much shorter. The world of Camp Zero is very much our own.

The weakest point to me was a lack of intersectionality. While classism and sexism come into play quite a bit, race is curiously missing from the picture. Indigenous voices were referenced but not really explored; Rose is half-Korean but it was never significant outside of some discussions of her family’s immigration. I think there was an opportunity to dive deeper into gender & expanding boundaries and perceived binaries during the White Alice chapters, and that was missed a bit.

I thought the writing was incredibly strong, and there are elements here that will sit with me for a bit. I think it would be a great book club pick as well - and a group of readers would probably have vastly different takeaways and opinions on the final segment.

CW: murder, death, misogyny, sexual assault, animal cruelty & animal death, gore, toxic relationship, grief, classism, colonization, racism, pregnancy, sexual content

Follow me on TikTok for book recommendations!

(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Classism