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A review by eclectika
The Subprimes by Karl Taro Greenfeld
2.0
Decent, if a bit uninventive. As it goes on, the book seems to lean further and further away from reality, but more in a YA novel way than going deeper into satire (which would have been more interesting imo). Also not a huge fan of how this book, which is purportedly about how people can band together to aid one another in the face of an oppressive society & how people helping others can kickstart a meaningful revolution, had to feature an obvious Jesus figure at the helm leading the revolution. It would have been much more rewarding if Sargam (aka Jesus) was given the same depth of character that (some of) the other characters had. It really makes the central conflict of the book feel like make-believe, detracting from the fascinating realness that the first 2.5 chapters entice you with. Sargam was very clearly just a mouthpiece for the author's beliefs instead of her own character, and I mean that literally: a lot of scenes about life in Valence—the community of subprimes living peacefully in an abandoned suburb in Nevada—open up with exposition along the lines of "Darren thought they should do x thing, but Sargam said y, because of z reasons." In case you forgot—I did—Darren is Sargam's boytoy, who the novel occasionally mentions is upset by Sargam being better than him. Bro, you're literally dating the Second Coming, idk what you expected.
Speaking of Sargam, most of the female characters in this book are very obviously Written By A Man. I don't think there's a single POV female character who doesn't give needless and unwarranted exposition on her sex appeal to men and how much of a threat other women perceive her as. Not to mention the (thankfully, blessedly brief) sex scenes, which had me rolling my eyes the whole time. They are, like, physically painful to read. And then there's also Vanessa, a 15 year old girl who has sex with a guy and then instantly ~becomes a woman~ and is eager to have a baby. At fifteen. If this was treated with any nuance that would be fine, but it's just lowkey (highkey) viscerally uncomfortable.
On the positive side, there's some good humor in here, and interesting worldbuilding as well. Gemma's storyline was pretty great, though I feel like the whole sideplot about what her husband is up to ended up inconsequential to the overall plot and could've been reduced greatly. Richie was also pretty great, and the way their stories intertwined was without a doubt the highlight of the novel. The final act was a really fun way of bringing together all the different stories, but was also kinda bullshit. I can't say why because of spoilers, but like, if you read it you'll get it.
I know I just ripped into it throughout the whole review, but The Subprimes is pretty short and genuinely quite entertaining. I can't say its pros make up for its cons, but they do enough of a good job at distracting you from them that I hesitate to call it a bad book. Just don't think about it too hard.
Speaking of Sargam, most of the female characters in this book are very obviously Written By A Man. I don't think there's a single POV female character who doesn't give needless and unwarranted exposition on her sex appeal to men and how much of a threat other women perceive her as. Not to mention the (thankfully, blessedly brief) sex scenes, which had me rolling my eyes the whole time. They are, like, physically painful to read. And then there's also Vanessa, a 15 year old girl who has sex with a guy and then instantly ~becomes a woman~ and is eager to have a baby. At fifteen. If this was treated with any nuance that would be fine, but it's just lowkey (highkey) viscerally uncomfortable.
On the positive side, there's some good humor in here, and interesting worldbuilding as well. Gemma's storyline was pretty great, though I feel like the whole sideplot about what her husband is up to ended up inconsequential to the overall plot and could've been reduced greatly. Richie was also pretty great, and the way their stories intertwined was without a doubt the highlight of the novel. The final act was a really fun way of bringing together all the different stories, but was also kinda bullshit. I can't say why because of spoilers, but like, if you read it you'll get it.
I know I just ripped into it throughout the whole review, but The Subprimes is pretty short and genuinely quite entertaining. I can't say its pros make up for its cons, but they do enough of a good job at distracting you from them that I hesitate to call it a bad book. Just don't think about it too hard.