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A review by mizchiefmanaged
Sanctuary by Abby Sher, Paola Mendoza
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
* Whew * does this one hit too close for comfort. Sanctuary is a story about a young sibling duo who are fleeing the Deportation Forces in their pursuit to California, which has been recently walled off from the rest of the country as a sanctuary state for immigrants. The year is 2032, and in this not-so-distant-future, all citizens are implanted with a chip to prove they are citizens. As their president becomes more and more like a dictator, these chips are required beyond that at borders. Deportation Forces are now forcing people to scan their chip everywhere - getting on public transportation, going into school, going into grocery stores, etc - and anyone who either doesn't have a chip or is found to have a counterfeit is shipped off to a <*s> concentration <*/s> labor camp, and they are never seen again. As their home city in Vermont is becoming more and more dangerous, and Vali's mother's counterfeit chip starts to malfunction, they pack up and attempt to make the near-impossible trek to California.
I don't even know what to say about this but that it feels so real . With the way our government feels about immigrants, especially those from Southern/Latin America (which is the primary focus of this novel), this honestly doesn't feel like an impossible scenario. Which is terrifying. As someone who is privileged enough to not have to endure the hardships of being an immigrant or a child to an immigrant family, I can't even begin to imagine how much of Vali's struggles mirror that of the immigrants in America today. Although this is dystopian fiction, it takes inspiration from real issues that are prevalent in our society today, and paints a picture of a dystopian future that really isn't far off if we stay on our current trajectory.
Although devastating, I think this is an important read for anyone and everyone to get a glimpse of the immigrant experience, and what could happen if we give government too much power. Sanctuary is followed by a companion novel, Solis, & I plan on reading that as well.
I don't even know what to say about this but that it feels so real . With the way our government feels about immigrants, especially those from Southern/Latin America (which is the primary focus of this novel), this honestly doesn't feel like an impossible scenario. Which is terrifying. As someone who is privileged enough to not have to endure the hardships of being an immigrant or a child to an immigrant family, I can't even begin to imagine how much of Vali's struggles mirror that of the immigrants in America today. Although this is dystopian fiction, it takes inspiration from real issues that are prevalent in our society today, and paints a picture of a dystopian future that really isn't far off if we stay on our current trajectory.
Although devastating, I think this is an important read for anyone and everyone to get a glimpse of the immigrant experience, and what could happen if we give government too much power. Sanctuary is followed by a companion novel, Solis, & I plan on reading that as well.