Reviews tagging 'War'

The Free People's Village by Sim Kern

22 reviews

gar42's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful sad medium-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? Yes

3.0

An alternate timeline when Al Gore won the election against Bush and pursued a war on climate rather than a war on terror. The premise explores the ways in which white supremacy and greed are baked into America, regardless of the prevailing political ideal of a given time. 

I found the conceit of the book interesting, and many parts of the book exciting and fun to read. But this book is filled with white tears, white guilt, over-explanation of political ideology, and in-your-face critiques of America that are founded, but written without the nuance or craft that I would hope for in a work of satire or literary fiction. 

I look to books like Chain Gang All Stars or Our Missing Hearts as models of how a dystopian, alternate timeline book can point back to the flaws of present-day America without hitting the reader over the head. When a dystopian plot is too similar to the plot of reality, it can feel more like an uncanny valley reflection than an effective piece of probing political commentary. 

For what it is, though, a fun and exciting read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Death, Drug abuse, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: War, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

julialeigh's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Transphobia, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual assault and War

kleinekita's review against another edition

challenging hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Grief, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Pregnancy, Vomit, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Rape, Transphobia, Classism, Toxic relationship, and War

blue_txt's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.0

 There's a review on here, by Kendra, in which they suggest that Sim Kern's characters were ideas. I think that's spot on. This book is a hard read - the first 1/3 alternates between expositions of Maddie Ryan's backstory (with toxic relationships reminiscent of Colleen Hoover characters) and didactic dialogue. Every conversation is pedantic lecture from a different character representing some concept to teach Maddie, who I guess is supposed to represent the "reader", a white Christian cis woman.
I've never wanted to experience fictional leftist in-fighting.

I don't enjoy books with thought-experiment based plots, so I knew it wasn't going to be a great read for me. I guess I expected more from the characters since the plot was so paper-thin. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Police brutality, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Classism, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Violence, Suicide, War, Death, Confinement, Racism, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Transphobia, and Xenophobia

alienguy's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Classism, Rape, and Addiction

Moderate: Sexual harassment, War, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Xenophobia

decie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Violence, and Drug use

Moderate: Colonisation, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Death, Grief, and Racism

Minor: Transphobia, Rape, War, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

isitnaptimezo's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

I loved this book. The alternative timeline made the plot feel different enough from reality while still being realistic. Being set in the city I grew up in, yet having extremely mixed feelings about, was somehow a healing balm to my heart. The characters were very relatable and I learned so much from each of them. The story is raw, heart wrenching, while also being immensely inspiring, especially as we head into what will undoubtedly be a tumultuous election year. Will the conditions be right for Free People Villages to sprout across the world in 2024 for a revolution? I hope so. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Death, War, Transphobia, Violence, Racism, and Sexual content

emilyeslomski's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, War, Addiction, and Rape

adrienneh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

I really appreciated the theme of finding hope even in the face of ongoing struggle and I could see a lot of myself and loved ones in these characters. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Rape, Grief, Police brutality, War, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

sky130's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This book starts out kind of slow, but make no mistake: by the end, you will be rapt and horrified, watching it spiral out of control and knowing full well it will end badly. It's like watching a train wreck - it's violent and tragic and you can't look away for a second. For all the painful turns the story takes, it never feels like the violence and misfortune is written in just for the sake of tormenting the characters. Unfortunately, it's pretty true to life despite being speculative fiction. I would still really recommend checking the trigger warnings, as the book is an absolute onslaught of trauma of every variety. If you feel like you can handle that, I would give this book a shot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Drug use, and Racism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Violence, War, Rape, and Addiction

Minor: Colonisation and Deadnaming