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miggyfool's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Medical content, Misogyny, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Rape, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Animal death, Physical abuse, War, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Racism, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Vomit
nolalee's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
I will think about Sim Kern's The Free People's Village for the rest of my life. There is nothing I love more than a near-future grounded science fiction novel and the setting for this book is perfect. Based in the alternate timeline where Al Gore won the 2000 election, we follow a member from the fictional punk band Bunny Bloodlust as they navigate their identity, their past and their own current dystopian reality in America.
This book is challenging and beautiful. Desperately sad and hopeful. It is often a reflective and embarrassingly funny ride for anyone who has been active in a demonstration for change.
I feel this book is best read without too many details up front. Just experience it and join The Free People's Village.
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Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Classism, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racism, and Mental illness
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual assault
caseythereader's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
- THE FREE PEOPLE'S VILLAGE is unlike any book I've ever read before. I never thought a book about the internal struggles of a group of activists would rivet me, but I absolutely could not put this down.
- This book is entirely from the POV of Maddie, a young white woman joining a Black-led movement to preserve a Black neighborhood. She doesn't always handle new information and situations perfectly (or even well), and she eventually has to reckon with her place in the movement and take accountability for actions she does or does not take. I think Kern struck the right balance here - Maddie is not a white savior, but she is given space to catch up on the history and politics she does not know (and even then, she is reprimanded for never bothering to learn these things!)
- Looking at this book from a wider perspective, I appreciated how Kern took the fork in the road that we often romanticize - Gore winning the 2000 election - and showed how even if there was massive movement on the climate, our society would still find a way to use those changes to enrich white people and push out poor and BIPOC people. Honestly, this book is one to give to white liberals who you wish would consider leftist ideas.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Addiction, Alcohol, Violence, Rape, Blood, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Racism, Colonisation, Grief, Police brutality, Vomit, War, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Child abuse
Moderate: Homophobia and Suicide attempt
Minor: Pregnancy and Deadnaming
ktopreads's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
As I started this book and started to know the characters and the setup for this alternate timeline, I was really interested in the characters and the minute details that differed in their world from the timeline we are living in. I had to keep reminding myself that the character in the book is 24 – the same age as me – and I really tried to put myself in her shoes for a lot of the story. It was really interesting to see Maddie's growth throughout the period she is fighting to protect the Eighth Ward from gentrification. Throughout all of it she grapples with her position to the movement, her whiteness, her willingness to break the status quo as a teacher, and what it means to be an activist.
The longer I read the story, the more and more I became attached to the characters and I really wanted them to succeed. The occasional break where Maddie directly references the reader kept me on the edge of my seat, and I couldn't decide if I was going to get the ending I was hoping for. Kern had me going back and forth between happy and sad endings. Overall, I think the ending really encapsulates what activism and protesting looks like in America, and how our country continues to act as a police state.
I'm really excited for this book to be published in September and can't wait to recommend it to people. There is a wide variety of different genders, races, ethnicities, and economic classes shown in the book and I'm really interested in how other people digest the story, plot, characters, and relationships on the page!
Graphic: Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Violence, Addiction, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Rape, Racism, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Transphobia