Quick Synopsis – Are you a rabbit or a fox? Naomi Alderman’s explosive novel examines a near future where tech companies blatantly exploit everything from the environment to governments. When the end of days are coming close, who will survive? A scathing review of how technology invades our lives and the twisted morality of the CEOs and leaders that abuse that data.

Song This Reminds Me Of – Through Me ( The Flood) – Hozier

Publication Date – Nov. 7, 2023

Spicy Rating – 🌶

Overall Rating – 3.5 out of 5 ⭐

Review – Oh man, I really wanted this to be a 5-star read for me, but I had a few issues with the plot and the characters. The story is told through multiple viewpoints and through the posts on a Reddit-like website. Essentially, the tech billionaires in Alderman’s world know that the end of the world is coming. It might be a war or another pandemic. It doesn’t really matter what it is, they want to escape it.

There are three main tech billionaires who have pretty recognizable counterparts in our world (think Musk, etc.). The three main billionaires are working on secret safe zones hidden in the name of nature preserves. Each billionaire is pretty much a narcissist. Instead of saving the world they helped damn, they’re willing to take the golden ticket and escape. The book very much outlines how tech companies take our data and use it not just for ads but to shape all the media we consume and how driving hateful comments increases engagement.

Lai Zhen is our every person in this situation who is a dedicated survivalist that also happens to be a refugee. She runs a successful video channel with merch and speaking engagements focusing on how to survive in the wilderness or other life and death situations. When she is giving a talk at a survivalist’s expo, she meets Martha (the personal assistant to one of the aforementioned billionaires). Sparks fly, but they also pull Zhen into an international conspiracy.

I liked the bones of this story, especially because it really reflects how tech companies take advantage of consumers and how the algorithm can push negativity in the name of engagement. The idea of rich people abandoning the world we live in until it “ends” so they can build back better seems very real to me. There was so much of this story that just seemed like yep, this could happen, and I enjoyed reading through that.

However, the whole story seemed very wooden to me. Whole sections seemed just stunted and like the story could have been developed better. Also, and this may have just been my copy since it was an advanced copy, but there were several places where the online forum excerpt repeated whole sections on the next page. That drove me nuts and seemed like such a weird editing error.

I didn’t like the way the author described Martha. Martha was meant to be a plus-sized queer character, but the way she’s described is borderline offensive. I’m a fat woman, and I don’t think I would ever want my partner to describe my beauty or attractiveness in terms of my rolls. It just seemed almost fetishistic.

If you want to read what could be a book featuring our own future and biblical parables, this might be the book for you.