When the author inspired everyone to read Trans books for the #transrightsreadathon, I wanted to participate. I love Sim's content on TikTok and knew they were an author (and journalist), but hadn't read any of their books. They put their to-be-published (Sept 2023) novel up on NetGalley for the Readathon and I jumped at the chance to give their writing a try. I loved it and will definitely be reading their other novels! The commentary on climate change, racism, identity, religion, activism, anarchy, white savior-ism, and gentrification in this novel is absolutely outstanding and incredibly digestible. Sim has a knack for saying an awful lot in very few sentences; I found myself highlighting a lot of the book. The characters are really well-developed, complex, and highly imperfect. As a Catholic-raised (but now agnostic) white woman, I very much identified with and appreciated the main character Maddie. I think the only reason this isn't a full 5-star read, however, is because the character Red fell flat for me...I just didn't understand Maddie's love for Red. But really, there was a large cast of characters and I pretty much loved everyone else (or hated them with the same amount of vigor).

As good as this novel is, it is not an easy read. Check content warnings before diving in; there are a lot of really difficult topics covered. And despite it being an alternate timeline where Al Gore won the election and the States entered into a War on Climate instead of a War on Terror, the country operates exactly the same way it always has. History is doomed to repeat itself until there is a true revolution. There are some slivers of hope in the book, but this was a VERY heavy read given the current state of the US (and a lot of the world). Alongside the doom and gloom, though, is definitely a little motivation to be part of the revolution.