The message takes flight – but the style struggles to soar
3 stars
Even the foreword strikes a nerve: "Since I started writing this novel, I’ve been amazed – and terrified – by how much of it is already coming true. A splintering Europe, the rise of authoritarian states in the West, the backlash against so-called minorities." The author wrote these words back in 2017 – let that sink in...
The plot is set only slightly ahead of our time, reaching into the 2040s. Its piercing glimpses into our present-day reality honestly gave me more than one nightmare-night when reading just before bed-time. The characters illustrate how urgent it is to begin now with what Arne Semsrott calls "prepping love": building structures and alliances, developing skills and knowledge – everything that can be shared with those who will need it. Anyone who ticks one or more boxes: queer, trans, non-binary, disabled, sex worker, BIPoC. The book presses a dystopian finger into wounds that …
Even the foreword strikes a nerve: "Since I started writing this novel, I’ve been amazed – and terrified – by how much of it is already coming true. A splintering Europe, the rise of authoritarian states in the West, the backlash against so-called minorities." The author wrote these words back in 2017 – let that sink in...
The plot is set only slightly ahead of our time, reaching into the 2040s. Its piercing glimpses into our present-day reality honestly gave me more than one nightmare-night when reading just before bed-time. The characters illustrate how urgent it is to begin now with what Arne Semsrott calls "prepping love": building structures and alliances, developing skills and knowledge – everything that can be shared with those who will need it. Anyone who ticks one or more boxes: queer, trans, non-binary, disabled, sex worker, BIPoC. The book presses a dystopian finger into wounds that are already open. (Side note: It’s a dystopia that isn’t centred around reproduction.) It covers the topics and representations so often missing from other novels – and that’s crucial and heartening, especially as the characters band together into a movement of resistance. But: it’s not particularly well written. Again and again, I found myself pulled out of the story – and it pains me to say so.
What doesn’t work for me: • Everything is spelled out. Characters voice and think through every message they are meant to convey, and some seem created solely for that purpose. Their traits and histories are likewise overexplained. At times, the author slips into something close to rage mode when describing them – understandable given the themes, but honestly, I’d prefer reading that tone on Mastodon. In a novel, it becomes tiresome. If the book had trusted its readers a bit more and conveyed its points with more subtlety (some might say: with more literary craft), the impact would have been even stronger. • After the halfway mark, the story starts to drag. We read it in a queer-feminist book club; 2 out of 4 of us didn’t make it to the end.
What works for me: • Pinar and Ash are characters who stay with you long after the last page. • Elias’s storyline moved me, too. (Though, admittedly, Elias mainly serves as a reminder of how dangerous it is to forget history...) • The final chapters build up real momentum – from there on, you simply can’t put the book down. • The novel aims to lift a particular message and feeling into flight – and yes, it succeeds.
