Camp Zero | 
pickIt was warm the other day and I was in the mood for summer reading. I tried a few titles before I tried this one from last year‘s Modern Mrs Darcy Summer Reading Guide. It was exactly what I was looking for- different without being too hard to follow.
Camp Zero is a post climate change dystopian novel told from 3 points of view. I enjoyed the addition of the flick- a social media gadget that gets implanted into the brain.
pickI was surprised how easy it was to fall into this novel. There are multiple narrators/perspectives including a secretive women‘s collective. The last 100 pages are a bit tedious and I didn‘t find the ending particularly surprising. I was surprised by the excessive alcohol consumption! Trigger warning for sex work and violence. ⚠️ #BOTM
so-soThis one is somewhere between a so-so and a pan. I definitely did some skimming in last 1/4 of the book because I just didn't care about the characters or the outcome anymore. It's a little convoluted, and the "plot twist" toward the end was really predictable. @TheAromaofBooks this was actually my November #Doublespin, but I finished it a few days into December.
pick#Rushathon #NovelNovember #Readathon
So, “someone” decided in October that it was “doable” with a little effort to actually finish the #BOTM challenge (for once) this year. (I have 6 to go with 2 in process to finish Book Boss). Anyway, I was going for shorter books & debuts to finish up & found myself pretty intrigued by this dystopian tale set in the not too distant future where climate change has wrecked the earth. Not perfect, but I liked ⬇️
pickSmart, intricate, SW-positive feminist speculative fiction set in a near future where the climate crisis is in full swing and oil extraction has bottomed out. Once I got to the end I wanted to start back at the beginning and look for clues about the reveals at the end.
so-so#20in4 book 2 ✔️ 3hrs✔️ @Andrew65
This was fine. I think I am going to cancel my #BOTM I have so many books from them that are fine and I should have checked out from the library.
I appreciate how sex workers were addressed in this book, rarely do you see it just as a job in books, & not filled with trauma.
Unfortunately though I liked the ideas of the book, it feels like something I am going to forget The writing style is too choppy to enjoy.
pickIn Camp Zero we get to see a near future almost destroyed by climate change from the perspective of three people (well, two people and a third group). It was a little slow for me at first but it definitely picked up and I loved seeing how each of these perspectives came together and the intrigue and survival brutality that I wasn‘t expecting. There‘s a feminist spin to it I also enjoyed. Interesting and unique for sure! 🌟🌟🌟🌟
so-soIt‘s 2049. Rose is a Korean American sex worker who is bribed by her powerful icky client (he invented the flick which is oddly only a sidebar to the story) to leave the floating city near Boston where she resides to spy for him at a Canadian camp. I should have been rooting for her but there seemed too many characters unnecessary to Rose‘s story, and too many disjointed details for me to care. Others like it so I‘m in the minority here.
pickIn a near-future world where climate change has ravaged the US and only the wealthy can enjoy the safety of the Floating City, a young woman known as Rose arrives in a remote northern camp. Employed as a "hostess," Rose has a hidden agenda, but she's not the only one with secrets. A powerful and affecting novel that feels far too close to reality.
The Blooms receive their new names on the shortest day of the year. #FirstLineFridays. @ShyBookOwl
Enjoying this one much more than I anticipated. There are a lot of moving parts, but then again, aren‘t there always. Each individual‘s needs and wants playing out in intricate,complicated machanations, and everybody neglects the role of chance and nature.
This is an interesting thought, though. How many billions have we squandered over the years trying to build safety?
Star Wars, anyone? Mutually assured destruction? Egad.
This is certainly an interesting read, on the heels of Kate Beaton‘s Ducks. Climate crisis, camps in the frozen areas of Canada, and the ridiculous power of big business. This one has sex workers, which Ducks, thankfully did not, but the theme of viewing women as sex objects in a male- dominated setting is certainly common to both.
pickQuick and good read, really enjoyed how it nearly wrapped up. Also sad how close it is to our current reality with social media and climate change
so-so63/150 I wish I had liked this more than i did. It's well written, with solid world building, but I never really got a connection to the characters. I thought the way the story folds in on itself was clever, but I found the characters colorless and cold. 3 ⭐⭐⭐
2nd book finished for #20in4 @Andrew65
pickGreat little book. Mostly set in the not too far future, it really rings true when it comes to the environmental crisis that is going on. I was inhaling all that smoke from nearby forest fires 🔥 while reading it and it made the book that much more real. Characters were well written, setting was effective and it kept me turning those pages. Read it in three days. 👍
pickRiveting, unexpected, raw, and thoughtful. This eco-dystopian debut set in the near future is a feminist force of nature. Loved it! #BOTM #scifi #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
pickA pretty good dystopian, though I don‘t think it‘s one that will stick with me. I‘d call it a low pick, #borrownotbuy.
so-soBook 95🎧 2.7⭐️
I made it all the way through but I kind of feel like nothing major happened… maybe that‘s just me😂
It was good but it was missing the highs and lows for me🤷🏻♀️
pickOverall, a pick. I don‘t think we needed Grants perspective. And there should have been more nature descriptions. And maybe it should have been two books (or three for Grant‘s perspective) with a sequel so a trilogy, a similar set up as The Giver series. The ending was open ended suggesting there maybe a sequel, but I think they missed an opportunity to spread this out to three or four books. It was also too short.
so-soWhile I enjoyed reading this book, I found it mildly disappointing. It was easy to predict where it was going and how the storylines would intersect. I also feel like the author was trying to end it with a bang, but it fell flat for me.
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Although this is outside of my normal genres, I was drawn in by the gritty characters and eerie near-future world in this tale of survival and privilege. The Flick and the Floating City were creative and seemed scarily plausible. It was an ambiguous and abrupt ending, but I can appreciate how this leaves certain things open for interpretation and discussion. There‘s still enough time for change. #BOTM
pickReally satisfying climate-fiction dystopia here! Story alternates through multiple perspectives of characters, including different times within their lives since oil production was banned. Saw some events coming; others not so much. One scene involved 4 dogs that I didn‘t like, but it‘s not gratuitously described. Themes and resolution were pretty optimistic for this genre, but kept me wanting more.
Switching back to my print library book. This quote was one of the first things I read, which just makes me want to know more!
Good reading day, which included a brain break walk over to Bosley‘s for some chews for the pups. Ordering dinner from our favorite restaurant right next door, and snuggling back into reading mode! Really loving this book, but want to savor it. #dogsoflitsy
pick#ReadWithJenna April 2023 selection
In a near-future northern settlement, a handful of climate change survivors find their fates intertwined in this mesmerizing and transportive novel.
In the far north of Canada sits Camp Zero, an American building project hiding many secrets.
Desperate to help her climate-displaced Korean immigrant mother, Rose agrees to travel to Camp Zero and spy on its architect in exchange for housing
pickI really enjoyed this! I was not able to piece the things together, which made for quite the ride!
pickSterling delves into many issues in this novel including climate change, the haves vs the have nots and a refugee crisis. It is a survival story told from multiple perspectives that allows the reader to see what climate change can do to different people in society. To me it is an excellent example of what cli-fi books can be. They can be lessons for us in the present, as well as warnings about the future.
pickThis is a dark, dystopian novel set in the Canadian north in the near future, after climate change has dramatically changed the world. It is a complicated story but a fairly compelling one. I was impressed with how the two separate stories came together at the end and also enjoyed the feminist leanings of the novel. The ending did leave me slightly less than satisfied but I got the feeling that it was designed to allow for a sequel. 3.5/5
WOW
I kept debating on if I wanted to check this out from the library, or get it from BOTM and I finally decided today to get it, and I got this message!
I am happy that this debut, climate-apocalyptic Canadian book is getting so much love!
Probably my last #botm box for a while. I just can't justify buying more hardbacks when I don't like reading them. I love the look of them, but they hurt my old lady fingers. And I find myself just checking out the audio or ebook on libby for books I already own.
Excited for April #botm. They dropped early, happy picking! Camp Zero is a #readwithjenna pick and I‘ve enjoyed her picks in the past!
pickFinished up Camp Zero and can say it was pretty darn good! The author tells the story from three different POVs and ties them together beautifully! My one complaint is that the ending was so abrupt. I didn‘t understand the urgency to end the story and was left feeling like “What? That‘s it?” But overall, it‘s a good one! #LitsyLoveReads
