The Synopsis
"The city of Parole is burning. Like Venice slips into the sea, Parole crumbles into fire. Trapped inside is an entirely unlikely population of people with bizarre, beautiful, and terrifying abilities. When Regan, an anxiety-ridden hit man with the peeling skin of a lizard, meets Evelyn, a singer, revolutionary, and unofficial superhero, it’s up to them to get to the heart of the mystery of Parole and its quarantined inhabitants. Along with a diverse group of misfits, they will evade a deadly totalitarian police force, uncover the truth about their entwining pasts, and fight to survive a cataclysmic disaster."
My Thoughts
This book is simply amazing! There is no other way to put it. There is no way I can do this book justice. I read it for diverseathon as an own voices book (own voices for sexuality and disability). It has POC, LGBT+ people including a kick-ass transgirl MC, it deals with anxiety, depression, PTSD, as well as physical disability. Themes include, but not limited to, love, friendship, self care, resistance (it's not futile!), caring about people. There is a poly relationship with f/f/f that includes the transgirl and they have a little boy named Jack. There is a non-binary character as well. The author identifies as non-binary, queer, and deals with chronic pain, medical issues and is neurodivergent. If you'd like to check out more about RoAnna Sylver Here is an interview and their twitter is @RoAnnaSylver.
Qoutes
"Ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary beings, welcome to the Emerald Bar."
"In this city of the powerless, somebody was taking some power back."
"She shifted from blazing power to gentle warmth, settling down and giving the audience a soft gaze that made every member feel included and welcome."
"Trade it, fight over it, die for it." Rose gave a sad shake of her head. "It's not right. It's not fair. Access to clean drinking water used to be a human right. And in the United States, at least we had it. Now it's currency.""
""I am strong," Evelyn whispered to herself, eyes closed. "I am brace. I am a goddess who contains multitudes of galaxies. My spirit is infinite, my soul is towering, and my shoes are hella cute. I can do this.""
They live in a police state. There are so many things that make it so relevant to today and the current political climate and society. So many things that make it feel as if it were written today, and it was published a few years ago. So many important messages and themes. It's a dystopia, that feels oddly realistic about dark realities, but this is an oddly optimistic dystopia and I mean that in a great way. It's powerful, hopeful, it talks about resistance, about being there for each other, about inclusion, about love and humanity. The characters are all strong, flawed, human, caring, and different with their own struggles.
This book gripped me from the start and held on tight! I care so much for these characters and can't wait to continue with their story! Having dealt (and continuing to) with anxiety, depression and PTSD I really appreciated that rep and could relate to certain things. I can't speak on all the rep in the book though of course. I learned about being non-binary, a poly relationship and that my default is monogamous when I realized I was confused like "whose with who?" for awhile only to finally be smacked in the face with they are in a poly relationship. The transgirl, Evelyn, stood up to her cousin when he misgendered her and used the wrong name. He was disrespectful initially but they weren't having any of it and he fixed himself. Transition stuff is also mentioned in the text, not in detail. I can not speak on the trans rep myself. I just hope I got all the bases covered for anyone who might want to pick up this book, to decide if they want to or not.
Also TW for fire. I mention this as I was in a house fire over 4 years ago. While I still have some issues i'm better now than I used to be and I know 4 years ago I couldn't have handled this. It's not handled badly or anything, I love this book! It's just if any mention of it is too much, then i'd steer clear.
Honestly I don't want to spoil anything and I really hope more people pick up this book! I feel it has so many important messages and could help so many people hang on to hope, to know they are not alone, that they are cared about, and to resist. I highly recommend this book and gave it a full 5 out of 5 stars! A big favorite!
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