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Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson
Apr. 19th, 2024 08:40 pmThose Beyond the Wall
3/5. Sequel/companion to The Space Between Worlds. There’s a lot going on here – a sort of Mad Max thing where the city has locked a cohort of (mostly PoC) people out for generations in the climate apocalypse, also universe hopping and a lot of family drama.
I did not like this nearly as much as the first one. It’s a rage book – specifically a George Floyd book – so be prepared for a raw, reactive kind of violence that feels very 2020/2021 (I really wonder what delayed this book, and if it would have played better for me and a lot of people otherwise). Mostly, I just found this book messy and concerned with stuff that doesn’t compel me; see the dramatic first person passages about becoming a monster. Also, the fixation this book has with how amazing! Mysterious! Legendary! Hot! The protagonist of the first book is got, frankly, kind of embarrassing.
It's doing good and interesting things, and there is a truly absorbing quality to her writing. But this just didn’t land with me.
Content notes: Recollections of child abuse, institutionalized racism, sex work, a lot of violence and gore
3/5. Sequel/companion to The Space Between Worlds. There’s a lot going on here – a sort of Mad Max thing where the city has locked a cohort of (mostly PoC) people out for generations in the climate apocalypse, also universe hopping and a lot of family drama.
I did not like this nearly as much as the first one. It’s a rage book – specifically a George Floyd book – so be prepared for a raw, reactive kind of violence that feels very 2020/2021 (I really wonder what delayed this book, and if it would have played better for me and a lot of people otherwise). Mostly, I just found this book messy and concerned with stuff that doesn’t compel me; see the dramatic first person passages about becoming a monster. Also, the fixation this book has with how amazing! Mysterious! Legendary! Hot! The protagonist of the first book is got, frankly, kind of embarrassing.
It's doing good and interesting things, and there is a truly absorbing quality to her writing. But this just didn’t land with me.
Content notes: Recollections of child abuse, institutionalized racism, sex work, a lot of violence and gore