Disobedience by Daniel Sarah Karasik

Shael lives in a vast prison camp, a monstrosity developed after centuries of warfare and environmental catastrophe. As a young transfeminine person, they risk abject violence if their identity and love affair with Coe, an insurrectionary activist, are discovered. But desire and rebellion flare, and soon Shael escapes to Riverwish, a settlement attempting to forge a new way of living that counters the camp’ s repression. As the complexities of this place unfold before Shael, Disobedience How can a community redress harm without reproducing unaccountable forms of violence? How do we heal? What might a compassionate, sustainable model of justice look like? This is a remarkable work of queer and trans speculative fiction that imagines how alternative forms of connection and power can refuse the violent institutions that engulf us.

Adult • Diversity Representation/LGBTQ+/Own Voices • Science Fiction/Dystopian

Content Warning: Graphic/Explicit CW for transphobia, confinement, death. Moderate CW for sexual content, grief, misgendering, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, lesbophobia, transphobia, blood, physical abuse, toxic relationship, violence, gun violence, war, suicide, murder. Minor CW for kidnapping, excrement, vomit, racism, child abuse, sexual assault, rape, suicide, parental death.

Reviewed by Booksthatburn book blogger on 2024-05-15T14:30:07Z:

Received an ARC through Netgalley.

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