3.5 out of 5 stars
How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.
In a Nutshell: A dystopian future UK
This book opens in an undetermined time in the near future of this country, I think about 10 or 15 years hence, and introduces us to three generations of a dysfunctional family around whom it is based. Grandmother Stella is in a care home, her daughter Kelly a divorced, alcoholic therapist who relaxes by vaping skunk. Kelly's niece Lara is secretly involved with a group of dangerous insurgents.
This group is called Libra, weaponised entitled youth who blame the older generations for every ill in their lives and feel it is their right to 'snuff' the 'stiffs', in other words terrorise towns, set light to care homes and murder the 'boomers' who apparently have no right to live their lives out in peace and comfort. A particularly nasty piece of work called Alyssa is under the impression that they're 'living off her taxes'.
Some parts of this novel reflect the current times, with the media failing to report incidents that don't reflect the narrative the government want to promote, and Kelly's belief that the use of facial recognition technology is there to 'keep them safe'. Much in the imagined future is feasible indeed - failing businesses, night time curfews - but I couldn't quite buy into the whole Libra idea; they didn't seem to have much agenda apart from mayhem and murder. Where did they get sufficient weaponry to gain victory over the entire army and police force? Who was funding them? I felt that there were large gaps in the world-building; groups of insurgents generally have a few billionaires with their own agenda to back them. There was, for instance, no indication of exactly how they managed to blow up the massive Tyne Bridge. We were just told that they had. And aside from the police and army, people themselves tend to form into groups and fight back.
The book could do with a better proofread, though I did enjoy reading it and there was interesting detail about Stella, Kelly and Lara's past, but I just couldn't quite believe in it. Then again, many variations on our inevitable dystopian future are being written these days, and feasibility is always subjective.
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