City in Flames

by Tomas Hachard

Exit West meets Normal People in this moving dystopian love story eerily in tune with our times.

At once evocative and propulsive, City in Flames is a love story about two isolated people with a deep yet fragile bond trying to find their way to each other while political disorder engulfs the world around them.

Sara is a graduate student living away from home and struggling to finish her degree. When she kindles a long-distance relationship with Kevin, a disillusioned and apathetic IT worker, the two watch as the city that Kevin lives in, and Sara grew up in, slowly rises up against P., a recently elected populist leader. As protests escalate to a night of devastating fires, the impending political breakdown pushes Sara and Kevin’s relationship to the brink and leaves them torn between the turmoil of the present and a hope for the future, between their longing for connection and their terror of commitment.

Genres: Fiction, Dystopia, Contemporary

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 2, 2023

About the author

Tomas Hachard is the author of City in Flames. His work has been published in The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, Slate, NPR, Guernica Magazine, The LA Review of Books, and Hazlitt, among many others. He was born in Argentina and raised in Toronto, where he currently lives with his partner and son.

Reviews

[Natalie]

big fan of what flying books has been doing for Toronto lit lately

[Adela Solberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas 2023. Jacquie’s mother’s friend’s house. She was watching the home for some days, as well as the three dogs and the one cat that lived there. We had a Christmas dinner together with Amber, Lydia and Cece (my super hot gf). The food was different to what I am used to, but good. The decorations were not too many, but the atmosphere was still very cozy. It was at this Christmas get-together that I got this book as a present from my good friend Jacquie. I was of course super happy with my gift, excited to see what kind of story this could be.

It then took me about six months to start it, simply because school was too messy and the time felt too little. But! On that vacation in Greece, it finally got the read it deserved.

So as I am by the pool yet again. A bit more sunburnt than when I read the pink book. Feeling very relaxed and well rested. What a great idea to read about politics! This book had interesting characters. They seemed very human. The book itself got me a while to grasp the first few pages, I think maybe I was too relaxed to put the times right and stuff at the start (it jumped between before and after the incident this book is about). So I was a bit confused at first, but I really loved the first half of it. The next half idk, felt a bit drained perhaps? I really liked how the characters evolved and changed. I like that they both were kind of different in the end.

Still a good book, and I am still very impressed with what kind of effort people actually bring into writing books. Just getting it out there really is impressive.

Wish you all a wonderful weekend<3

[Stella Edney · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the whole, great book, just the tinsiest bit too much millennial poking thru

[abi keber · Rating 3 out of 5]

rambly morning thoughts incoming !

I think this is actually a solid 3.5 stars. spent the first 200 pages just waiting for it to be over. It was so close to being good- so close to being interesting but I just could not find it in me to care about the characters.
Sarah is almost interesting- a lonely lil lady looking for academic validation but unable to write for fear of failure. a little self important and holier than thou, yearning for the approval of strangers online (maybe if people think she is important then she will be), posting a lot but not actually *doing* anything to help with the state of the world. I just could not feel anything for her though, i did not care about her at all- found her a little annoying honestly. And kevin was just boring mostly.

But the last 50 pages saved it I think. They were what I wanted the whole book to be. I just feel like the rest of the book was kind of meandering on the same points, no one seemed to reaaaally be making that much progress and nothing was really happening- even the collapse of American society felt kind of just like uneventful and uninteresting (perhaps as a function of it being a sort of background happening? which maybe theres something to be said there about how the collapse of society is happening and people are sort of expected to continue as normal which feels accurate and maybe even profound but i dunno). It just wasn’t giving me enough dystopia/ political commentary OR love story.

[Reid Page-McTurner · Rating 1 out of 5]

This reads as if it was written by a teenager. The cover is gorgeous.

[Miranda Crabtree · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately this book did not deliver on its promise of thought-provoking political commentary.

[ayms ♥︎ · Rating 2 out of 5]

last 50 pages were what the whole thing should have been. it was okay, didn’t really deliver a strong political commentary or love story. love the cover

[Simon Forero · Rating 4 out of 5]

ending wasn’t what I was expecting but in a good way I think?

[Bethany Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was only bearable bc i was a poli sci major

[Danya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an introspective, thought-provoking kind of dystopian read -- one that hit far too close to home in terms of the worries facing everyday citizens, everything from the effects of the climate crisis to financial hardship to political instability and chaos. Unlike many dystopian novels, this world felt scarily familiar.

Against this backdrop we are introduced to Sara and Kevin, who unexpectedly form a long-distance connection through a dating app. I must say that I didn't feel particularly attached to either of them, and Sara particularly began to irritate and annoy me partway through ( the way that she was lecturing Kevin on how he should be getting involved in the resistance, and yet lying on Internet forums about being at protests when she wasn't even in the city, was really the height of hypocrisy ). City of Flames is described as a "love story" and I'm not convinced that it is; I never felt much chemistry between Sara and Kevin, or felt strongly like I was rooting for them.

I also wished for more world building -- what did P's rise to power look like? What exactly are the conditions that people are facing that cause them to start to revolt against P? I just wanted more info on all of that.

One of the things this book did really well, though, was provide some very quotable philosophical nuggets to reflect on. There were a number of statements that had me musing, and that resonated with me. I'll give a few here as examples:

"One unprecedented event after another, Sara thought. It was as if the world had lost the ability to do anything else."

"No one lets their world vanish without a fight. People will choose chaos over failure. Every time."

"'We told you that you were the centre of the world. Then we forgot to leave you much of a world to live in.'"

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay. I was engaged throughout but did not feel like the political commentary was as strong as the author wanted it to be? The relationship between Sara & Kevin was not too strong either. I get what the story was trying to say but it fell a bit short for me.

[Whitney]

the final few chapters made me so weepy lol

[Emilie Labossiere · Rating 4 out of 5]

When both main characters are frustrating and imperfect and you’re yelling at them to stand up and take action, but then you realize these are perfect examples of real people. Like frogs not realizing they are in a boiling pot of water, or armchair activists who hide behind anonymity.

I did want more background, I wanted to see how the political unrest collided with the environmental disasters to create the backdrop of this story. But maybe there was enough ambiguity to let the reader make their own theories (or just pull from memories of recent history and what we’ve been experiencing in this last “unprecedented” decade..)

My favourite quote: “We told you that you were the centre of the world. Then we forgot to leave you much of a world to live in.”

[Alison Gadsby · Rating 5 out of 5]

City in Flames tracks a political movement sparked by a viral video, a video that sends P. into a palace, running and ruining a fictional country. Meanwhile Sara and Kevin kindle an online romance that sees Kevin witnessing what is happening firsthand in Sara's hometown. It would be nice to say that this is an unreal story, but unfortunately it's not. It is not just a story about the crappy politics of our current times, but an exploration of what it means to build connection in a world divided.

It's a love story and I truly loved its unique structure and how Tomas voiced the narrative. A unique book that deserves an open-minded reader who loves character-driven stories.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came into this book with absolutely no expectations and I was really impressed by the way that Hachard was able to weave a story of two people who are so separate from each other (and quite honestly lonely and separate from the rest of the world) and really make us care about their relationship and their outcome. I feel like there could have been a little more to the story which is why I'm giving it a four instead of a five I wanted a little more backstory especially about Kevin and his mom, but overall this was a really interesting and timely read.

[Emma Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was kind of hard to get into at first, but I got sucked in after the first few chapters. The story was really moving and interesting. I hadn’t read a book with a ldr until this and it was executed perfectly. Usually in books, I find that the texting is unrealistic and pretty cringey, but their conversations in the book seem so genuine and I actually enjoyed those parts. Sara annoyed me at times, but overall definitely worth the read.

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I often feel like people misuse the phrase "a novel for our times" but, post-2024 US election, this definitely feels like a novel for our times. This book also reminded me a lot of Alex Garland's film Civil War but from the civilian perspective. Kevin and Sara and their relationship felt so real despite the fact that they never meet. Really good, sharp writing throughout. I'm really glad I chose to pick this up at Flying Books

[Erin Calhoun · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really sweet story about the end of days (or just the beginning!?). I enjoyed myself when reading his so much and connected with this book and the characters’ lives in a way I haven’t been able to in a long time. Who can say no to online relationships and Toronto-esque dystopian?

[Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. My true review would be 4.5 stars because I found Kevin's chapters could drag sometimes compared to Sara's. Overall though I thought this was a lovely book and it will probably be one of my favourites of 2023.

[Paolo Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of parallels to our current society. A charismatic leader - a cult of personality - who manages to shape the lives of two people on opposite sides of the world. I found myself drawn to the story of Sara and Kevin, and rooting for them! My only quibble, that the antagonist is named P.! 😜

[Kels Demelo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I fear these characters had no chemistry. I wanted to read more about the actual city burning and why, but I found majority of the pages were filled with text convos that didn’t do much to progress the plot. ANYWHO, 2 stars because the concept was still exciting!!

[Brianna Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of long distance, not a lot of love. Interesting premise but failed to deliver IMO

[Matilda · Rating 4 out of 5]

i devoured this one , got so wrapped up! once i started I couldn’t stop!

[eryn elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25!

[Dak · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

anxiety-inducing. beautiful at times. maybe a little on-the-nose, but hey, that's okay sometimes. fastest i've finished a book in a very long time.

[Olivia Seward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading that on my flight to London to tour my grad school was crazyyyy