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Camp Zero
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A Today Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club Pick
In a near-future northern settlement, the fates of a young woman, a professor, and a mysterious collective of researchers collide in this mesmerizing and transportive debut that “delivers its big ideas with suspense, endlessly surprising twists, and abundant heart” (Jessamine Chan, New York Times bestselling author).
In remote northern Canada, a team led by a visionary American architect is breaking ground on a building project called Camp Zero, intended to be the beginning of a new way of life. A clever and determined young woman code-named Rose is offered a chance to join the Blooms, a group hired to entertain the men in camp—but her real mission is to secretly monitor the mercurial architect in charge. In return, she’ll receive a home for her climate-displaced Korean immigrant mother and herself.
Rose quickly secures the trust of her target, only to discover that everyone has a hidden agenda, and nothing is as it seems. Through skillfully braided perspectives, including those of a young professor longing to escape his wealthy family and an all-woman military research unit struggling for survival at a climate station, the fate of Camp Zero’s inhabitants reaches a stunning crescendo.
Atmospheric, fiercely original, and utterly gripping, Camp Zero is an electrifying page-turner and a masterful exploration of who and what will survive in a warming world, and how falling in love and building community can be the most daring acts of all.
In a near-future northern settlement, the fates of a young woman, a professor, and a mysterious collective of researchers collide in this mesmerizing and transportive debut that “delivers its big ideas with suspense, endlessly surprising twists, and abundant heart” (Jessamine Chan, New York Times bestselling author).
In remote northern Canada, a team led by a visionary American architect is breaking ground on a building project called Camp Zero, intended to be the beginning of a new way of life. A clever and determined young woman code-named Rose is offered a chance to join the Blooms, a group hired to entertain the men in camp—but her real mission is to secretly monitor the mercurial architect in charge. In return, she’ll receive a home for her climate-displaced Korean immigrant mother and herself.
Rose quickly secures the trust of her target, only to discover that everyone has a hidden agenda, and nothing is as it seems. Through skillfully braided perspectives, including those of a young professor longing to escape his wealthy family and an all-woman military research unit struggling for survival at a climate station, the fate of Camp Zero’s inhabitants reaches a stunning crescendo.
Atmospheric, fiercely original, and utterly gripping, Camp Zero is an electrifying page-turner and a masterful exploration of who and what will survive in a warming world, and how falling in love and building community can be the most daring acts of all.
320 pages, Paperback
First published March 30, 2023
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January 13, 2025
I won a print copy of Camp Zero in a giveaway. I didn’t really think of print giveaways as something one won—more something one entered, periodically, on a whim, then forgot about—so receiving a free book in the mail was lovely. And though I had mixed feelings in the end, I anticipate that Sterling's novel will be much read and much talked about.
If Camp Zero is a four-star book, it’s a four-star book that's one part three-star book and one part five-star book, which is far and away the most interesting kind of four-star book there is. I found it, somehow, at once captivating and underwhelming. The prose, for example: highly competent, often lovely, hardly a paragraph you couldn’t read out in a seminar as an example of how to artfully vary tone and rhythm, and yet—sanded down, somehow. Whole paragraphs that I feel I could have encountered in any number of literary novels published in the last decade. (Which is to say, this is not a problem limited to one book!) Too many artful turns of phrase where they don’t belong. There is a lot about this book that is pretty deranged—that’s much of what I liked about it—but stylistically, it only sometimes rises to the occasion.
The world-building, too, is lacking. There’s nothing particularly bizarre or unanticipated or chaotic, just the steady march of the forces that appear to be atomizing our own society—social media plugged straight into the brain stem, ever widening gaps between the haves and have-nots, the endless degradation of the natural world. It all sounds terrible realistic: isn’t that exactly the future we all face? But it’s not, not really. Because history is nothing if not unpredictable; a future that imagines only the forward motion of the forces buffeting the present is a future robbed of the jaw-dropping potential that human societies contain, for good and for evil. No, the future will not be just superstorms and social inequality and more glass towers and more extractive capitalism. All those things will go on—maybe—but if the past is any guide at all, all kinds of stranger and less predictable things will happen too.
And then, this is a future where no one reads books or appreciates the world around them, where a parasitic virtual reality is literally sapping people’s minds and memories—except, of course, for our characters, all of whom read literature and exist in the moment with aplomb. Why not credit the rest of humanity with such resilience? Then too, more than a few characters have back stories so pat they almost read like fables. A flaw, I thought—or is it a strength? By the time I’d reached the end, I wasn’t sure any more.
As the second half unfurled, I began to feel that I had underestimated the book. Was I reading a dystopian science fiction novel at all? Or something more interesting in disguise? Was this, actually, a utopian novel? A violence took hold, deep in the heart of the book, a terrible, captivating violence. Something swimming beneath the surface of this smoothly-plotted, over-hyped speculative literary novel—something complicated, something troubling. A note of gender essentialism; a note of anarchism—and suddenly, I could see the book in conversation with a long lineage of feminist science fiction.
And that is where, in the end, I thought that the book shone: as a feminist novel of ideas. Those ideas are not safe and not easy and not sanded down. They are dangerous and wild and tense. For all its shortcomings, this is not only a book worth reading, but a book worth arguing about, worth fighting over.
If Camp Zero is a four-star book, it’s a four-star book that's one part three-star book and one part five-star book, which is far and away the most interesting kind of four-star book there is. I found it, somehow, at once captivating and underwhelming. The prose, for example: highly competent, often lovely, hardly a paragraph you couldn’t read out in a seminar as an example of how to artfully vary tone and rhythm, and yet—sanded down, somehow. Whole paragraphs that I feel I could have encountered in any number of literary novels published in the last decade. (Which is to say, this is not a problem limited to one book!) Too many artful turns of phrase where they don’t belong. There is a lot about this book that is pretty deranged—that’s much of what I liked about it—but stylistically, it only sometimes rises to the occasion.
The world-building, too, is lacking. There’s nothing particularly bizarre or unanticipated or chaotic, just the steady march of the forces that appear to be atomizing our own society—social media plugged straight into the brain stem, ever widening gaps between the haves and have-nots, the endless degradation of the natural world. It all sounds terrible realistic: isn’t that exactly the future we all face? But it’s not, not really. Because history is nothing if not unpredictable; a future that imagines only the forward motion of the forces buffeting the present is a future robbed of the jaw-dropping potential that human societies contain, for good and for evil. No, the future will not be just superstorms and social inequality and more glass towers and more extractive capitalism. All those things will go on—maybe—but if the past is any guide at all, all kinds of stranger and less predictable things will happen too.
And then, this is a future where no one reads books or appreciates the world around them, where a parasitic virtual reality is literally sapping people’s minds and memories—except, of course, for our characters, all of whom read literature and exist in the moment with aplomb. Why not credit the rest of humanity with such resilience? Then too, more than a few characters have back stories so pat they almost read like fables. A flaw, I thought—or is it a strength? By the time I’d reached the end, I wasn’t sure any more.
As the second half unfurled, I began to feel that I had underestimated the book. Was I reading a dystopian science fiction novel at all? Or something more interesting in disguise? Was this, actually, a utopian novel? A violence took hold, deep in the heart of the book, a terrible, captivating violence. Something swimming beneath the surface of this smoothly-plotted, over-hyped speculative literary novel—something complicated, something troubling. A note of gender essentialism; a note of anarchism—and suddenly, I could see the book in conversation with a long lineage of feminist science fiction.
And that is where, in the end, I thought that the book shone: as a feminist novel of ideas. Those ideas are not safe and not easy and not sanded down. They are dangerous and wild and tense. For all its shortcomings, this is not only a book worth reading, but a book worth arguing about, worth fighting over.
April 15, 2023
**Many thanks to Edelweiss, Maudee Genao at Atria, and Michelle Min Sterling for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! Now available as of 4.4!!**
“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” – Carl Sagan
In this sci-fi dystopian novel, our world is rapidly running out of resources...and those left in it have no choice but to scratch and claw their way towards survival. But is the 'safe haven' they come to inhabit ACTUALLY safe?
The haven in question is known as Camp Zero, a settlement in Northern Canada, which has managed to remain standing despite the worldwide oil shortages and dying climate. Rose, a Korean immigrant, agrees to travel to the Camp in exchange for her mother's protection. She becomes part of a group of sex workers known as the Blooms, who service the men in power at the Camp. Grant is from a wealthy family, but would like to shed the association with his last name and all it stands for in the world. He arrives at Camp Zero to teach...but finds that what is going on behind the scenes may be far more sinister than it seemed at first glance. Nearby, a group of strong and brilliant women known as White Alice are holed up conducting climate research. But are they furthering the mission of the Camp...or do they have their own agenda?
And is the head architect of Camp Zero aiming to protect what remains of humanity...or is he simply trying to destroy it?
There's really no other way to put it: this is a confusing book. Confusing in terms of its subject matter, its plot threads, AND its timeline. And yet...there is something truly captivating about this story. The POVs in the book rotate from Rose to Grant to the group White Alice (presented as a collective) and ALL of them are intriguing...if you can keep up. Although I feel it benefited the plot to present different angles of the Camp Zero experience, the book not only jumps POV, but also jumps timeline so it was often difficult to keep track of what was going on in the present vs. the past as it went along.
The driving force of this one is essentially an examination of both the effects of climate change and the dangers of a world owned and run by men that has been ground down and used beyond repair. There are echoes of Atwood's Handmaid's Tale, and even Disney's WALL-E (minus the adorable robots, of course! 🤖) If for some reason the subject matter isn't your cup of tea, you'll probably struggle with the depth and breadth of the climate change discussion. There are a lot of heavier scientific details at times, and the passages from the White Alice POV in particular were at times a struggle to read.
Perhaps the most eerie detail Sterling includes (and the one that I could absolutely see in our not too distant future) is the Flick: a device implanted above the ear that basically acts as a computer server, eliminating the need for everything from cell phones to libraries by allowing the virtual "Feed" in front of your eyes to entertain and inform your every thought. A LITTLE too reminiscent of products either already on the market or nearly on the market...I hope nobody from the Chat GPT development camp reads this one! 😳
While the ending was a bit muddy and muddled, I appreciated the overall arc of the story, and the combination of feminist empowerment and saving the earth from The Bad Men DID work...it just could have been presented in a more cohesive way. Despite the confusion I experienced at times, this was a strong, interesting, and at times terrifying debut, which also served as a stark reminder that if we choose to waste our land...we will all soon be LIVING in nothing more than a wasteland.
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4
“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” – Carl Sagan
In this sci-fi dystopian novel, our world is rapidly running out of resources...and those left in it have no choice but to scratch and claw their way towards survival. But is the 'safe haven' they come to inhabit ACTUALLY safe?
The haven in question is known as Camp Zero, a settlement in Northern Canada, which has managed to remain standing despite the worldwide oil shortages and dying climate. Rose, a Korean immigrant, agrees to travel to the Camp in exchange for her mother's protection. She becomes part of a group of sex workers known as the Blooms, who service the men in power at the Camp. Grant is from a wealthy family, but would like to shed the association with his last name and all it stands for in the world. He arrives at Camp Zero to teach...but finds that what is going on behind the scenes may be far more sinister than it seemed at first glance. Nearby, a group of strong and brilliant women known as White Alice are holed up conducting climate research. But are they furthering the mission of the Camp...or do they have their own agenda?
And is the head architect of Camp Zero aiming to protect what remains of humanity...or is he simply trying to destroy it?
There's really no other way to put it: this is a confusing book. Confusing in terms of its subject matter, its plot threads, AND its timeline. And yet...there is something truly captivating about this story. The POVs in the book rotate from Rose to Grant to the group White Alice (presented as a collective) and ALL of them are intriguing...if you can keep up. Although I feel it benefited the plot to present different angles of the Camp Zero experience, the book not only jumps POV, but also jumps timeline so it was often difficult to keep track of what was going on in the present vs. the past as it went along.
The driving force of this one is essentially an examination of both the effects of climate change and the dangers of a world owned and run by men that has been ground down and used beyond repair. There are echoes of Atwood's Handmaid's Tale, and even Disney's WALL-E (minus the adorable robots, of course! 🤖) If for some reason the subject matter isn't your cup of tea, you'll probably struggle with the depth and breadth of the climate change discussion. There are a lot of heavier scientific details at times, and the passages from the White Alice POV in particular were at times a struggle to read.
Perhaps the most eerie detail Sterling includes (and the one that I could absolutely see in our not too distant future) is the Flick: a device implanted above the ear that basically acts as a computer server, eliminating the need for everything from cell phones to libraries by allowing the virtual "Feed" in front of your eyes to entertain and inform your every thought. A LITTLE too reminiscent of products either already on the market or nearly on the market...I hope nobody from the Chat GPT development camp reads this one! 😳
While the ending was a bit muddy and muddled, I appreciated the overall arc of the story, and the combination of feminist empowerment and saving the earth from The Bad Men DID work...it just could have been presented in a more cohesive way. Despite the confusion I experienced at times, this was a strong, interesting, and at times terrifying debut, which also served as a stark reminder that if we choose to waste our land...we will all soon be LIVING in nothing more than a wasteland.
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4
March 29, 2023
I loved the first half of this and was really excited about it, especially the White Alice chapters, but then the last half didn't nail the landing for me. Far be it from me to complain about men being portrayed badly, but it really started to feel like it was showing that men ruined everything singlehandedly. Although one of the main characters is mixed race, I didn't feel like the critique of the power systems addressed race or any intersections other than gender, though I could have missed it. Also, when a running theme of this book is colonialism, I wish this had an Indigenous point of view—or any significant Indigenous character. Grant as a POV character didn't feel necessary to me. I feel like this had a ton of potential that wasn't realized.
April 30, 2023
2.5 stars rounded up
A dystopian thriller(sort of?) set in a time where climate change is apocalyptic and people want to move to Canada to escape. I liked this, but it kind of lost me toward the end.
Thematically it's tackling a lot of big and important topics like climate change, gender, immigration, privilege, political power, and morality when you're just trying to survive. There are multiple perspectives that eventually intersect, and a lot of time is spent with sex workers which is interesting.
I just felt like the ending went a little off the rails, certain plot points weren't super believable, and while I think this was trying to subvert gendered power dynamics, I don't know that it really succeeds. It just reinforces this binary, misogynistic approach to gender and the only women who somewhat escape that do so by embodying the worst violent tendencies of stereotypical men.
The more I actually think about this the less I like it, even if I had a reasonably good time while reading. I just don't think this book is actually doing what it thinks it's doing. And as another reviewer pointed out, for all the mentions of First Nations people and the seizure of indigenous lands, there are no indigenous characters on page which seems like a weird choice for a climate change thriller in Canada.
As a debut this is an ambitious novel and while I found it somewhat disappointing, I would be interested to see more from Sterling in the future. There are elements to this that are very good.
A dystopian thriller(sort of?) set in a time where climate change is apocalyptic and people want to move to Canada to escape. I liked this, but it kind of lost me toward the end.
Thematically it's tackling a lot of big and important topics like climate change, gender, immigration, privilege, political power, and morality when you're just trying to survive. There are multiple perspectives that eventually intersect, and a lot of time is spent with sex workers which is interesting.
I just felt like the ending went a little off the rails, certain plot points weren't super believable, and while I think this was trying to subvert gendered power dynamics, I don't know that it really succeeds. It just reinforces this binary, misogynistic approach to gender and the only women who somewhat escape that do so by embodying the worst violent tendencies of stereotypical men.
The more I actually think about this the less I like it, even if I had a reasonably good time while reading. I just don't think this book is actually doing what it thinks it's doing. And as another reviewer pointed out, for all the mentions of First Nations people and the seizure of indigenous lands, there are no indigenous characters on page which seems like a weird choice for a climate change thriller in Canada.
As a debut this is an ambitious novel and while I found it somewhat disappointing, I would be interested to see more from Sterling in the future. There are elements to this that are very good.
April 14, 2023
I am very sorry for the review I have to write for this book. With the amount of attention it has received, I feel like I have to be fully honest and a little blunt. Reading this book was awful. I absolutely did not care about the characters or the story. The way it was told was extremely disconnected and it was very difficult to follow along. Honestly, if I paid for this book I would be angry that I spent any money on it. It’s not often I come away from a book feeling so strongly against it, but in this case, I do. If you’ve read my reviews in the past and we seem to have similar taste in books, I’ll tell you this: don’t spend your time or money on it. Ignore the hype. If you really want to read it, wait for it at the library so at least your home collection won’t be haunted by its misery.
Thank you to the publisher for my gifted copy.
Thank you to the publisher for my gifted copy.
January 21, 2023
This was a pleasant surprise. Camp Zero is swiftly paced, has solid twists, and features multiple compelling interwoven storylines. Michelle Min Sterling’s vision of the future is intriguing, alarming, yet totally plausible.
The separate POVs are well-differentiated, as each character brings a unique perspective to the story and they intersect in surprising ways. Each narrative thread has mysteries to unspool and Sterling doles those out in a consistent and continuous manner so you’re never waiting too long for the next reveal. Sterling’s utilitarian prose is effective at moving the story forward, as well.
I had hoped for a tidier ending, but the conclusion sticks to the book’s themes of societal disarray and desperation that all the characters confront throughout, so I can’t complain too much.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf
Follow me on Twitter @specshelf
The separate POVs are well-differentiated, as each character brings a unique perspective to the story and they intersect in surprising ways. Each narrative thread has mysteries to unspool and Sterling doles those out in a consistent and continuous manner so you’re never waiting too long for the next reveal. Sterling’s utilitarian prose is effective at moving the story forward, as well.
I had hoped for a tidier ending, but the conclusion sticks to the book’s themes of societal disarray and desperation that all the characters confront throughout, so I can’t complain too much.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf
Follow me on Twitter @specshelf
May 5, 2023
This is a "Read with Jenna" book. This is not a "Read with JENNA ❤ ❀ ❤" book. Not only is there not a "Read with JENNA ❤ ❀ ❤" book club, I would not have chosen this book if there was.
I was curious after finishing Camp Zero who this "Read with Jenna" is. In case you're interested, and to prove it's not me, it is Jenna Bush Hager. It seems we do not share the same taste in writing style, though we do share the same interest in genres, at least this one - climate change fiction, or "cli-fi".
I was excited to read this book after reading the blurb, and even more excited when I saw it compared to Station Eleven.
Please, Blurb Writers. Please. Stop comparing new books to bestsellers. It often serves only to disappoint readers when they find that, in fact, the book is not much like the beloved one you've compared it to.
Camp Zero is a good story, and I was interested enough to read the entire book. However, the writing is mediocre and surface level. There isn't any depth aside from the massive holes dug into the ground for oil.
The author merely skated across the vast, frozen landscape of the Far North. Neither the characters nor the setting jumped off the page. They were just plopped down and there they stayed. They didn't leap off the page and into my imagination, compelling me to feel the cold or wonder what the characters were doing when I was away from the book.
I don't feel like I wasted my time with this novel, but it's one I'll likely forget by the end of the week. I was put off by the man-bashing too. There was only one male character who wasn't an absolute jerk and out to destroy and consume everything in sight.
PS: Unless someone wants to pay me a vast sum of money to have a "Read with JENNA ❤ ❀ ❤" book club show, there will never be a "Read with JENNA ❤ ❀ ❤" book club.
If you're bummed out by this, you can set up a Go Fund Me account, though I haven't yet decided on the amount I'll need to be paid to tell people what books they should be reading.
I was curious after finishing Camp Zero who this "Read with Jenna" is. In case you're interested, and to prove it's not me, it is Jenna Bush Hager. It seems we do not share the same taste in writing style, though we do share the same interest in genres, at least this one - climate change fiction, or "cli-fi".
I was excited to read this book after reading the blurb, and even more excited when I saw it compared to Station Eleven.
Please, Blurb Writers. Please. Stop comparing new books to bestsellers. It often serves only to disappoint readers when they find that, in fact, the book is not much like the beloved one you've compared it to.
Camp Zero is a good story, and I was interested enough to read the entire book. However, the writing is mediocre and surface level. There isn't any depth aside from the massive holes dug into the ground for oil.
The author merely skated across the vast, frozen landscape of the Far North. Neither the characters nor the setting jumped off the page. They were just plopped down and there they stayed. They didn't leap off the page and into my imagination, compelling me to feel the cold or wonder what the characters were doing when I was away from the book.
I don't feel like I wasted my time with this novel, but it's one I'll likely forget by the end of the week. I was put off by the man-bashing too. There was only one male character who wasn't an absolute jerk and out to destroy and consume everything in sight.
PS: Unless someone wants to pay me a vast sum of money to have a "Read with JENNA ❤ ❀ ❤" book club show, there will never be a "Read with JENNA ❤ ❀ ❤" book club.
If you're bummed out by this, you can set up a Go Fund Me account, though I haven't yet decided on the amount I'll need to be paid to tell people what books they should be reading.
January 1, 2024
3.5 stars
This is a story that I would not necessarily recommend widely because I do think it has some debut weaknesses, but I ended up really appreciating the story. As a fan of dystopian stories, climate-disaster stories, and character-led stories, I enjoyed how this took a softer approach to each of those, anchoring its dystopian setting with plenty of flashbacks to our present times and giving moments of brutality or reveals that kept me hooked.
Ultimately, I think it does struggle a bit to tie together all it's pieces to fully realize some of its characters, primarily Rose, arguably the main character. This also has a pretty open ending, and while I can appreciate those in certain regards, here, I felt like it leaned on the unsatisfying end rather than the purposeful end. We got plenty at the end, to be clear, but I was wanting more.
I would definitely read more from Sterling, and I'm curious to see how well this book sits in my memory. And honestly, I feel like I would reread this.
February 26, 2023
Camp Zero
by Michelle Min Sterling
Fiction Dystopia
NetGalley ARC
Taking place in the future, the world is suffering from climate change, and Rose, along with a few other women, arrives at Camp Zero, a mall in Canada, as a Bloom, to be companions for the men who run the construction a few miles away, which was only a hole in the ground.
At the same time that Rose and the other women arrived, so does Grant, a young man running from his rich father, there to teach the men who are working at the construction site.
Then there is a group of women working at a research station studying climate change.
Seventy-five percent of this book is backstories to the characters' past. For the first few chapters I was interested, but as the flashbacks kept overtaking the present I got bored, and now I regret pushing through this story. The mystery beneath the camp was pointless because it wasn't interesting.
The descriptions are vague, as are the characters, who were flat and they all felt as if they were minor characters. Everything in the present is brushed over, as if the past is what the author wanted to write about, and what was going on in the present, what the story was supposed to be about, was a subplot that wasn't important, but more of an afterthought.
The title of this book gives away how many stars I want to give it, but to submit my review...
1 Star
by Michelle Min Sterling
Fiction Dystopia
NetGalley ARC
Taking place in the future, the world is suffering from climate change, and Rose, along with a few other women, arrives at Camp Zero, a mall in Canada, as a Bloom, to be companions for the men who run the construction a few miles away, which was only a hole in the ground.
At the same time that Rose and the other women arrived, so does Grant, a young man running from his rich father, there to teach the men who are working at the construction site.
Then there is a group of women working at a research station studying climate change.
Seventy-five percent of this book is backstories to the characters' past. For the first few chapters I was interested, but as the flashbacks kept overtaking the present I got bored, and now I regret pushing through this story. The mystery beneath the camp was pointless because it wasn't interesting.
The descriptions are vague, as are the characters, who were flat and they all felt as if they were minor characters. Everything in the present is brushed over, as if the past is what the author wanted to write about, and what was going on in the present, what the story was supposed to be about, was a subplot that wasn't important, but more of an afterthought.
The title of this book gives away how many stars I want to give it, but to submit my review...
1 Star
April 17, 2023
I was so gripped with this story in the final third, that I had to stay up late reading it. Honestly, I could have stood a couple more chapters because the way it ended was not only abrupt, it was on the cusp of something happening. Big, AYFKMRN vibes! This feels like a standalone so those scenes won't be forthcoming and I have some feelings about that.
The first third of the book was pretty well done. I was interested in what unnamed Bloom was going to do with her mission to Camp Zero as a sex worker. I was also interested in Grant, the scion who has fled the curated life plan in the Loop, a monied enclave, his father has for him. I was interested in the women who were at the farthest-reaching northern outpost, White Alice. These three narrators relate the story and in the first third, lay down the world these characters exist in. With the narration at White Alice, it wasn't clear at the beginning of the story "when" things there are taking place. While it was a bit jarring for those breaks with the other two threads, it was interesting and ultimately did have a decent payoff in the final third.
I found the middle third of the book a bit slow and when a story is as bleak as this one tends to be, it slowed down my pace of reading. I am glad that I pressed on to the other side because everything came together in a pretty action-packed way. I didn't really expect that culmination because a lot of this book was pretty quiet. What I really liked about this was the way the characters' plans played off one another. Everyone is either lying or omitting information. In the end, no one is going to save the world from its climate disaster and it feels like the grand plan for Camp Zero is only going to be delayed, not forever ruined because the planners really are in it for the long game. The ray of light is that a small contingent is just as beholden to their own long game.
Recommended. But I have to sit with my feelings about that ending.
The first third of the book was pretty well done. I was interested in what unnamed Bloom was going to do with her mission to Camp Zero as a sex worker. I was also interested in Grant, the scion who has fled the curated life plan in the Loop, a monied enclave, his father has for him. I was interested in the women who were at the farthest-reaching northern outpost, White Alice. These three narrators relate the story and in the first third, lay down the world these characters exist in. With the narration at White Alice, it wasn't clear at the beginning of the story "when" things there are taking place. While it was a bit jarring for those breaks with the other two threads, it was interesting and ultimately did have a decent payoff in the final third.
I found the middle third of the book a bit slow and when a story is as bleak as this one tends to be, it slowed down my pace of reading. I am glad that I pressed on to the other side because everything came together in a pretty action-packed way. I didn't really expect that culmination because a lot of this book was pretty quiet. What I really liked about this was the way the characters' plans played off one another. Everyone is either lying or omitting information. In the end, no one is going to save the world from its climate disaster and it feels like the grand plan for Camp Zero is only going to be delayed, not forever ruined because the planners really are in it for the long game. The ray of light is that a small contingent is just as beholden to their own long game.
Recommended. But I have to sit with my feelings about that ending.
March 5, 2023
I appreciated the writing for this dystopian climate change thriller, and when the action was happening, it really had me engaged. I think it got a bit bogged down in flashbacks for my taste, though, and while I was on board with a lot of the thematic content, it was a bit on the nose.
Still, would look for more from this author and would recommend for those who like SF with their conspiracy-esque thriller
Still, would look for more from this author and would recommend for those who like SF with their conspiracy-esque thriller
March 18, 2024
By the year 2049 global warming has wrought extensive damage to the environment, and much of the Earth is nearly uninhabitable.
Of course wealthy people suffer less than the general population, and a luxurious manufactured habitat in Boston Harbor, called 'The Floating City', is home to rich citizens.
Working class people are hired to do service jobs in The Floating City, and there's much competition for these positions.
One of the richest people on The Floating City is a man called Damien, who invented a tech device called the 'Flick.'
The Flick is inserted behind every infant's ear at birth, and it's essentially a tiny computer. People can use the Flick to see movies, listen to music, look things up, etc. In addition, the Flick records the wearer's activities, memories, and so on, which can be called up at any time.
The Flick has made Damien VERY RICH, and he plans to build a city in Dominion Lake in northern Canada - which is still relatively balmy. The city will have a university at it's hub, and the whole shebang is under construction right now, for the Americans who'll be moving there.
*****
The story is narrated from three points of view:
⦿ Grant - Twentysomething Grant comes from a billionaire family that made it's fortune drilling oil. Fossil fuels were responsible for destroying Earth's ecology, and Grant wants to get away from his relatives. Thus Grant has accepted a job teaching English at the nascent college in Dominion Lake.
When Grant arrives at his 'job', he learns that his only students are diggers working on the construction site, who aren't the most enthusiastic pupils.
Moreover, Grant's quarters are relatively sparse and the food at the facility, which Grant thought would be fine dining, is more like prison grub. Still, Grant makes the best of his situation while pining for his old girlfriend Jane.
*****
⦿ Rose - Rose is a beautiful woman who has a Korean mother and an American father.
Rose is one of six 'blooms' or prostitutes, who've been named for flowers (Iris, Jasmine, Violet, Fleur, Rose, and Willow). The blooms have been hired to provide company for the executives at Dominion Lake, and - for the most part - each bloom cultivates one client.
Unknown to everyone, the bloom called Rose is 'undercover', having been sent by Damien to spy on an American architect named Meyer. Meyer is in charge of the operations at Dominion Lake, and Rose seduces him with a nice meal to make sure he'll be her client.
The blooms live in an abandoned mall, where they can roam freely, but are restricted in their outside movements. For the most part, the blooms are treated well, as their 'madam', named Judith, doesn't permit any rough stuff from the johns.
*****
⦿ The third narrator is the collective voice of a group of women with varying specialties (botanist, biologist, cartographer, engineer, geographer, meteorologist, programmer, and security specialist). The females are doing climate research at a facility called White Alice, at the northern tip of Canada, a few hours from Dominion Lake.
*****
In the course of the story it becomes clear that there's some hidden agenda at Dominion Lake, but very few people there seem to know what it is. Moreover, White Alice - which relies on periodic shipments of essentials (food, fuel, guns, ammunition, etc.) from the American government - is very vulnerable if things go wrong. It's enlightening to see how the women, who are fearless and clever, deal with this kind of situation.
There are time shifts in the book, that don't come to light until the story is well underway, which is jarring. I also found the action at the end of the book confusing. However, the climate-fiction aspects of the novel are important. People need to open their eyes and acknowledge the ecological crisis we're causing.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com
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November 18, 2023
This took me a hot minute to get into, and it wasn't at all what I was expecting.
There are three POVs there, not just Rose's. All three weave and interweave throughout, told in various tenses. There is the past present of Rose. The present of Grant. The collective we of White Alice.
While I enjoyed the overall message of this climate fiction book, there was just this...I dunno. This sneaking feeling that it was kinda
Anywho, it's a little different than what the blurb states, and I did like that sex workers were the heroes and main characters, without any of the moralizing or bemoaning of their jobs.
The ending, however, felt both rushed and incomplete and half-realized—where the book shines is the build, the rising tension, the means of living in a world where the most innocuous mistake kills.
I received an ARC from the publisher
There are three POVs there, not just Rose's. All three weave and interweave throughout, told in various tenses. There is the past present of Rose. The present of Grant. The collective we of White Alice.
While I enjoyed the overall message of this climate fiction book, there was just this...I dunno. This sneaking feeling that it was kinda
Anywho, it's a little different than what the blurb states, and I did like that sex workers were the heroes and main characters, without any of the moralizing or bemoaning of their jobs.
The ending, however, felt both rushed and incomplete and half-realized—where the book shines is the build, the rising tension, the means of living in a world where the most innocuous mistake kills.
I received an ARC from the publisher
April 9, 2023
an eco fiction thriller without urgency or heart. the beginning of the novel was fantastic, but the last half was just void of any true stakes and ends on a bleak albeit confusing and boring note.
June 15, 2025
I bought this from one of those little airport bookstores, sitting on shelf amidst the David Balduccis and Mauve Binchys. My choice was limited but, based on the blurb, this seemed the most interesting of the bunch. It's fair to say my expectations weren't high for this.
Sterling weaves together a scientific encampment in far northern Canada, sex-slave dystopia, global warming, perhaps the world's only university-endowed whorehouse and a Peter Thiel-style libertarian city floating in Boston Harbor. Sterling is a talented plotter and did a good job, every hundred pages or so, of credibly shifting the story in a new direction or tying together elements in unanticipated ways.
Sterling's writing is both flawless and slippery, the verbal equivalent of an AI-generated image of people:
You recognize these are intended to be people, but in no way believe in them or feel drawn to them or want to be their friends. I understand that writers need to be reclusive when they're writing, but it feels like Sterling needs to spend more time in parks, at potlucks, at parties.
Sterling weaves together a scientific encampment in far northern Canada, sex-slave dystopia, global warming, perhaps the world's only university-endowed whorehouse and a Peter Thiel-style libertarian city floating in Boston Harbor. Sterling is a talented plotter and did a good job, every hundred pages or so, of credibly shifting the story in a new direction or tying together elements in unanticipated ways.
Sterling's writing is both flawless and slippery, the verbal equivalent of an AI-generated image of people:
You recognize these are intended to be people, but in no way believe in them or feel drawn to them or want to be their friends. I understand that writers need to be reclusive when they're writing, but it feels like Sterling needs to spend more time in parks, at potlucks, at parties.
April 28, 2024
TW// animal death/murder, mentions of death (including fathers, sons/babies, girlfriends, grandfathers), murder, attempted rape, misogyny, racism, mentions of drowning, hurricane, climate change, brief mention of suicide, mentions of fatal car crash
This book was almost a one star rating for that terrible ending, but I think two stars better reflects the fact that 75% of this book was truly decent. The author just decided to go and ruin the story at the end with some truly awful plot twists.
Camp Zero has three points of view. One is the point of view of a sex worker who is working in a remote camp in Canada. Another is a professor who is trying to teach a group of laborers at the camp. The third is a group of female scientists who are isolated even farther North in Canada. The world is currently devastated by climate change and there’s a mystery throughout the whole story as to how these three points of view all connect to each other.
I really liked the climate change part of the story. It was interesting to see Michelle Min Sterling’s perspective on climate change and how she thinks people will react to the world nearing its end for humanity.
It was really unique to read the scientists in a “we” perspective instead of naming each scientist and giving them their own personalities. It made the scientists feel more like one entity and one community without any one scientist standing out from the rest. I’ve never read a book that’s ever done anything like that.
I also was really intrigued by the mystery. While the pacing of the book was slow and I didn’t vibe with the writing style, I was still interested enough to keep reading in order to solve the mystery of how these three points of view were going to connect with each other.
I wish I wouldn’t have stuck around to find the answer to the mystery because it ruined the entire book for me. For the majority of this book, I felt a need to root for these characters. The scientists are these empowered women who are trying to survive, Grant is a man struggling with loss who’s trying to make his own place in the world, and Rose is a girl who is doing everything she can to make her mom’s life better… Then the plot twists are revealed. Most of the characters end up being horrible human beings who made me physically sick whenever I even think about the actions that they took. The only two decent characters in the book are Nari and Aurora. I’m purposefully not using their most used names in the book to hide spoilers of who they are, but these two characters can only be viewed as ‘not that terrible’ because they were groomed to do terrible things. The rest of the characters are horrid and all the respect I built for them over the course of the book was shred to pieces in just a few short chapters. I honestly cannot fathom why an author would write such compelling characters only to reveal that they’re all pieces of crap at the very end of the book. It made me mad that I’d ever thought this book might be good.
Save yourself from the pain, anger, and frustration by not reading this book. If this book hadn’t taken the drastic turn that it did, it could’ve been noteworthy and worthwhile, but instead Camp Zero turns into a huge mess that will leave a sour taste in everyone’s mouth by the end of the book.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book was almost a one star rating for that terrible ending, but I think two stars better reflects the fact that 75% of this book was truly decent. The author just decided to go and ruin the story at the end with some truly awful plot twists.
Camp Zero has three points of view. One is the point of view of a sex worker who is working in a remote camp in Canada. Another is a professor who is trying to teach a group of laborers at the camp. The third is a group of female scientists who are isolated even farther North in Canada. The world is currently devastated by climate change and there’s a mystery throughout the whole story as to how these three points of view all connect to each other.
I really liked the climate change part of the story. It was interesting to see Michelle Min Sterling’s perspective on climate change and how she thinks people will react to the world nearing its end for humanity.
It was really unique to read the scientists in a “we” perspective instead of naming each scientist and giving them their own personalities. It made the scientists feel more like one entity and one community without any one scientist standing out from the rest. I’ve never read a book that’s ever done anything like that.
I also was really intrigued by the mystery. While the pacing of the book was slow and I didn’t vibe with the writing style, I was still interested enough to keep reading in order to solve the mystery of how these three points of view were going to connect with each other.
I wish I wouldn’t have stuck around to find the answer to the mystery because it ruined the entire book for me. For the majority of this book, I felt a need to root for these characters. The scientists are these empowered women who are trying to survive, Grant is a man struggling with loss who’s trying to make his own place in the world, and Rose is a girl who is doing everything she can to make her mom’s life better… Then the plot twists are revealed. Most of the characters end up being horrible human beings who made me physically sick whenever I even think about the actions that they took. The only two decent characters in the book are Nari and Aurora. I’m purposefully not using their most used names in the book to hide spoilers of who they are, but these two characters can only be viewed as ‘not that terrible’ because they were groomed to do terrible things. The rest of the characters are horrid and all the respect I built for them over the course of the book was shred to pieces in just a few short chapters. I honestly cannot fathom why an author would write such compelling characters only to reveal that they’re all pieces of crap at the very end of the book. It made me mad that I’d ever thought this book might be good.
Save yourself from the pain, anger, and frustration by not reading this book. If this book hadn’t taken the drastic turn that it did, it could’ve been noteworthy and worthwhile, but instead Camp Zero turns into a huge mess that will leave a sour taste in everyone’s mouth by the end of the book.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Read
May 10, 2025I have no idea why I finished this. Maybe because I received it for free to review and felt guilty abandoning it early? Maybe because I hoped that the resolution would be worth the cringe? I don't know. I just know that I wish I had stopped reading it back at 20% as I felt I should.
There is so much to unpack with this, so I'll start with why I think I kept reading: I liked Grant. And I was curious about what secrets Camp Zero held. There is a truly masterful undertone of suspense in this book. I felt bored throughout most of the story because of how slowly it moved, but the curiosity of what the camp was, the mystery shrouding all of the characters, and the heaviness of the world, all of it together just kept reeling me in. I had to know what happened, even though every revelation and new plot development left me even more appalled than I already was. Truly, this writing is unlike anything I've ever encountered. A slow burn suspense with a plot twist that repulsed me; I've never read anything like it.
However, personally, I almost dropped this book several different times. First, I feel like the main character's job should've been disclosed in the blurb because had I known that she were a "pleasure" worker, I would've known right away that this book wouldn't have been for me. As the blurb is now, I was quite shocked by her career of choice, though I do have to say that I was surprised at how "clean" the s*xual content is in light of that. There are conversations about her work and a couple of very brief, dry descriptions, but there is no spice. So, I chose to honor my pledge to finish and review the book and skipped over the parts that made me uncomfortable and just focus on the story.
I think my biggest reason for disliking this book is the doom and gloom feeling of everything. It was an incredibly depressing book and felt to me like a "all men are evil s*x fanatics and deserve to die" message. I'm all for women-empowerment stories and men paying for their evil deeds, but this one just painted such a focus on the darkness in our world that even the "good" male characters were roped into the same categories as the "bad" ones. And call me naive, but I know that there are still a lot of really good men left in the world.
Upon finishing the book, I just didn't feel satisfied with the plot. There were a lot of implied resolutions, but no absolutes, and honestly that just frustrated me.
Overall, I don't think I'll forget reading this book which is a compliment to the writer, but it's not a book that I would ever recommend to my circle of friends. And as I said earlier, I'm still shocked that I actually finished it.
Content warnings: Would be rated R if it were a movie. Cursing is very, very high. Gore is present, but not overly detailed. The nature of the deaths are more barbaric and disturbing, however. S*xual content is very present and talked about frequently in the nature of the characters' jobs, however, there are two mildly descriptive on-page scenes. Other topic warnings would be r*pe, child death, s*xual discrimination, racial discrimination, etc.
There is so much to unpack with this, so I'll start with why I think I kept reading: I liked Grant. And I was curious about what secrets Camp Zero held. There is a truly masterful undertone of suspense in this book. I felt bored throughout most of the story because of how slowly it moved, but the curiosity of what the camp was, the mystery shrouding all of the characters, and the heaviness of the world, all of it together just kept reeling me in. I had to know what happened, even though every revelation and new plot development left me even more appalled than I already was. Truly, this writing is unlike anything I've ever encountered. A slow burn suspense with a plot twist that repulsed me; I've never read anything like it.
However, personally, I almost dropped this book several different times. First, I feel like the main character's job should've been disclosed in the blurb because had I known that she were a "pleasure" worker, I would've known right away that this book wouldn't have been for me. As the blurb is now, I was quite shocked by her career of choice, though I do have to say that I was surprised at how "clean" the s*xual content is in light of that. There are conversations about her work and a couple of very brief, dry descriptions, but there is no spice. So, I chose to honor my pledge to finish and review the book and skipped over the parts that made me uncomfortable and just focus on the story.
I think my biggest reason for disliking this book is the doom and gloom feeling of everything. It was an incredibly depressing book and felt to me like a "all men are evil s*x fanatics and deserve to die" message. I'm all for women-empowerment stories and men paying for their evil deeds, but this one just painted such a focus on the darkness in our world that even the "good" male characters were roped into the same categories as the "bad" ones. And call me naive, but I know that there are still a lot of really good men left in the world.
Upon finishing the book, I just didn't feel satisfied with the plot. There were a lot of implied resolutions, but no absolutes, and honestly that just frustrated me.
Overall, I don't think I'll forget reading this book which is a compliment to the writer, but it's not a book that I would ever recommend to my circle of friends. And as I said earlier, I'm still shocked that I actually finished it.
Content warnings: Would be rated R if it were a movie. Cursing is very, very high. Gore is present, but not overly detailed. The nature of the deaths are more barbaric and disturbing, however. S*xual content is very present and talked about frequently in the nature of the characters' jobs, however, there are two mildly descriptive on-page scenes. Other topic warnings would be r*pe, child death, s*xual discrimination, racial discrimination, etc.
April 26, 2023
Special thanks to NetGalley and the author for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Newly released on April 4, 2023!
Debut author Michelle Min Sterling has already made serious waves with her novel, “Camp Zero” (when the novel appeared on the Today Show with super reader and host, Jenna Bush) and no doubt there will be more accolades to come. “Zero” is a clever and thought- provoking dystopian story that is not only utterly suspenseful and intriguing but terrifying realistic and absolutely plausible.
In the year 2049, most of the United States are struggling with insufferable heatwaves, and diesel fuel has been banned, leaving the fossil fuel industry in ruins. At birth, children are implanted with an electronic “Flick” which allows them not only to be able to remain online constantly, but also to have their memories altered and their personalities tracked. A few settlers have moved North to a remote encampment in Canada, where they hope to start the human race over again, making far fewer mistakes this time around. But of course, things that are too good to be true usually are- and as the new recruits adjust to the Northern climes, they soon realize that their utopia is not at all what they had been told.
“Camp Zero” is narrated by several of its characters, all from many different walks of life. Rose is the daughter of a Korean immigrant, who is offered the chance to work as an escort in the North, in exchange for her mother’s safety. Grant is the son of an American billionaire, who thinks an escape to the North will sever all ties with his family once and for all. The elusive “White Alice”, a group of women scientists sent to work on the Northern developments, narrate their story from the group perspective, without identifying themselves by name. In fact, most of the characters are labeled by what they do, or where they’re from (such as the escorts, known collectively as “The Blooms”, who are identified by flower names, such as Rose. Or “the Barber”, “the cartographer”, “the biologist” and so on), making them immediately part of the “group” instead of the singular “one”. I can’t say that I’ve read any other novels that identify characters this way, and it works perfectly for the members of “Camp Zero”.
I love how Min Sterling tied all of the plot lines together at the end in a completely unexpected way and, of course, I always give extra props to authors who feature the Great White North (Canada) as one of its settings.
The plot of this novel is not that far from believable, and, like most dystopian novels, it will leave the reader with heavy thoughts. In a society plagued by a rapidly changing climate, “Camp Zero” sets the stage for one of the many plausible options that await humanity. That being said, Min Sterling wasn’t preachy and not once did she get up on her soapbox. “Camp Zero” was humbling, powerful and deeply emotional, and it will mark Min Sterling’s entry into the literary world in a big way.
Newly released on April 4, 2023!
Debut author Michelle Min Sterling has already made serious waves with her novel, “Camp Zero” (when the novel appeared on the Today Show with super reader and host, Jenna Bush) and no doubt there will be more accolades to come. “Zero” is a clever and thought- provoking dystopian story that is not only utterly suspenseful and intriguing but terrifying realistic and absolutely plausible.
In the year 2049, most of the United States are struggling with insufferable heatwaves, and diesel fuel has been banned, leaving the fossil fuel industry in ruins. At birth, children are implanted with an electronic “Flick” which allows them not only to be able to remain online constantly, but also to have their memories altered and their personalities tracked. A few settlers have moved North to a remote encampment in Canada, where they hope to start the human race over again, making far fewer mistakes this time around. But of course, things that are too good to be true usually are- and as the new recruits adjust to the Northern climes, they soon realize that their utopia is not at all what they had been told.
“Camp Zero” is narrated by several of its characters, all from many different walks of life. Rose is the daughter of a Korean immigrant, who is offered the chance to work as an escort in the North, in exchange for her mother’s safety. Grant is the son of an American billionaire, who thinks an escape to the North will sever all ties with his family once and for all. The elusive “White Alice”, a group of women scientists sent to work on the Northern developments, narrate their story from the group perspective, without identifying themselves by name. In fact, most of the characters are labeled by what they do, or where they’re from (such as the escorts, known collectively as “The Blooms”, who are identified by flower names, such as Rose. Or “the Barber”, “the cartographer”, “the biologist” and so on), making them immediately part of the “group” instead of the singular “one”. I can’t say that I’ve read any other novels that identify characters this way, and it works perfectly for the members of “Camp Zero”.
I love how Min Sterling tied all of the plot lines together at the end in a completely unexpected way and, of course, I always give extra props to authors who feature the Great White North (Canada) as one of its settings.
The plot of this novel is not that far from believable, and, like most dystopian novels, it will leave the reader with heavy thoughts. In a society plagued by a rapidly changing climate, “Camp Zero” sets the stage for one of the many plausible options that await humanity. That being said, Min Sterling wasn’t preachy and not once did she get up on her soapbox. “Camp Zero” was humbling, powerful and deeply emotional, and it will mark Min Sterling’s entry into the literary world in a big way.
February 15, 2024
It’s far easier to create darkness than it is to create light
This one just didn't do it for me. The book felt soulless, I couldn't connect with the writing or any of the characters. I started out with the Audio but felt the delivery stilted and switched to kindle, and still felt the delivery was stilted...
In praise of the book, I will say the author did a pretty good job building suspense towards the end. I also liked that the heroines were sex-workers, a group that is not usually represented as a lead in fiction (at least not that I read.)
Now onto the rant (I apologize in advance):
Spoilers below, tread lightly
This is a very run-of-the-mill climate sci fi. The world is plagued by over-heating, weather patterns are sporadic, those of means are turning north for sanctuary. Camp Zero is trying to be the first of its kind; a retreat for the super wealthy to escape the heat of the south, an oasis.
Questions I had reading this book (that were never answered):
1: What is Rose's purpose? If she had never come to camp everything would have ended the same way.
2: White Alice is a cult, right? The collective voice, the militarized ideology, planning for an attack all the time. White Alice is a cult and Sal is the ring leader and I cannot be convinced otherwise. Not to mention they set their sights on recruiting those who would have the most reason to hate men -- the Sex Workers of the camp. Women who have little, who suffer a lot, who are vulnerable. CULT.
I am pretty sure White Alice was supposed to be the actual oasis, the story told in contrast to what was happening at Camp Zero. But despite this, White Alice suffered from the same faults attributed to Camp Zero -- the land was not theirs to take, the power cleaved from the hands of dead men, and only the 'elite few' (in this case, women) were allowed. What made White Alice any better than Camp Zero? Was the land they were on not also taken from the native people of the north, just like Camp Zero? Was the rhetoric that one sex was weaker and only good for one thing any different than what was happening at Camp Zero? (also can we agree having to raid and murder people for your power supply does not make you self-sustaining)
This book was trying to be high-minded commentary on classism, on global warming, and on feminism. But it often veered into man-hate territory. The feminism in this book was fueled by hate, by proving that women are superior, and not by the desire to elevate women to an equal status. (end of my feminism rant...)
Also Grant sucked. He totally killed Jane.
This one just didn't do it for me. The book felt soulless, I couldn't connect with the writing or any of the characters. I started out with the Audio but felt the delivery stilted and switched to kindle, and still felt the delivery was stilted...
In praise of the book, I will say the author did a pretty good job building suspense towards the end. I also liked that the heroines were sex-workers, a group that is not usually represented as a lead in fiction (at least not that I read.)
Now onto the rant (I apologize in advance):
Spoilers below, tread lightly
This is a very run-of-the-mill climate sci fi. The world is plagued by over-heating, weather patterns are sporadic, those of means are turning north for sanctuary. Camp Zero is trying to be the first of its kind; a retreat for the super wealthy to escape the heat of the south, an oasis.
Questions I had reading this book (that were never answered):
1: What is Rose's purpose? If she had never come to camp everything would have ended the same way.
2: White Alice is a cult, right? The collective voice, the militarized ideology, planning for an attack all the time. White Alice is a cult and Sal is the ring leader and I cannot be convinced otherwise. Not to mention they set their sights on recruiting those who would have the most reason to hate men -- the Sex Workers of the camp. Women who have little, who suffer a lot, who are vulnerable. CULT.
I am pretty sure White Alice was supposed to be the actual oasis, the story told in contrast to what was happening at Camp Zero. But despite this, White Alice suffered from the same faults attributed to Camp Zero -- the land was not theirs to take, the power cleaved from the hands of dead men, and only the 'elite few' (in this case, women) were allowed. What made White Alice any better than Camp Zero? Was the land they were on not also taken from the native people of the north, just like Camp Zero? Was the rhetoric that one sex was weaker and only good for one thing any different than what was happening at Camp Zero? (also can we agree having to raid and murder people for your power supply does not make you self-sustaining)
This book was trying to be high-minded commentary on classism, on global warming, and on feminism. But it often veered into man-hate territory. The feminism in this book was fueled by hate, by proving that women are superior, and not by the desire to elevate women to an equal status. (end of my feminism rant...)
Also Grant sucked. He totally killed Jane.
March 11, 2024
*3.5 stars rounded up. A dystopian novel set 25 years in the future in which the southern US states have become unbearably hot due to climate change and rich entrepreneurs are finding ways to come out on top.
One has built a climate-controlled floating island in the sea near Boston. As usual, it is rich people benefitting and poor people doing the mundane dirty work, right?
Another project is taking place around Dominion Lake in British Columbia. A famous architect named Meyer is buying up property in the frozen Canadian northwest with dreams of creating Camp Zero, a utopian community. He has hired men he calls ‘Diggers’ to do the work on the building project, managers to oversee them and a group of whores called ‘Blooms’ to keep management happy. There is even a young teacher named Grant for the college Meyer plans to build. For now, Grant will give the Diggers lessons in writing supposedly. (Picture a bunch of unwilling teenagers.)
Further north, there is a government installation called White Alice, originally set up during the Cold War as an early warning station to monitor Russian activity. A group of female scientists has been sent there for a two-year stint to conduct various research studies and report back. Supplies are brought in by helicopter. The women get on very well and form a close-knit community.
The story is told from three voices: Rose, who is one of the Blooms with an agenda; Grant, the would-be teacher trying to escape the constraints of his wealthy Bostonian family; and for the women of White Alice, the author switches to first person plural, which seems quite appropriate since they are such a cohesive community.
Climate change and technology play big roles in the story. The wealthy entrepreneur who created the Floating City in Boston earned his money with his creation called Flick. It is implanted behind the ear of each person at birth and connects them to the internet effortlessly where their likes and experiences can be tracked and their opinions influenced.
It’s interesting how Michelle Min Sterling weaves all these threads together and how it all evolves as the structures of normal society becomes somewhat useless.There are very strong feminist undertones to the story, making for some interesting plot twists.
So much of the story is about relationships and forging your own future during challenging times: relationships between mother and daughter, parents and child, lovers, clients, workers.
The author has created several interesting scenarios for the near-future, something to think about, and leaves the reader with HOPE.
One has built a climate-controlled floating island in the sea near Boston. As usual, it is rich people benefitting and poor people doing the mundane dirty work, right?
Another project is taking place around Dominion Lake in British Columbia. A famous architect named Meyer is buying up property in the frozen Canadian northwest with dreams of creating Camp Zero, a utopian community. He has hired men he calls ‘Diggers’ to do the work on the building project, managers to oversee them and a group of whores called ‘Blooms’ to keep management happy. There is even a young teacher named Grant for the college Meyer plans to build. For now, Grant will give the Diggers lessons in writing supposedly. (Picture a bunch of unwilling teenagers.)
Further north, there is a government installation called White Alice, originally set up during the Cold War as an early warning station to monitor Russian activity. A group of female scientists has been sent there for a two-year stint to conduct various research studies and report back. Supplies are brought in by helicopter. The women get on very well and form a close-knit community.
The story is told from three voices: Rose, who is one of the Blooms with an agenda; Grant, the would-be teacher trying to escape the constraints of his wealthy Bostonian family; and for the women of White Alice, the author switches to first person plural, which seems quite appropriate since they are such a cohesive community.
Climate change and technology play big roles in the story. The wealthy entrepreneur who created the Floating City in Boston earned his money with his creation called Flick. It is implanted behind the ear of each person at birth and connects them to the internet effortlessly where their likes and experiences can be tracked and their opinions influenced.
It’s interesting how Michelle Min Sterling weaves all these threads together and how it all evolves as the structures of normal society becomes somewhat useless.There are very strong feminist undertones to the story, making for some interesting plot twists.
So much of the story is about relationships and forging your own future during challenging times: relationships between mother and daughter, parents and child, lovers, clients, workers.
The author has created several interesting scenarios for the near-future, something to think about, and leaves the reader with HOPE.
April 5, 2023
Have you ever wanted to waste a whole day on the most pointless book ever? Well then you should read Camp Zero because it was a pointless tale set in the near future told through 3 storylines that come together at the end.
It’s the future the world sucks the rich have nice lives the working class and poor? Not so much and you know all the global warming dangers people talk about have become reality... it’s not interesting nothing is new and the overall theme is men are bad and destroy everything. 🙄 There’s no doing anything about it or anything just examples of sucky men and rich men doing whatever they want. It is not much of a dystopia because it’s pretty much mostly just the current reality of life right now in the present but you know in like 2049-2050. And what does the world look like in this future? No idea... there’s a lot of blah blah blah about a floating city but the book takes place in the far Canadian north. And it’s essentially rich ppl trying to colonize or maybe recolonize in Canada. Buying/stealing land so that they can escape north when things get too bad. So tedious...
Anywho...
The story is told through the eyes of a sex worker undercover at this camp to spy on the man in charge in exchange for a better life for her and her mother... then there is Grant the exceptionally stupid poor little rich boy who wants nothing to do with his family and their legacy and he 100% is at fault for what happened to his girlfriend. But who takes a job at an alleged university that they never heard of and there’s no information about it? His decision making skills leave much to be desired. He was also the most pointless person in the whole book and if you just take out his part it wouldn’t effect the rest of it at all... he was insignificant and very superfluous. And there’s this other tale told by some unnamed person that’s part of a group of women working at a research station even further north. For people who were so smart they were so dumb and everything with them happened in the past. They could have been taken out too because they didn’t matter either. NOTHING mattered.
The writing itself isn’t even bad it’s just it’s not at all a good story. I only continued to the end in the hood that something would actually happen. Guess what? Nothing does, the something that happens is just disappointing. The biggest mystery in this book is if there’s actually a plot hiding somewhere in there.
It’s the future the world sucks the rich have nice lives the working class and poor? Not so much and you know all the global warming dangers people talk about have become reality... it’s not interesting nothing is new and the overall theme is men are bad and destroy everything. 🙄 There’s no doing anything about it or anything just examples of sucky men and rich men doing whatever they want. It is not much of a dystopia because it’s pretty much mostly just the current reality of life right now in the present but you know in like 2049-2050. And what does the world look like in this future? No idea... there’s a lot of blah blah blah about a floating city but the book takes place in the far Canadian north. And it’s essentially rich ppl trying to colonize or maybe recolonize in Canada. Buying/stealing land so that they can escape north when things get too bad. So tedious...
Anywho...
The story is told through the eyes of a sex worker undercover at this camp to spy on the man in charge in exchange for a better life for her and her mother... then there is Grant the exceptionally stupid poor little rich boy who wants nothing to do with his family and their legacy and he 100% is at fault for what happened to his girlfriend. But who takes a job at an alleged university that they never heard of and there’s no information about it? His decision making skills leave much to be desired. He was also the most pointless person in the whole book and if you just take out his part it wouldn’t effect the rest of it at all... he was insignificant and very superfluous. And there’s this other tale told by some unnamed person that’s part of a group of women working at a research station even further north. For people who were so smart they were so dumb and everything with them happened in the past. They could have been taken out too because they didn’t matter either. NOTHING mattered.
The writing itself isn’t even bad it’s just it’s not at all a good story. I only continued to the end in the hood that something would actually happen. Guess what? Nothing does, the something that happens is just disappointing. The biggest mystery in this book is if there’s actually a plot hiding somewhere in there.
May 10, 2023
3.5 stars
I have mixed feelings about this. I did enjoy reading it; although somewhat meandering the writing itself has an engaging quality. I liked the way the pieces of the story moved inwards and came together at the end.
That said, although the I enjoyed the loose and almost dreamy quality of the storytelling, it felt like there was something missing to really give it solidity. It’s very slice of life and in the moment. It is the kind of book I personally like to read, but I always feel a bit unsure whether someone else would?
I have mixed feelings about this. I did enjoy reading it; although somewhat meandering the writing itself has an engaging quality. I liked the way the pieces of the story moved inwards and came together at the end.
That said, although the I enjoyed the loose and almost dreamy quality of the storytelling, it felt like there was something missing to really give it solidity. It’s very slice of life and in the moment. It is the kind of book I personally like to read, but I always feel a bit unsure whether someone else would?
April 23, 2023
I kept reading this expecting the plot lines to converge and it to all mean something, and that hope was got me through it. Sure, it was a pretty slow setup and none of the characters were either interesting or well developed, but I figured it would be worth it in the end. Unfortunately, it was not.
Read
May 18, 2023DNF@35%
I'm just not interesting in any of the characters or the outcome of the story. I gave it a go, but this far into the book and nothing has grabbed me.
I'm just not interesting in any of the characters or the outcome of the story. I gave it a go, but this far into the book and nothing has grabbed me.
May 24, 2023
I wanted to enjoy this book because the synopsis on the back made it seem like an intriguing dystopian story, but that wasn't how it turned out for me. It was difficult for me to follow the different plot threads because of the flashbacks and sometimes it was hard to determine if it was truly a flashback or an event happening in the present timeline.
The characters were rather distant the entire time, and there wasn't much character development or growth either. The plot advanced extremely slowly and then it just kind of ends abruptly. I finished the book but I'm still confused and left with unanswered questions. I just think this book wasn't for me and I wanted to give up on the book several times.
I did enjoy the concept of the futuristic device known as the Flick, however I would have preferred to see this technology used more in the book.
The characters were rather distant the entire time, and there wasn't much character development or growth either. The plot advanced extremely slowly and then it just kind of ends abruptly. I finished the book but I'm still confused and left with unanswered questions. I just think this book wasn't for me and I wanted to give up on the book several times.
I did enjoy the concept of the futuristic device known as the Flick, however I would have preferred to see this technology used more in the book.
May 23, 2023
• BOOKSTAGRAM •
So….uhm…..what did I just read?! I’ve been trying to just read a book based on hype and/or the cover. I’ve done this twice and each time I’m left wondering wtf 🤨
I thought this was a cli-fi (climate fiction) book but it’s so many other things and the climate portion I didn’t really think they made that big of an issue of aside from a hurricane. There’s romance, heartbreak, dark resist, murder, gore, weird kinky stuff. This was a wild ride.
I didn’t dislike the book I just wasn’t prepared for the “all over” nature this book had. The ending was good at summarizing and grouping all the messes together. I’m wondering if there’s going to be a sequel to this or not — I feel it could honestly go either way which if that’s what the author did because she didn’t want to necessarily commit to a duology then kudos to her because it left me either satisfied with the ending or being okay with a sequel coming.
So….uhm…..what did I just read?! I’ve been trying to just read a book based on hype and/or the cover. I’ve done this twice and each time I’m left wondering wtf 🤨
I thought this was a cli-fi (climate fiction) book but it’s so many other things and the climate portion I didn’t really think they made that big of an issue of aside from a hurricane. There’s romance, heartbreak, dark resist, murder, gore, weird kinky stuff. This was a wild ride.
I didn’t dislike the book I just wasn’t prepared for the “all over” nature this book had. The ending was good at summarizing and grouping all the messes together. I’m wondering if there’s going to be a sequel to this or not — I feel it could honestly go either way which if that’s what the author did because she didn’t want to necessarily commit to a duology then kudos to her because it left me either satisfied with the ending or being okay with a sequel coming.
May 23, 2023
A dystopian sci-fi novel focused on the devastating effects of climate change.
This debut novel centers around workers in a camp, in northern Canada, in 2049. I generally enjoy dystopian novels so I was excited to read Camp Zero but I ultimately found it very slow and underwhelming.
There were definitely some things I enjoyed (White Alice, the sex workers) but after the slow build, it feels like the book just kind of ends. I honestly don't know that I truly got this book at all. have you ever felt that way after reading a book? Sadly, I don't think this one was for me but I know many people have enjoyed it. Have you read it? Thoughts?
This debut novel centers around workers in a camp, in northern Canada, in 2049. I generally enjoy dystopian novels so I was excited to read Camp Zero but I ultimately found it very slow and underwhelming.
There were definitely some things I enjoyed (White Alice, the sex workers) but after the slow build, it feels like the book just kind of ends. I honestly don't know that I truly got this book at all. have you ever felt that way after reading a book? Sadly, I don't think this one was for me but I know many people have enjoyed it. Have you read it? Thoughts?
September 12, 2023
Camp Zero had a great concept but the writing and plot needed more work. The main problem was that nothing stood out for me.
The characters were all the same to me, I didn't feel anything for them. Rose and Grant's POVs should make an impact but they were flat, maybe the parts about White Alice were better.
The ending didn't give me the closure that I needed, when I turned the page and I was surprised the book had ended.
The characters were all the same to me, I didn't feel anything for them. Rose and Grant's POVs should make an impact but they were flat, maybe the parts about White Alice were better.
The ending didn't give me the closure that I needed, when I turned the page and I was surprised the book had ended.
July 19, 2022
I was fortunate to receive an early copy of this one from the publisher, and once I started reading, I could not put it down. I'm in awe of the world-building here. The future Michelle Sterling imagines in CAMP ZERO is recognizably our own, if we do nothing to halt climate change: one in which the powerful find new and devastating ways to exploit both the earth and its people. Fortunately, at least in this book, all is not as it seems: in a series of ingenious twists and increasingly tight connections, Sterling imagines how, in the chaos that ensues after the ice caps melt, our most marginalized brethren may gain a foothold to power. This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time; it’s mesmerizing, terrifying, and ultimately, hopeful.
May 4, 2023
This was a standout debut perfect for fans of dystopian/climate change novels like the MaddAddam series by Margaret Atwood or Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.
I really loved that the book followed different characters (not just a single protagonist) so we got a good sense of the various ways people were surviving in this post-flood world.
An April Read with Jenna pick, this is definitely going to be a favorite for book clubs and was great on audio narrated by a cast of narrators.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and Librofm for an ALC in exchange for my honest review!
I really loved that the book followed different characters (not just a single protagonist) so we got a good sense of the various ways people were surviving in this post-flood world.
An April Read with Jenna pick, this is definitely going to be a favorite for book clubs and was great on audio narrated by a cast of narrators.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and Librofm for an ALC in exchange for my honest review!
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