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Crossed
Shortlisted for Best Science Fiction Novel in the 2015 Aurealis Awards. “A new and fresh look at humanity's future” “the ambitious premise is anchored by some really solid and suspenseful storytelling” “fast-paced, fascinating, and at times heart-wrenching” “definitely a page turner” “beautiful, controversial and powerful” -Amazon.com Reviews In the 2040s, a dangerous new ideology has captured the imagination of young people around the world. Su lit a fire. Rayen showed her friends how to kill. Julia's ex unleashed an epidemic. But the Crosses are greater than the sum of their parts. Told through the writings of several first-hand witnesses, Crossed offers a chilling glimpse into a fervently brutal future.
120 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 25, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 24, 2016
Read it in one day, so it's either not very long or I was pretty absorbed (clue: both). This book is good because it's based on a great idea - that the young people of the earth will rise up and kill their elders for destroying the planet, then embark on a project of reafforestation and self-extinction - but even more so because it explores the great idea in so many nuanced and varied ways. This book could easily have been a polemic, but even though the author clearly has her own views on how we're messing up the planet, she creates a situation where you're never really sure whose side to be on. The structure is inventive too, with the story made up entirely of letters, forum posts, diary entries, court reports and so on. Really impressive: I look forward to more.
March 26, 2016
I'm not usually a fan of science fiction novels but Crossed blew me away. The stunning prose and racing plot had me hooked from the first sentence. The epistolary format suited the story perfectly and only added to the suspense.
I didn't want it to end but I understood that it must. More novels please, Ms Blackwell!
I didn't want it to end but I understood that it must. More novels please, Ms Blackwell!
June 4, 2017
An epic dystopia of radical Eco friendliness.
It is perhaps a wise decision that the author made this novel brief, for be warned! Once begun, this book is difficult to put down. I read it in a day. And it was a really good day.
It is perhaps a wise decision that the author made this novel brief, for be warned! Once begun, this book is difficult to put down. I read it in a day. And it was a really good day.
August 6, 2015
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
(Spoilers within)
Crossed is a sort of interesting story about a world where the internet generation decides that everything sucks and humanity has to die, including themselves. I wouldn't say it's realistic at all, but it uses a lot of real world problems in the story. It's not a typical story in the sense that it has a narrative that follows characters and their stories day in and day out. Instead, it's almost entirely composed of articles, forum posts, letters, and even advertisements. I can't really say it even has anything that I would call a 'chapter'.
It works fine. It does mention a lot of real things, like the fact that there's an island in the ocean composed entirely of human trash. On the other hand, sometimes it ignores things. Like when the Crosses decide to replant the forests and they're talking about oxygen. Trees are great and nice and all, but about 90% of the oxygen comes from ocean plant-life. If ocean plant-life has been decimated or something, planting a few trees on land isn't going to fix it.
The first site that consistently posts articles is also a vegan site, and there seem to be oversights (like, look up where soy comes from, as well as how many animals die to make those products. I don't recall that problem ever being mentioned). I'm not sure if it was a lack of research or if that's meant to be part of the story, that the younger generation is blinded by their own extremism to the point that they only point the finger at everyone else.
The growth of the extremist group and such aren't necessarily realistic, either, as well as the workings of the world (billions of people have been killed, for example, and the mail is still being delivered. It doesn't seem to say that the mail system has been taken over by the extremists, just that it's still going and they can apparently still get supplies that way). That's not really a criticism, it is a fictional 'end of the world' type of story, just expect to occasionally say, "Really?"
There's also things like "Crosses" who'll wear long-sleeved shirts or something to hide their marks. I would imagine marking themselves with crosses would backfire extremely quickly. If over a billion have been murdered by people who mark themselves with crosses, the world would be in a bit more of a panic mode. I doubt people would be as worried about other people's privacy and would be a little more demanding about finding anyone with a cross on their body. Some things are addressed (like someone wearing a body suit to hide from radars and stuff), but other things that would happen aren't (for example, if I was a rich person being targeted by these guys, the first thing I would invest in is a whole lot of guard dogs. These people raiding mansions never seem to get mobbed by 50 rottweilers).
It is interesting to watch the story unfold, how everything started and where it goes. Most of the time it kept me in the story. I was curious to see how it would turn out. Using stories about our current world was a clever way to give it a more truthful ring. I think it was meant to be more shocking than realistic. Some of the forum posts definitely sounded like what you would hear idiots on the internet say.
I do think the method of telling the story works for this book, but only because I don't often see stories written this way. If people started copying it, it would get old fast. I was generally invested, wondering what would happen next, save for a few times. The weak part of this style of writing is that I couldn't connect to any character, because it's so disconnected and disjointed. I might read a couple of letters from one side of a conversation, and then many pages later read something else about them. I can't say it's really "following" the story of any single character. When I read the summary for the book I was actually only able to recall for sure who one of the characters was, and even then I couldn't say that much about her because scraps of information are tossed around all over the place about all types of things. I "kind of sort of" have an idea who the others are. Barely.
I didn't feel for a single character at any point because I hardly knew anything about them.
The summary for this book doesn't describe how it's written, so if you're getting into it be aware that there's only a few pages of traditional story at the beginning and end. I think the overall story is memorable, but I'd have a hard time describing any one part or any individual's story. If you're into realism you might find yourself questioning why people fighting the Crosses seem to be doing almost nothing in response, but if you just want to read about a world going up in a whirlwind of chaos you'd probably have a lot of fun with it.
Read more reviews here.
(Spoilers within)
Crossed is a sort of interesting story about a world where the internet generation decides that everything sucks and humanity has to die, including themselves. I wouldn't say it's realistic at all, but it uses a lot of real world problems in the story. It's not a typical story in the sense that it has a narrative that follows characters and their stories day in and day out. Instead, it's almost entirely composed of articles, forum posts, letters, and even advertisements. I can't really say it even has anything that I would call a 'chapter'.
It works fine. It does mention a lot of real things, like the fact that there's an island in the ocean composed entirely of human trash. On the other hand, sometimes it ignores things. Like when the Crosses decide to replant the forests and they're talking about oxygen. Trees are great and nice and all, but about 90% of the oxygen comes from ocean plant-life. If ocean plant-life has been decimated or something, planting a few trees on land isn't going to fix it.
The first site that consistently posts articles is also a vegan site, and there seem to be oversights (like, look up where soy comes from, as well as how many animals die to make those products. I don't recall that problem ever being mentioned). I'm not sure if it was a lack of research or if that's meant to be part of the story, that the younger generation is blinded by their own extremism to the point that they only point the finger at everyone else.
The growth of the extremist group and such aren't necessarily realistic, either, as well as the workings of the world (billions of people have been killed, for example, and the mail is still being delivered. It doesn't seem to say that the mail system has been taken over by the extremists, just that it's still going and they can apparently still get supplies that way). That's not really a criticism, it is a fictional 'end of the world' type of story, just expect to occasionally say, "Really?"
There's also things like "Crosses" who'll wear long-sleeved shirts or something to hide their marks. I would imagine marking themselves with crosses would backfire extremely quickly. If over a billion have been murdered by people who mark themselves with crosses, the world would be in a bit more of a panic mode. I doubt people would be as worried about other people's privacy and would be a little more demanding about finding anyone with a cross on their body. Some things are addressed (like someone wearing a body suit to hide from radars and stuff), but other things that would happen aren't (for example, if I was a rich person being targeted by these guys, the first thing I would invest in is a whole lot of guard dogs. These people raiding mansions never seem to get mobbed by 50 rottweilers).
It is interesting to watch the story unfold, how everything started and where it goes. Most of the time it kept me in the story. I was curious to see how it would turn out. Using stories about our current world was a clever way to give it a more truthful ring. I think it was meant to be more shocking than realistic. Some of the forum posts definitely sounded like what you would hear idiots on the internet say.
I do think the method of telling the story works for this book, but only because I don't often see stories written this way. If people started copying it, it would get old fast. I was generally invested, wondering what would happen next, save for a few times. The weak part of this style of writing is that I couldn't connect to any character, because it's so disconnected and disjointed. I might read a couple of letters from one side of a conversation, and then many pages later read something else about them. I can't say it's really "following" the story of any single character. When I read the summary for the book I was actually only able to recall for sure who one of the characters was, and even then I couldn't say that much about her because scraps of information are tossed around all over the place about all types of things. I "kind of sort of" have an idea who the others are. Barely.
I didn't feel for a single character at any point because I hardly knew anything about them.
The summary for this book doesn't describe how it's written, so if you're getting into it be aware that there's only a few pages of traditional story at the beginning and end. I think the overall story is memorable, but I'd have a hard time describing any one part or any individual's story. If you're into realism you might find yourself questioning why people fighting the Crosses seem to be doing almost nothing in response, but if you just want to read about a world going up in a whirlwind of chaos you'd probably have a lot of fun with it.
Read more reviews here.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2020
Okay, where to start?
When I was contacted to write a review about this book, I will admit my expectations were not high. However, not only was I pleasantly surprised, I have been blown away.
How I felt as I read this book is hard to describe. How do you describe how you felt when you first read your favourite book? Or any book that really resonated with you? It hit me in all the right spots. I was outraged, anxious, fearful, nervous, excited, and resigned; just as everyone in the book must have been over the course of the story.
Crossed has all the hallmarks of great science fiction - it takes a contemporary problem or science (in this case, global warming/deforestation) and then drags it to a believable extreme. That a cartoon could bring so much change into the world isn’t even that far-fetched an idea; look at the popularity of Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, or My Little Pony. The youth today would definitely latch onto Niri and keep running.
The writing itself was very reminiscent of Dracula, which I loved. Bram Stoker’s bits and pieces of journals and newspapers and letters telling you just enough of a story to let you fill in the between yourself has always been one of my favourite story-telling methods. Evelyn Blackwell takes this idea and modernizes it with message boards, emails, and internet caching (though there are pen and paper letters and journals as well). The story itself was wonderfully told, with each part returning you to something that had been mentioned before. There were quite a few times that I read a chapter and then realised that something I’d read in a previous chapter was the continuation of what I was reading now.
It was short, but amazing. I enjoyed it immensely and am already thirsty for more.
When I was contacted to write a review about this book, I will admit my expectations were not high. However, not only was I pleasantly surprised, I have been blown away.
How I felt as I read this book is hard to describe. How do you describe how you felt when you first read your favourite book? Or any book that really resonated with you? It hit me in all the right spots. I was outraged, anxious, fearful, nervous, excited, and resigned; just as everyone in the book must have been over the course of the story.
Crossed has all the hallmarks of great science fiction - it takes a contemporary problem or science (in this case, global warming/deforestation) and then drags it to a believable extreme. That a cartoon could bring so much change into the world isn’t even that far-fetched an idea; look at the popularity of Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, or My Little Pony. The youth today would definitely latch onto Niri and keep running.
The writing itself was very reminiscent of Dracula, which I loved. Bram Stoker’s bits and pieces of journals and newspapers and letters telling you just enough of a story to let you fill in the between yourself has always been one of my favourite story-telling methods. Evelyn Blackwell takes this idea and modernizes it with message boards, emails, and internet caching (though there are pen and paper letters and journals as well). The story itself was wonderfully told, with each part returning you to something that had been mentioned before. There were quite a few times that I read a chapter and then realised that something I’d read in a previous chapter was the continuation of what I was reading now.
It was short, but amazing. I enjoyed it immensely and am already thirsty for more.
July 19, 2015
Crossed takes an interesting idea and turns it into a great story, attacking the narrative from multiple angles to give a more global account about this triumph/downfall of humanity. Initially I was not sure that I would enjoy the changing delivery of voice and thought it may be confusing, but in fact I really enjoyed this decision by the end of the book - I think it added a lot to the themes of the story.
All in all an excellent read, I highly recommend. Nice and short - great for a short plane ride!
All in all an excellent read, I highly recommend. Nice and short - great for a short plane ride!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews