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One of Us
Known as "the plague generation" a group of teenagers begin to discover their hidden powers in this shocking post-apocalyptic coming of age story set in 1984."This is not a kind book, or a gentle book, or a book that pulls its punches. But it's a powerful book, and it will change you." -- Seaman McGuireThey've called him a monster from the day he was born.Abandoned by his family, Enoch Bryant now lives in a rundown orphanage with other teenagers just like him. He loves his friends, even if the teachers are terrified of them. They're members of the rising plague generation. Each bearing their own extreme genetic mutation.The people in the nearby town hate Enoch, but he doesn't know why. He's never harmed anyone. Works hard and doesn't make trouble. He believes one day he'll be a respected man.But hatred dies hard. The tension between Enoch's world and those of the "normal" townspeople is ready to burst. And when a body is found, it may be the spark that ignites a horrifying revolution.
400 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 17, 2018
214 people are currently reading
3111 people want to read
About the author
Craig DiLouie
62 books1,517 followersCraig DiLouie is an author of popular thriller, apocalyptic/horror, and sci-fi/fantasy fiction.
In hundreds of reviews, Craig’s novels have been praised for their strong characters, action, and gritty realism. Each book promises an exciting experience with people you’ll care about in a world that feels real.
These works have been nominated for major literary awards such as the Bram Stoker Award and Audie Award, translated into multiple languages, and optioned for film. He is a member of the HWA, International Thriller Writers, and IFWA.
In hundreds of reviews, Craig’s novels have been praised for their strong characters, action, and gritty realism. Each book promises an exciting experience with people you’ll care about in a world that feels real.
These works have been nominated for major literary awards such as the Bram Stoker Award and Audie Award, translated into multiple languages, and optioned for film. He is a member of the HWA, International Thriller Writers, and IFWA.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 244 reviews
May 12, 2022
Around 14-15 years ago humanity was struck with a sexually transmitted virus that resulted in the birth of babies with extreme and often horrific looking genetic mutations; the vast majority of these children were rejected by their parents and now over a million of them reside in specially set up Homes across the world! In a small sized town in the American South, Dog, Brains, Goof, Tiny, Mary and their fellow residents eke out a life in their Home, a life of degradation, dehumanisation, forced labour and torture. What the 'normals' don't fully realise is that these 'Creepers' are gifted with special powers or talents when they strike puberty!
A strikingly simply concept that is written so well from multiple points of view from the Creepers themselves through to local children and the town Sherriff himself. What at first seemed your typical over the top 'young adult dark fantasy' affair became that more interesting with parallels drawn to the treatment of the Creepers with the treatment of African-Americans and the overall 'they look different so they are evil' theme throughout. What went beyond my expectations was how no characters were purely good or evil, but they did perform good or evil actions for which they could be judge. There's also a slithering of nice dark comedy throughout. Overall this is pretty dark and purposefully unsettling read that is essentially a critique of race intolerance, one that works quite well. 8 out of 12.
2022 read
A strikingly simply concept that is written so well from multiple points of view from the Creepers themselves through to local children and the town Sherriff himself. What at first seemed your typical over the top 'young adult dark fantasy' affair became that more interesting with parallels drawn to the treatment of the Creepers with the treatment of African-Americans and the overall 'they look different so they are evil' theme throughout. What went beyond my expectations was how no characters were purely good or evil, but they did perform good or evil actions for which they could be judge. There's also a slithering of nice dark comedy throughout. Overall this is pretty dark and purposefully unsettling read that is essentially a critique of race intolerance, one that works quite well. 8 out of 12.
2022 read
September 17, 2018
this book opens with a line from oingo boingo’s song No Spill Blood:
We walk on two legs not on four.
To walk on four legs breaks the law.
a song which is itself referencing The Island of Dr. Moreau.
you want to get my attention, open your book with an oingo boingo line. i was "supposed" to read The Overstory next during my time away from home, but i read the first page and singsonged “too thinky for vacation,” picked this one up instead, saw the OB epigraph and thought “just right for vacation!” and it’s not that this isn’t thinky at all, in fact, the only other book i’ve read by this author is one of the thinkiest horror books i’ve ever read: Suffer the Children.
One of Us (whose title is, i assume, a reference to Freaks ), provides plenty to think about. it’s a little like To Kill a Mockingbird starring the X-Men set during the AIDS crisis.
in this world, a sexually-transmitted disease known colloquially as “the plague” and officially as “teratogenesis” wormed its way into the world during the late 1960s and by 1970, one out of every three thousand* babies was born afflicted. in the US, carriers of the disease who became pregnant are forced to have abortions, and the “plague kids” born before this legislation were sent to special group homes; sequestered from the normal kids, often mistreated, poorly educated and tasked with manual labor as payment for their room and board.
because the plague kids, well, they look weird. their faces are upside-down, or they have tails, or dog heads, etc. and now that the first significant surviving wave of these kids are fourteen years old, along with the typical physical changes puberty brings, they are beginning to manifest specific abilities that are decidedly atypical. like the x-men, some of these abilities are really cool and useful: mind reading, pyrotechnics, etc. and some are less so - being able to chew through stuff. which has useful applications, sure, but not as useful as being able to fly.
because i never leave home without my RA bonnet, i was thinking to myself at the beginning of this book - “something about this reminds me of The Girl With All the Gifts."
but i stopped myself with a "nah, GWATG is much darker than this.”
like i said, this was at the beginning. because HOO BOY does this go dark.
it sneaks up on you. because although this features a dystopian world in which malformed innocents are taken from their families, exploited, sequestered and treated like slaves, there’s something a little cartoony about it at the start. Dog and Goof are kind, funny, eager to please, and Brain’s revolutionary spirit is comically pompous, while the “normal” children given POV status are as squeaky-sweet as campbell’s soup kids. it feels as lighthearted as a book with this particular premise can possibly be.
but that doesn’t last.
and once it starts to turn, there are some truly shocking developments. there are a few predictable moves as well, but the ones that surprised me were perfect, sudden, bold moves that made me glad i hadn’t read too many reviews of this before reading it myself, because i have since seen several mentions of these moves in other reviews. (and also saw that my The Girl With All the Gifts feeling was also mentioned by Claire North)
i don’t know if this is going to continue as a series, but i kind of hope it does. as much as i think this says everything it needs to say as a standalone, and i don’t love the modern impulse that “everything is a series that goes on forever!!," i’m still interested in the possibilities of this world, and i trust that dilouie would make any continuation feel earned; an intriguing exploration of contemporary issues rather than just the cashing of an offered check.
cuz things could get huge.
* i think that's the math. the quote is:
One out of ten thousand babies born in 1968 were monsters, and most died. One in six in 1969, and half of those died. One in three in 1970, the year scientists came up with a test to see if you had it. Most of them lived.
i took that to mean one in six thousand and one in three thousand, but i could be wrong. seems like 1 in 3 would have resulted in a somewhat different social landscape. but i could be wrong.
come to my blog!
We walk on two legs not on four.
To walk on four legs breaks the law.
a song which is itself referencing The Island of Dr. Moreau.
you want to get my attention, open your book with an oingo boingo line. i was "supposed" to read The Overstory next during my time away from home, but i read the first page and singsonged “too thinky for vacation,” picked this one up instead, saw the OB epigraph and thought “just right for vacation!” and it’s not that this isn’t thinky at all, in fact, the only other book i’ve read by this author is one of the thinkiest horror books i’ve ever read: Suffer the Children.
One of Us (whose title is, i assume, a reference to Freaks ), provides plenty to think about. it’s a little like To Kill a Mockingbird starring the X-Men set during the AIDS crisis.
in this world, a sexually-transmitted disease known colloquially as “the plague” and officially as “teratogenesis” wormed its way into the world during the late 1960s and by 1970, one out of every three thousand* babies was born afflicted. in the US, carriers of the disease who became pregnant are forced to have abortions, and the “plague kids” born before this legislation were sent to special group homes; sequestered from the normal kids, often mistreated, poorly educated and tasked with manual labor as payment for their room and board.
because the plague kids, well, they look weird. their faces are upside-down, or they have tails, or dog heads, etc. and now that the first significant surviving wave of these kids are fourteen years old, along with the typical physical changes puberty brings, they are beginning to manifest specific abilities that are decidedly atypical. like the x-men, some of these abilities are really cool and useful: mind reading, pyrotechnics, etc. and some are less so - being able to chew through stuff. which has useful applications, sure, but not as useful as being able to fly.
because i never leave home without my RA bonnet, i was thinking to myself at the beginning of this book - “something about this reminds me of The Girl With All the Gifts."
but i stopped myself with a "nah, GWATG is much darker than this.”
like i said, this was at the beginning. because HOO BOY does this go dark.
it sneaks up on you. because although this features a dystopian world in which malformed innocents are taken from their families, exploited, sequestered and treated like slaves, there’s something a little cartoony about it at the start. Dog and Goof are kind, funny, eager to please, and Brain’s revolutionary spirit is comically pompous, while the “normal” children given POV status are as squeaky-sweet as campbell’s soup kids. it feels as lighthearted as a book with this particular premise can possibly be.
but that doesn’t last.
and once it starts to turn, there are some truly shocking developments. there are a few predictable moves as well, but the ones that surprised me were perfect, sudden, bold moves that made me glad i hadn’t read too many reviews of this before reading it myself, because i have since seen several mentions of these moves in other reviews. (and also saw that my The Girl With All the Gifts feeling was also mentioned by Claire North)
i don’t know if this is going to continue as a series, but i kind of hope it does. as much as i think this says everything it needs to say as a standalone, and i don’t love the modern impulse that “everything is a series that goes on forever!!," i’m still interested in the possibilities of this world, and i trust that dilouie would make any continuation feel earned; an intriguing exploration of contemporary issues rather than just the cashing of an offered check.
cuz things could get huge.
Victory is never given, it is taken - through violence if necessary. You want foundational change, you don't talk to Dr. King. You talk to Malcolm X. No real progress would ever come from the normals...
The mutagenic had to win on their own. And no half measures for him. He didn't want integration. He didn't want to drink from the same water fountain as normals or ride in the same part of the bus. Brain wanted it all. A return to ancient times when men worshipped the plague men as gods and enshrined them in myths that endured thousands of years.
* i think that's the math. the quote is:
One out of ten thousand babies born in 1968 were monsters, and most died. One in six in 1969, and half of those died. One in three in 1970, the year scientists came up with a test to see if you had it. Most of them lived.
i took that to mean one in six thousand and one in three thousand, but i could be wrong. seems like 1 in 3 would have resulted in a somewhat different social landscape. but i could be wrong.
come to my blog!
July 16, 2018
Wow, this is a truly hard-hitting read so hard-hitting that at times it makes for rather uncomfortable reading. I also found it a really emotional experience and I must admit I cried at certain points as it was easy to draw parallels with real life. The world building was excellent and the characters were engaging. DeLouie is certainly not afraid to explore deep and divisive topics and this book in particular deals with disabilities and prejudice. This is my first title from this author but I am going to check out the rest of his novels.
It's 1968 and a genetic plague has struck leading to a whole generation of babies that are born with extreme genetic mutations. Fast forward to the 1980's and there are rules set in place meaning that these children are taken away from their biological parents at birth and raised in group homes with other "special" kids. They are told that this is their home but there is a sinister reason behind them being rounded up. They are given limited education with a particular focus on skills that will make them useful labourers. "Normal" children are told not to engage with them but a chance meeting between the two groups of children seems to be heading towards breaking down the barriers. That is until a dead body is discovered and the home kids are blamed for it. This builds the barriers back up higher than ever.
"One of Us" is a powerful and meaningful book that I will remember for a long time to come. This is a radical and important story that has had a huge impact on me. As a person who is classed as having a disability this resonated with me even more than it may do with others. I have first-hand experience of the prejudice that is shown to those who are classified as not being "normal" and that are limited by their illness or disability. This book highlights the often daily torture that disabled people have to endure for something that is no fault of their own.
If you are looking for a book that explores topics that are relevant in today's society then this is a perfect fit. It will appeal to those who enjoy reading intelligent stories that have meaning that can be transferred to everyday life. I felt connected to the characters and they were both relatable and believable. Be warned - if you're thinking of picking this up prepare for a very emotional and heartbreaking rollercoaster ride. Kudos to the author for creating a story that centres around those with disabilities. We need so many more books that are inclusive but this is a great start.
Publishing Date - 19th July
Many thanks to Orbit for an ARC. I was not required to post a review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
It's 1968 and a genetic plague has struck leading to a whole generation of babies that are born with extreme genetic mutations. Fast forward to the 1980's and there are rules set in place meaning that these children are taken away from their biological parents at birth and raised in group homes with other "special" kids. They are told that this is their home but there is a sinister reason behind them being rounded up. They are given limited education with a particular focus on skills that will make them useful labourers. "Normal" children are told not to engage with them but a chance meeting between the two groups of children seems to be heading towards breaking down the barriers. That is until a dead body is discovered and the home kids are blamed for it. This builds the barriers back up higher than ever.
"One of Us" is a powerful and meaningful book that I will remember for a long time to come. This is a radical and important story that has had a huge impact on me. As a person who is classed as having a disability this resonated with me even more than it may do with others. I have first-hand experience of the prejudice that is shown to those who are classified as not being "normal" and that are limited by their illness or disability. This book highlights the often daily torture that disabled people have to endure for something that is no fault of their own.
If you are looking for a book that explores topics that are relevant in today's society then this is a perfect fit. It will appeal to those who enjoy reading intelligent stories that have meaning that can be transferred to everyday life. I felt connected to the characters and they were both relatable and believable. Be warned - if you're thinking of picking this up prepare for a very emotional and heartbreaking rollercoaster ride. Kudos to the author for creating a story that centres around those with disabilities. We need so many more books that are inclusive but this is a great start.
Publishing Date - 19th July
Many thanks to Orbit for an ARC. I was not required to post a review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
January 22, 2019
This is a book I’m going to remember for a very long time. I was hanging on the edge through the entire last half of this book and I read it one sitting because I couldn’t put it down once it got its hooks into me.
This is unlike any other urban fantasy I’ve read. Although on the shorter side, this is not a light read. It covers a lot of difficult topics and will likely leave you thinking on it for a while after you’re done.
In this world, there was a virus that struck the globe without warning in the 1970’s. Children were being born with never seen before mutations – babies with tentacles, horns, claws, fur all over their bodies, etc. Those kids are shipped off and kept secluded from polite society. Since this virus is sexually transmitted, extreme rules are going into place when birth rates of mutants hit 1/3 births. Anyone who wants to have sex has to get tested for the virus, and if someone tests positive for the virus and is pregnant, an abortion is mandatory. However, since those rules took decades to go into effect, there are now over 1 million mutant children being housed throughout the country in barbaric conditions. They are essentially being used as slave labor and no one knows what’s going to happen when they reach adulthood, which is just around the corner for the oldest of the mutant children. The world is becoming more and more tense and in some countries the mutant kids are hunted down and killed, not just imprisoned. What no one knows, because the ‘disease’ is so new, is that these mutant kids develop super human powers as they age and hit puberty. There are those that can create fire, control peoples minds, and blow holes through flesh more effectively than bullets.
This story follows a group of mutant kids growing up on the outskirts of society in a small rural town down south, while simultaneously following a group of ‘normal’ kids growing up not far away, but living entirely different lives. There are also a bunch of pov’s from the adults in the town that I found equally immersive. It’s extremely difficult to describe the overall plot because there are so many moving pieces and so many characters with their own motivations that pull the story along – but suffice it to say that this is a story of ‘us vs them’ and the worst consequences that can bring. When two sides demonize each other to the point of a powder keg explosion, there’s not much that can stop it once the fuse is lit.
There are a ton of POV’s but it’s not confusing, and I genuinely found all of the characters to be highly engaging. Whether I was rooting for them, disgusted by them, or had mixed feelings about them – each and every one of them held my attention. When the POV’s switched I was eager to see what the other characters had been up to. I found them all to be thoroughly fleshed out, and even when I hated them I understood their motivations. It made everything feel all too real, to be honest. I think that’s why this book will stick with me, the characters could do monstrous things, and I hated some of them, but I still always knew why they were doing what they were doing.
This book made me feel every emotion there is to feel, and those emotions lingered long after I had finished. It’s been a long time since a fantasy book has done that to me, and I’m so glad I picked this one up. It pulls no punches, so be warned this is not a light happy book.
Audience:
urban fantasy
multi pov
xmen like mutants
darker stories
those who like emotional rollercoasters
Ratings:
Plot: 14/15
Characters: 15/15
World Building: 14/15
Writing: 14/15
Pacing: 14/15
Originality: 14/15
Personal Enjoyment: 10/10
Final Score: 95/100 – 5 stars, can not recommend it enought.
This is unlike any other urban fantasy I’ve read. Although on the shorter side, this is not a light read. It covers a lot of difficult topics and will likely leave you thinking on it for a while after you’re done.
In this world, there was a virus that struck the globe without warning in the 1970’s. Children were being born with never seen before mutations – babies with tentacles, horns, claws, fur all over their bodies, etc. Those kids are shipped off and kept secluded from polite society. Since this virus is sexually transmitted, extreme rules are going into place when birth rates of mutants hit 1/3 births. Anyone who wants to have sex has to get tested for the virus, and if someone tests positive for the virus and is pregnant, an abortion is mandatory. However, since those rules took decades to go into effect, there are now over 1 million mutant children being housed throughout the country in barbaric conditions. They are essentially being used as slave labor and no one knows what’s going to happen when they reach adulthood, which is just around the corner for the oldest of the mutant children. The world is becoming more and more tense and in some countries the mutant kids are hunted down and killed, not just imprisoned. What no one knows, because the ‘disease’ is so new, is that these mutant kids develop super human powers as they age and hit puberty. There are those that can create fire, control peoples minds, and blow holes through flesh more effectively than bullets.
This story follows a group of mutant kids growing up on the outskirts of society in a small rural town down south, while simultaneously following a group of ‘normal’ kids growing up not far away, but living entirely different lives. There are also a bunch of pov’s from the adults in the town that I found equally immersive. It’s extremely difficult to describe the overall plot because there are so many moving pieces and so many characters with their own motivations that pull the story along – but suffice it to say that this is a story of ‘us vs them’ and the worst consequences that can bring. When two sides demonize each other to the point of a powder keg explosion, there’s not much that can stop it once the fuse is lit.
There are a ton of POV’s but it’s not confusing, and I genuinely found all of the characters to be highly engaging. Whether I was rooting for them, disgusted by them, or had mixed feelings about them – each and every one of them held my attention. When the POV’s switched I was eager to see what the other characters had been up to. I found them all to be thoroughly fleshed out, and even when I hated them I understood their motivations. It made everything feel all too real, to be honest. I think that’s why this book will stick with me, the characters could do monstrous things, and I hated some of them, but I still always knew why they were doing what they were doing.
This book made me feel every emotion there is to feel, and those emotions lingered long after I had finished. It’s been a long time since a fantasy book has done that to me, and I’m so glad I picked this one up. It pulls no punches, so be warned this is not a light happy book.
Audience:
urban fantasy
multi pov
xmen like mutants
darker stories
those who like emotional rollercoasters
Ratings:
Plot: 14/15
Characters: 15/15
World Building: 14/15
Writing: 14/15
Pacing: 14/15
Originality: 14/15
Personal Enjoyment: 10/10
Final Score: 95/100 – 5 stars, can not recommend it enought.
July 18, 2018
Full review below. Review plus custom cocktail available at The Tome & Tankard Inn
Once in a while, I have a moment of realization that what I am currently reading is not just good, it’s important. It teaches us something about ourselves, and human nature. It puts us inside the minds of people whose minds we don’t necessarily want to understand. It holds up a mirror to our society, and some of us will not like what we see. People will react to it strongly, both positively and negatively. Some people will want to see it banned from schools, because they fear what it has to say.
One of Us by Craig DiLouie is that kind of important.
Set in a run-down alternate Huntsville, GA, One of Us shows us an America where, in addition to racial tensions and a failing economy, something else is horribly amiss. The “Summer of Love” has given rise to a powerful sexually-transmitted disease that has created a generation of horrifically deformed and mutated children. Most are taken from their parents at birth and placed in poorly managed, barely funded orphanages run by degenerates and dirty cops who can’t find work elsewhere.
They are little more than prisons.
The year is 1984, and the first “plague children” are reaching adolescence. Sex education is largely focused on avoiding the virus, and the local “normal” children are dealing with mixed messages from their teachers, parents and authority figures regarding the mutant children and the dangers they pose. Their educators urge them to have empathy, drawing parallels between them and pointing to their similarities rather than their differences. However, their parents and authority figures urge caution and largely prefer segregation, some out of fear, and others from sheer malignant hatred. The situation has led to the uglier side of human nature rising to the surface – there are members of the community who think that the best way to avoid the virus is to pursue only virgins – the younger, the better.
Meanwhile, the plague children are beginning to realize that their hopes for the future will be forever out of reach, just as they are also discovering that they have superpowers. They are shipped out to work on local farms as slave labor, treated as second-class citizens by most of the “normals” they encounter, with moments of kindness here and there. Sally, the farmer’s eldest daughter, is a kind girl who brings the mutant children refreshments as they work. Jake, a local boy, believes strongly that they should be treated as equals and integrated into society, and he campaigns on their behalf.
Dog, our main character (covered in fur and with the head of a dog), keeps hope alive. He believes that in living life well, working hard and showing themselves to be kind and trustworthy, the normals will realize that they are valuable to society. His best friend Brain begs to differ. Brain has been born a genius with a photographic memory. He talks of revolution – dangerous talk.
One of Us is an unflinching and at times, harrowing look at the nature of hatred. How it manifests, how it grows, and how it fizzes over into outright war. It instills a sense of dread from the beginning and doesn’t let up until the inevitable tragedy comes crashing down around everyone’s ears. The “plague children” can be replaced with any oppressed minority and it would ring just as true. It is not a fun read, and it’s not always an easy one, and more than once it hurt my heart. It includes scenes of rape, torture, and violence, and even goes so far as to place us inside the mind of a pedophile and a stalker. Yet the vast majority these scenes are not gratuitous, but a necessary part of the larger narrative. I devoured it in one day. If I had teenagers in my life, I would urge them to read it and have some serious discussions with them about it. There is no indication that this is an ongoing series, and personally I hope it remains a standalone. Not because I don’t want more, but because to continue could diminish its powerful message.
I have few criticisms – some of the peripheral characters are somewhat archetypal, and towards the end there is a scene or two that felt unnecessary, as if DiLouie wasn’t quite sure how to tie up the loose ends. Minor stuff.
It isn’t perfect. But it is important, and it will stay with me for a long time.
Score: 9/10
My sincere thanks to Nazia at Orbit Books for the ARC of One of Us.
Once in a while, I have a moment of realization that what I am currently reading is not just good, it’s important. It teaches us something about ourselves, and human nature. It puts us inside the minds of people whose minds we don’t necessarily want to understand. It holds up a mirror to our society, and some of us will not like what we see. People will react to it strongly, both positively and negatively. Some people will want to see it banned from schools, because they fear what it has to say.
One of Us by Craig DiLouie is that kind of important.
Set in a run-down alternate Huntsville, GA, One of Us shows us an America where, in addition to racial tensions and a failing economy, something else is horribly amiss. The “Summer of Love” has given rise to a powerful sexually-transmitted disease that has created a generation of horrifically deformed and mutated children. Most are taken from their parents at birth and placed in poorly managed, barely funded orphanages run by degenerates and dirty cops who can’t find work elsewhere.
They are little more than prisons.
The year is 1984, and the first “plague children” are reaching adolescence. Sex education is largely focused on avoiding the virus, and the local “normal” children are dealing with mixed messages from their teachers, parents and authority figures regarding the mutant children and the dangers they pose. Their educators urge them to have empathy, drawing parallels between them and pointing to their similarities rather than their differences. However, their parents and authority figures urge caution and largely prefer segregation, some out of fear, and others from sheer malignant hatred. The situation has led to the uglier side of human nature rising to the surface – there are members of the community who think that the best way to avoid the virus is to pursue only virgins – the younger, the better.
Meanwhile, the plague children are beginning to realize that their hopes for the future will be forever out of reach, just as they are also discovering that they have superpowers. They are shipped out to work on local farms as slave labor, treated as second-class citizens by most of the “normals” they encounter, with moments of kindness here and there. Sally, the farmer’s eldest daughter, is a kind girl who brings the mutant children refreshments as they work. Jake, a local boy, believes strongly that they should be treated as equals and integrated into society, and he campaigns on their behalf.
Dog, our main character (covered in fur and with the head of a dog), keeps hope alive. He believes that in living life well, working hard and showing themselves to be kind and trustworthy, the normals will realize that they are valuable to society. His best friend Brain begs to differ. Brain has been born a genius with a photographic memory. He talks of revolution – dangerous talk.
One of Us is an unflinching and at times, harrowing look at the nature of hatred. How it manifests, how it grows, and how it fizzes over into outright war. It instills a sense of dread from the beginning and doesn’t let up until the inevitable tragedy comes crashing down around everyone’s ears. The “plague children” can be replaced with any oppressed minority and it would ring just as true. It is not a fun read, and it’s not always an easy one, and more than once it hurt my heart. It includes scenes of rape, torture, and violence, and even goes so far as to place us inside the mind of a pedophile and a stalker. Yet the vast majority these scenes are not gratuitous, but a necessary part of the larger narrative. I devoured it in one day. If I had teenagers in my life, I would urge them to read it and have some serious discussions with them about it. There is no indication that this is an ongoing series, and personally I hope it remains a standalone. Not because I don’t want more, but because to continue could diminish its powerful message.
I have few criticisms – some of the peripheral characters are somewhat archetypal, and towards the end there is a scene or two that felt unnecessary, as if DiLouie wasn’t quite sure how to tie up the loose ends. Minor stuff.
It isn’t perfect. But it is important, and it will stay with me for a long time.
Score: 9/10
My sincere thanks to Nazia at Orbit Books for the ARC of One of Us.
September 22, 2018
An intelligently written, hard hitting, and thought provoking novel featuring an array of shades of grey characters. While many of the characters are young adults--children, really--this is not a YA novel but an adult one about horrific social imbalance and violent systemic prejudice applied to the "other."
She would have the normals throw him a bone and call it a meal. After years of suffering--more dead kids like Sucker Punch, more crucified scapegoats like Dog--the plague children might receive half measures that added up to nothing.
Victory is never given, it is taken--through violence if necessary. You want foundational change, you don't talk to Dr. King. You talk to Malcolm X.
...
[W]e are a million only now discovering we are living atom bombs. Powers we could have employed to build instead will be used to destroy. Our bodies are weapons, but the war will start in the mind. We must find the will to use them.
Painful, engrossing, but ultimately redemptive, One of Us isn't a book I could soon forget.
She would have the normals throw him a bone and call it a meal. After years of suffering--more dead kids like Sucker Punch, more crucified scapegoats like Dog--the plague children might receive half measures that added up to nothing.
Victory is never given, it is taken--through violence if necessary. You want foundational change, you don't talk to Dr. King. You talk to Malcolm X.
...
[W]e are a million only now discovering we are living atom bombs. Powers we could have employed to build instead will be used to destroy. Our bodies are weapons, but the war will start in the mind. We must find the will to use them.
Painful, engrossing, but ultimately redemptive, One of Us isn't a book I could soon forget.
October 28, 2024
One of Us
By Craig DiLouie
I like to find authors who are new to me, and a bonus is finding a book that is unique and totally original. I lucked out when I found this book! The overall theme is about a virus that causes mutations to the growing embryo. Most infected fetuses don't live, but those that do are malformed. If those carrying the virus live long enough, they can develop an unusual trait, skill, or power.
This is about how these children are treated, live, and how society views them in a small town. There are some very interesting characters, situations, conflicts, etc, in this emotional and wild book!
I became very invested in their lives. Especially the plague kids. I hope there's a second book to this series! I really loved how everything blended together so well. Good ending except for one kid. 🥹 Will be watching for more books by this author!
By Craig DiLouie
I like to find authors who are new to me, and a bonus is finding a book that is unique and totally original. I lucked out when I found this book! The overall theme is about a virus that causes mutations to the growing embryo. Most infected fetuses don't live, but those that do are malformed. If those carrying the virus live long enough, they can develop an unusual trait, skill, or power.
This is about how these children are treated, live, and how society views them in a small town. There are some very interesting characters, situations, conflicts, etc, in this emotional and wild book!
I became very invested in their lives. Especially the plague kids. I hope there's a second book to this series! I really loved how everything blended together so well. Good ending except for one kid. 🥹 Will be watching for more books by this author!
Read
June 28, 2018About 80 pages in and I'm not going to finish this one. There was just an icky moment with a dude justifying why him and a child should be a romantic couple that is going to lead to something nasty. I've just noticed a promo quote that says it's To Kill a Mockingbird meets something which tells me someone is going to be killed and someone innocent unfairly blamed. I'm getting a grasp on the characters and basically I feel like I have a fair idea of whats going to happen and I just don't want to do it to myself. Maybe that's a sign of effective writing...I might well pick it up again in the future but right now I'm just not feeling it.
July 9, 2020
***2,5 stars***
I think this had an intriguing premise, but it ultimately had a flawed execution. I wanted and expected to like it, especially because it was recommended to me by my sister in law and we have the same taste in books. But I couldn't wrap my head around certain aspects of this story.
Will elaborate on this later, after I put my thoughts in order. RTC.
I think this had an intriguing premise, but it ultimately had a flawed execution. I wanted and expected to like it, especially because it was recommended to me by my sister in law and we have the same taste in books. But I couldn't wrap my head around certain aspects of this story.
Will elaborate on this later, after I put my thoughts in order. RTC.
December 10, 2018
Wow. I don't even know how to approach reviewing this. It's an exploration of "us vs. them" mentality through a SFF lens and, while well-written, in no way, a pleasant read. I could only read it a few pages at a time before I had to put it down again. The petty, everyday evil, the worst aspects of humanity laid bare. It was almost too much. But. It felt powerful and important and viscerally realistic in its own brutally unflinching way. Necessary.
The basic premise is that a sexually-transmitted disease caused a generation of children to be born with pretty significant mutations. Abortion, safe sex education, discussions on rape, medical testing have become a necessity. The plague children have mostly been taken away at birth and shut into Homes, institutions where the employees are mostly ex-cons and other sorts of desperate people that shouldn't be let near children. They are used for slave labour on farms. As the children become teenagers, they start developing superpowers and tensions are rising.
Aside from that, the society still deals with the sort of racism and sexism that was common in the rural South in the '80s and generally feels faithful to the setting. The prose is simple, colloquial, but the Southern accent works great for immersion. It's feels closer, more powerful than if it'd be written in a more poetic style.
The characters are a mix - we get insight into the heads of everyone from naïve, idealistic Dog who wants to believe everyone is good, his much more cynical friend Brain planning for a revolution, Amy who is secretly a plague kid but keeps it quiet and hates them because all she wants is a normal life, kind-hearted Sally, daughter of the farmer at whose farm the kids work, two men who prey on young girls, the town sheriff preoccupied with his reelection...and many, many more.
We get into the head of the idealists, the bigots, the plague kids themselves. We get to see exactly how they think, what drives them to do the things they do and it's not always pretty. That aspect is fairly nuanced and generally executed incredibly well. The problem with concept-focused books is that they often focus so hard on the theme and the message they want to get across that the plot feels contrived and the characters more like chess pieces on a board that the author moves to get to their conclusion or mouthpieces for viewpoints the author wants to examine. Not so here.
The worst thing about the book is that the atrocities happening aren't contrived or especially exaggerated. They're all things that have, or could have happened. The characters could easily be our friends, our neighbours, our family members. All believing they are decent people, the heroes of their own story. And this makes it a thousand times scarier than any dark lord. Shutting people who are different away into institutions that nobody wanted near them? Happened. Prejudice, dehumanisation, fear, wrongful conviction because it's easier to believe it was one of them who did it than your neighbour...there are rays of hope underpinning the horror, but the overall impression is more than a little bleak.
As I said, I did not enjoy reading it. It was painful, hard-hitting, and unflinching. And sometimes, that's precisely what's necessary. It didn't feel gratitious or preachy. Its effectiveness lies exactly in its lack of window dressing. Not a favourite, but highly recommended.
Enjoyment: 2.5/5
Execution: 5/5
Recommended to: people with a strong stomach, emotional masochists, those looking for on-point social commentary, fans of small-scale stories
Not recommended to: anyone looking for an enjoyable read, also content warning: abuse, graphic rape, probably a lot of other things too
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
He learned what he was, what they were, and that monsters and men were not meant to exist in the same world. If your own mother hates you and drives you away, why should total strangers love you? From the beginning, the masters understood this fundamental truth. They created separate worlds, one for themselves, another for monsters. The system would not end when the mutagenic reached adulthood. The children would grow up to become free folk living in an invisible cage, with no rights or opportunities. Which meant no real freedom at all.
The basic premise is that a sexually-transmitted disease caused a generation of children to be born with pretty significant mutations. Abortion, safe sex education, discussions on rape, medical testing have become a necessity. The plague children have mostly been taken away at birth and shut into Homes, institutions where the employees are mostly ex-cons and other sorts of desperate people that shouldn't be let near children. They are used for slave labour on farms. As the children become teenagers, they start developing superpowers and tensions are rising.
Aside from that, the society still deals with the sort of racism and sexism that was common in the rural South in the '80s and generally feels faithful to the setting. The prose is simple, colloquial, but the Southern accent works great for immersion. It's feels closer, more powerful than if it'd be written in a more poetic style.
The characters are a mix - we get insight into the heads of everyone from naïve, idealistic Dog who wants to believe everyone is good, his much more cynical friend Brain planning for a revolution, Amy who is secretly a plague kid but keeps it quiet and hates them because all she wants is a normal life, kind-hearted Sally, daughter of the farmer at whose farm the kids work, two men who prey on young girls, the town sheriff preoccupied with his reelection...and many, many more.
We get into the head of the idealists, the bigots, the plague kids themselves. We get to see exactly how they think, what drives them to do the things they do and it's not always pretty. That aspect is fairly nuanced and generally executed incredibly well. The problem with concept-focused books is that they often focus so hard on the theme and the message they want to get across that the plot feels contrived and the characters more like chess pieces on a board that the author moves to get to their conclusion or mouthpieces for viewpoints the author wants to examine. Not so here.
The worst thing about the book is that the atrocities happening aren't contrived or especially exaggerated. They're all things that have, or could have happened. The characters could easily be our friends, our neighbours, our family members. All believing they are decent people, the heroes of their own story. And this makes it a thousand times scarier than any dark lord. Shutting people who are different away into institutions that nobody wanted near them? Happened. Prejudice, dehumanisation, fear, wrongful conviction because it's easier to believe it was one of them who did it than your neighbour...there are rays of hope underpinning the horror, but the overall impression is more than a little bleak.
As I said, I did not enjoy reading it. It was painful, hard-hitting, and unflinching. And sometimes, that's precisely what's necessary. It didn't feel gratitious or preachy. Its effectiveness lies exactly in its lack of window dressing. Not a favourite, but highly recommended.
Enjoyment: 2.5/5
Execution: 5/5
Recommended to: people with a strong stomach, emotional masochists, those looking for on-point social commentary, fans of small-scale stories
Not recommended to: anyone looking for an enjoyable read, also content warning: abuse, graphic rape, probably a lot of other things too
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
February 27, 2019
A good book but quite difficult to read. Bullying, prejudice, abuse, torture, murder, victimisation, by those in power against the vulnerable and different. This is a work of dystopian fiction which unfortunately, is as relevant in today’s world as in the story. A powerful read.
October 26, 2019
One of Us is not for the faint of heart. That said, it's an incredibly powerful book that leaves an indelible mark, despite being really hard to take at times.
In One of Us, something has happened to human genetics. A sexually-transmitted bacterium that causes genetic mutations has spread like wildfire. By 1970, one in three births is teratogenic -- the babies are born with inhuman features, some resembling animals, others mostly human but distorted, such as the boy whose face is upside down.
Prenatal testing has become mandatory, with mandatory abortion of abnormal babies. High school students' most serious class is health education, where they learn the risks of the bacterium and where abstinence is promoted as the only way to be sure not to pass it along. And the teratogenic babies are never, ever kept by their parents -- instead, they're deposited in homes, where the children are raised in abysmal conditions, watched over, controlled, and kept separate from the "normal" population.
As the book opens, it's 1984, and the first generation of plague children is in their teens. The question looms -- what will happen when then become adults? Do they have rights? What sort of future might await them? Complicating matters further is the discovery that some of the plague children seem to have special powers -- like Goof, the boy with the upside-down face, whose funny ability to finish other people's sentences is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his telepathic abilities.
The plague children are well aware of how the rest of the world views them -- and for some, it's time to demand more. Do they rise up and overthrow their masters? Is non-violent protest the way forward, or is the only way to tear down an unjust world to burn it down completely and rebuild it themselves?
The characters in One of Us are remarkable and unforgettable. Enoch is known to his friends as Dog (Enoch being his "slave name", according to the group's intellectual leader, Brain). Dog has the facial characteristics of a dog, but he has the soul of a boy who just wants friendship and freedom and a happy life. Brain is described as looking like a mix between a gorilla and a lion, and his intelligence is off the charts. Then there's Edward, known as Wallee, who is described as looking like a bowling pin with a face, moving on a mass of roots/tentacles. The plague children's appearances may be frightening, but inside, they're still children, and they live life on a daily basis knowing that they're hated, feared, and shunned.
It's a powder keg, and yes, it does explode. The build-up makes it clear that violence is inevitable, even as we see all the places along the way where different actions or decisions might have led to different outcomes.
There's so much to One of Us. It's an exploration of societal injustice and divisions, and what happens when unreasoning hatred takes the lead. It illustrates the terrible outcomes of an "us vs them" mentality, where a middle ground is never an option. And it's also just a flat-out terrifying, deeply engrossing story of genetics run amok and what such a world might look like.
As I mentioned earlier, this is not a book for the squeamish -- there are some scenes with very high ick factors, so trust me and stay away if you can't stomach such things.
That aside, I wholeheartedly recommend One of Us. It's disturbing and awful, and also an incredibly powerful read.
In One of Us, something has happened to human genetics. A sexually-transmitted bacterium that causes genetic mutations has spread like wildfire. By 1970, one in three births is teratogenic -- the babies are born with inhuman features, some resembling animals, others mostly human but distorted, such as the boy whose face is upside down.
Prenatal testing has become mandatory, with mandatory abortion of abnormal babies. High school students' most serious class is health education, where they learn the risks of the bacterium and where abstinence is promoted as the only way to be sure not to pass it along. And the teratogenic babies are never, ever kept by their parents -- instead, they're deposited in homes, where the children are raised in abysmal conditions, watched over, controlled, and kept separate from the "normal" population.
As the book opens, it's 1984, and the first generation of plague children is in their teens. The question looms -- what will happen when then become adults? Do they have rights? What sort of future might await them? Complicating matters further is the discovery that some of the plague children seem to have special powers -- like Goof, the boy with the upside-down face, whose funny ability to finish other people's sentences is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his telepathic abilities.
The plague children are well aware of how the rest of the world views them -- and for some, it's time to demand more. Do they rise up and overthrow their masters? Is non-violent protest the way forward, or is the only way to tear down an unjust world to burn it down completely and rebuild it themselves?
The characters in One of Us are remarkable and unforgettable. Enoch is known to his friends as Dog (Enoch being his "slave name", according to the group's intellectual leader, Brain). Dog has the facial characteristics of a dog, but he has the soul of a boy who just wants friendship and freedom and a happy life. Brain is described as looking like a mix between a gorilla and a lion, and his intelligence is off the charts. Then there's Edward, known as Wallee, who is described as looking like a bowling pin with a face, moving on a mass of roots/tentacles. The plague children's appearances may be frightening, but inside, they're still children, and they live life on a daily basis knowing that they're hated, feared, and shunned.
It's a powder keg, and yes, it does explode. The build-up makes it clear that violence is inevitable, even as we see all the places along the way where different actions or decisions might have led to different outcomes.
There's so much to One of Us. It's an exploration of societal injustice and divisions, and what happens when unreasoning hatred takes the lead. It illustrates the terrible outcomes of an "us vs them" mentality, where a middle ground is never an option. And it's also just a flat-out terrifying, deeply engrossing story of genetics run amok and what such a world might look like.
As I mentioned earlier, this is not a book for the squeamish -- there are some scenes with very high ick factors, so trust me and stay away if you can't stomach such things.
That aside, I wholeheartedly recommend One of Us. It's disturbing and awful, and also an incredibly powerful read.
July 26, 2018
As always this review can also be found on my blog The Tattooed Book Geek: https://thetattooedbookgeek.wordpress...
Well, damn, I’m torn over this book! Tattered, torn and honestly, I haven’t a clue how I’m going to review it! So, yeah, apologies for the following ramble!
One of Us is not an easy read, which, thinking about it is perhaps an understatement on my part as in places it can be a very hard, uncomfortable and unflinching read. The book isn’t light and full of sunshine and rainbows, far from it. This is a harsh, bleak and brutal book that doesn’t shy away from and isn’t scared to look at tough topics and it will make you flinch.
Set in an alternate 1984 One of Us tells the story of a group of plague children and a group of normals in Huntsville, Georgia.
The plague children are the result of a sexually transmitted disease that created a generation of children born with monstrous deformities (head of a dog, face upside down, roots instead of appendages). Many died but those who survived were shunned by their parents (after all, who could love a monster) deemed as outcasts, they are an abused minority who were sent to live away from the ‘normal‘ humans in harsh conditions at homes (similar to orphanages) where they are used as slave labour.
In One of Us, the majority of the normals class the plague children as a stain on God’s earth, a mistake, an error, a blight and a burden on society who leech on resources and would be better of dead (I tell you it’s a harsh book).
Unless they show ‘special‘ abilities the plague children are used solely as slaves for farm work and menial tasks. If a plague child exhibits and shows a special ability they are then removed from their home and taken to the Special Facility which is part of the Bureau of Teratological Affairs to ‘work‘ for the government which is just slavery of a different kind.
The plague children have enough of their mistreatment and the oppression that they suffer and along with events that transpire in the book a revolution takes place where they rise up to fight for themselves and their rights.
I would often find myself turning the pages of One of Us with a trepidation awaiting the violence to erupt as I knew that something bad was on the horizon and that terrible things would happen to those poor plague children who had been treated as less than human, lower than nothing and for some, like Dog (one of the main characters) who simply wanted to find their place in this world, belong and be.
One of Us is a very character driven read and it’s those characters that drive the story forward. Some of the secondary characters, those on the periphery aren’t that well developed and for some of the humans they do come across as quite stereotypical with their love of booze and guns. For the main characters though, we get to see the story unfold through both sides of the divide (plague children/normals) and DiLouie does a great job of giving the main players all individual voices and personalities and allows you to become invested in his story thanks to his (often) unique characters.
Huntsville and its surrounding area as the setting for One of Us are well realised by DiLouie brimming with atmosphere and tension like a cauldron of simmering tension that you are waiting to boil over.
One of Us will make you ask how much stock do you put in someone’s outer appearance? Do you ostracize them simply because they are different to you?
You will ponder that if you are constantly called a monster how long until you live up to that label as it is all you’ve ever known and start believing it?
You will see that it is what is on the inside that counts, that looks can be deceptive and that just because someone looks like a monster it doesn’t mean that they are actually monstrous.
One of Us shows that monsters come in all guises and come to the end you will see that the real monsters in DiLouie’s work aren’t the persecuted plague children, they are the ignorance of, the intolerance of, the prejudice of and the fear of those who are different.
For the most part, the brutality of the world fits in with the story that DiLouie is telling, it all has its place and it is never overly gratuitous. However, there’s a bit late on in the book that just seems out of character for the character involved and as though it was only added for the shock value.
Personally, I’d have liked the ending to One of Us to have been more closed off and resolved rather than the open-ended ending that DiLouie has gone for but, on a positive with the ending being how it is, it gives DiLouie (should he choose to) the chance to revisit with the characters later down the road.
It feels wrong to say that I enjoyed my time spent reading One of Us. Now, don’t get me wrong the book gripped me, I was pulled into the story DiLouie was telling and I felt compelled to carry on reading but if asked did I actually ‘enjoy‘ it, then, no, I’d have to answer no I didn’t enjoy it as that word ‘enjoy‘ is definitely the wrong one as One of Us isn’t an entertaining and fun read to ‘enjoy‘. Instead, it is a harrowing (though there are sprinklings of hope from both sides) tale that feels important, is unsettling, is serious, will make you question actions and ultimately, it is a thought-provoking story to be experienced.
Well, damn, I’m torn over this book! Tattered, torn and honestly, I haven’t a clue how I’m going to review it! So, yeah, apologies for the following ramble!
One of Us is not an easy read, which, thinking about it is perhaps an understatement on my part as in places it can be a very hard, uncomfortable and unflinching read. The book isn’t light and full of sunshine and rainbows, far from it. This is a harsh, bleak and brutal book that doesn’t shy away from and isn’t scared to look at tough topics and it will make you flinch.
Set in an alternate 1984 One of Us tells the story of a group of plague children and a group of normals in Huntsville, Georgia.
The plague children are the result of a sexually transmitted disease that created a generation of children born with monstrous deformities (head of a dog, face upside down, roots instead of appendages). Many died but those who survived were shunned by their parents (after all, who could love a monster) deemed as outcasts, they are an abused minority who were sent to live away from the ‘normal‘ humans in harsh conditions at homes (similar to orphanages) where they are used as slave labour.
In One of Us, the majority of the normals class the plague children as a stain on God’s earth, a mistake, an error, a blight and a burden on society who leech on resources and would be better of dead (I tell you it’s a harsh book).
Unless they show ‘special‘ abilities the plague children are used solely as slaves for farm work and menial tasks. If a plague child exhibits and shows a special ability they are then removed from their home and taken to the Special Facility which is part of the Bureau of Teratological Affairs to ‘work‘ for the government which is just slavery of a different kind.
The plague children have enough of their mistreatment and the oppression that they suffer and along with events that transpire in the book a revolution takes place where they rise up to fight for themselves and their rights.
I would often find myself turning the pages of One of Us with a trepidation awaiting the violence to erupt as I knew that something bad was on the horizon and that terrible things would happen to those poor plague children who had been treated as less than human, lower than nothing and for some, like Dog (one of the main characters) who simply wanted to find their place in this world, belong and be.
One of Us is a very character driven read and it’s those characters that drive the story forward. Some of the secondary characters, those on the periphery aren’t that well developed and for some of the humans they do come across as quite stereotypical with their love of booze and guns. For the main characters though, we get to see the story unfold through both sides of the divide (plague children/normals) and DiLouie does a great job of giving the main players all individual voices and personalities and allows you to become invested in his story thanks to his (often) unique characters.
Huntsville and its surrounding area as the setting for One of Us are well realised by DiLouie brimming with atmosphere and tension like a cauldron of simmering tension that you are waiting to boil over.
One of Us will make you ask how much stock do you put in someone’s outer appearance? Do you ostracize them simply because they are different to you?
You will ponder that if you are constantly called a monster how long until you live up to that label as it is all you’ve ever known and start believing it?
You will see that it is what is on the inside that counts, that looks can be deceptive and that just because someone looks like a monster it doesn’t mean that they are actually monstrous.
One of Us shows that monsters come in all guises and come to the end you will see that the real monsters in DiLouie’s work aren’t the persecuted plague children, they are the ignorance of, the intolerance of, the prejudice of and the fear of those who are different.
For the most part, the brutality of the world fits in with the story that DiLouie is telling, it all has its place and it is never overly gratuitous. However, there’s a bit late on in the book that just seems out of character for the character involved and as though it was only added for the shock value.
Personally, I’d have liked the ending to One of Us to have been more closed off and resolved rather than the open-ended ending that DiLouie has gone for but, on a positive with the ending being how it is, it gives DiLouie (should he choose to) the chance to revisit with the characters later down the road.
It feels wrong to say that I enjoyed my time spent reading One of Us. Now, don’t get me wrong the book gripped me, I was pulled into the story DiLouie was telling and I felt compelled to carry on reading but if asked did I actually ‘enjoy‘ it, then, no, I’d have to answer no I didn’t enjoy it as that word ‘enjoy‘ is definitely the wrong one as One of Us isn’t an entertaining and fun read to ‘enjoy‘. Instead, it is a harrowing (though there are sprinklings of hope from both sides) tale that feels important, is unsettling, is serious, will make you question actions and ultimately, it is a thought-provoking story to be experienced.
March 21, 2020
The story is just a civil war plot in modern times.
There are a couple of graphic scenes depicting sexual assault also a lot of cruelty and violence in general. It's dark book maybe too much....
June 5, 2025
WOW. This book was beautifully gritty, and in parts, downright disturbing. This could easily fit in with other novels that have become required reading in high school. Not only is the style of writing reminiscent of some of those novels (The Chrysalids and To Kill a Mockingbird come to mind), it also packs a potent punch in the life lesson & morality department. It’s been a while since I blazed through a book this quickly, and it has cemented DiLouie’s spot on my list of favourite authors.
August 3, 2018
I didn't really enjoy this, to be honest. The premise was interesting enough -- a mutated gene giving "plague children" special powers -- but I didn't like the writing style, and the narration gave too much attention to the thoughts of creepy men. While it attempts to end on a vaguely hopeful note, it's extremely violent and unpleasant, which is at odds with the sometimes childish prose.
September 20, 2018
Craig DiLouie’s ONE OF US is without a doubt one of the best books I’ll read this year and my favorite thing he’s written so far. This book has The Island of Doctor Moreau’s social conscience, the X-Men’s imagination, and Harper Lee’s heart. But it is DiLouie’s skill as a storyteller that blends all of that into a compelling work of near perfection. This book is fantastic in every way.
June 14, 2019
This book is frightening in how familiar it is. On the one hand, it's a nightmare tale of monsters; on the other, it's all too familiarly human. It's like a darker version of the X-Men, focusing not on the talents of the special few, but on how eager we humans are to hate what we fear and destroy what we don't understand. Bleak and disturbing, but highly recommended.
January 17, 2020
"A single moment breaks the world."
The premise of "One of Us" promises a unique story. With Craig DiLouie's name attached, you can be certain it will deliver on that promise. "One of Us" takes the idea of super powers or mutations and cross-pollinates it into a Southern Gothic story wrapped in the (quite relevant) theme of prejudice.
What if children were born with mutations but their differences and abilities were seen as a plague rather than something to be lauded?
What if the government used these children and their abilities, almost in slave-like conditions?
And what would happen if these children "awoke," rising up against the tyranny of those who held them bound?
These are the questions explored in this novel, and one of the brilliant things DiLouie is able to accomplish is to allow the reader to empathize with both sides. There are no heroes in this story, and the only villains are you and me and the definition of humanity.
Having enjoyed DiLouie's "Suffer the Children," I found this novel completely engaging. It's a slow-burn and much more a character study than an action-packed gore-fest, though by the time everything hits the fan it creates a spectacular mess. Definitely a recommend from this reader, especially for those who enjoy something a little different.
The premise of "One of Us" promises a unique story. With Craig DiLouie's name attached, you can be certain it will deliver on that promise. "One of Us" takes the idea of super powers or mutations and cross-pollinates it into a Southern Gothic story wrapped in the (quite relevant) theme of prejudice.
What if children were born with mutations but their differences and abilities were seen as a plague rather than something to be lauded?
What if the government used these children and their abilities, almost in slave-like conditions?
And what would happen if these children "awoke," rising up against the tyranny of those who held them bound?
These are the questions explored in this novel, and one of the brilliant things DiLouie is able to accomplish is to allow the reader to empathize with both sides. There are no heroes in this story, and the only villains are you and me and the definition of humanity.
Having enjoyed DiLouie's "Suffer the Children," I found this novel completely engaging. It's a slow-burn and much more a character study than an action-packed gore-fest, though by the time everything hits the fan it creates a spectacular mess. Definitely a recommend from this reader, especially for those who enjoy something a little different.
July 12, 2018
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.The nitty-gritty: Brutal and thought-provoking, One of Us is Southern Gothic with a touch of the fantastical.
I went into One of Us not knowing much about it, and it turned out to be one of those stories that caught me completely off guard. This is not an easy book to read, in the respect that it deals with triggers that might scare some readers off. But I couldn’t stop reading. DiLouie’s story was uncomfortable probably because it mirrors our own past, and also makes us hyper aware of social injustices that we’re still dealing with in the present day. Take away the monsters and replace them with any marginalized group of people and you’ve wandered into non fiction territory.
One of Us is set in the deep South and takes places in an alternate 1984. Huntsville, Georgia is still plagued by segregation, and fall-out from the Vietnam War continues to affect the town’s economy. It’s been fourteen years since the emergence of a viral disease called teratogenisis, a sexually transmitted “germ” that causes monstrous birth defects in children born to the infected. These “plague children” were whisked away from their families at birth and taken to special orphanages throughout the country called “Homes,” to be raised with only the bare necessities in near squalid conditions. These days children are taught stringent sexual practices to avoid catching the germ and creating more plague children, but those unfortunate enough to be born the year the virus broke out have very little freedoms and are really nothing more than prisoners.
But the plague children have reached the age of puberty, and they’re starting to change. Some can read minds, others find they have super strength, and still others can actually sprout wings and fly. And with these powers comes the realization that they are now strong enough to escape their prisons. Amidst the backdrop of a town full of trigger-happy citizens who want nothing more than to rid their town of monsters, the children plan their uprising.
Based on the cover, I really thought this was going to be a lighthearted fantasy, maybe more of a humorous adventure tale, but it turned out to be neither of those things. DeLouie’s latest is a serious story. It takes the idea of prejudice and cranks it up several notches, and the events play out like a Shakespearean tragedy. As far as the fantasy elements go, they are really more of an afterthought. Most of the story is grounded in reality, and most of the time I forgot that Dog actually has the head of a dog, or that Goof has an upside down face. They spoke and acted like regular kids, so when the fantasy elements did kick in, it was almost shocking.
DiLouie does a fantastic job creating an atmospheric tale, steeped in tension and just-under-the-surface violence waiting for an excuse to break free. I’ve always loved stories set in small towns with rough characters and lots of buried secrets, and this story delivers those elements in spades. But this town is also still stuck in the past, and nearly everyone looks down on the plague children as something less than human.
The humans come across as almost caricatures. You’ve got the bigoted, uneducated men and women who turn a blind eye to the atrocities that are going on at the Home, the gun-toting farm boys who shoot first and ask questions later, the sensitive teenager who wants everyone to accept the plague children just the way they are, the tortured sheriff who is trying to fairly uphold the law but can’t seem to escape his personal demons, the mother who fiercely protects her daughter’s secret.
I actually found the monsters more interesting than the humans and of course I found myself rooting for them. My favorite character was a boy nicknamed Brain, a genius who looks like “a lion fucked a gorilla” and is not only the smartest kid in the Home but the most self-aware. He knows exactly what the monsters are facing, but he’s also the first to realize that the kids are starting to change into something else, something potentially powerful. I also loved Dog, who you guessed it, has the head and sharp claws of a dog. And then there is Mary, an unassuming girl who appears mentally handicapped, but she surprised me at the end. DiLouie doesn’t really focus on the physical descriptions of the monsters, and I did have a hard time imagining what some of them looked like. But ultimately it didn’t matter that much. This story is more about the idea of ostracizing anyone who is different. Take away the fur, deformities, tails and wings and give them a skin color other than white and you still have the same story.
For readers who are bothered by violence, rape, and torture, be warned because One of Us does not shy away from these things. For the most part, the violent acts fit the story that DiLouie is telling. But there was a moment at the end where I felt like he went too far, as if he just wanted to squeeze in one more shocking scene, and it just didn’t work for me.
But it’s not all bleakness and depression. Despite the heavy subject matter, there are glimmers of hope and love in this story. Jake never waivers in his belief that everyone should be able to get along, and I loved the upbeat attitude of Dog, Brain and some of the other monsters who are determined to make a better life for themselves and their fellow monsters. There are lots of examples of fierce love in this story, hidden among the hatred, and it’s those moments that kept me going.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.This review originally appeared on Books, Bones & Buffy
I went into One of Us not knowing much about it, and it turned out to be one of those stories that caught me completely off guard. This is not an easy book to read, in the respect that it deals with triggers that might scare some readers off. But I couldn’t stop reading. DiLouie’s story was uncomfortable probably because it mirrors our own past, and also makes us hyper aware of social injustices that we’re still dealing with in the present day. Take away the monsters and replace them with any marginalized group of people and you’ve wandered into non fiction territory.
One of Us is set in the deep South and takes places in an alternate 1984. Huntsville, Georgia is still plagued by segregation, and fall-out from the Vietnam War continues to affect the town’s economy. It’s been fourteen years since the emergence of a viral disease called teratogenisis, a sexually transmitted “germ” that causes monstrous birth defects in children born to the infected. These “plague children” were whisked away from their families at birth and taken to special orphanages throughout the country called “Homes,” to be raised with only the bare necessities in near squalid conditions. These days children are taught stringent sexual practices to avoid catching the germ and creating more plague children, but those unfortunate enough to be born the year the virus broke out have very little freedoms and are really nothing more than prisoners.
But the plague children have reached the age of puberty, and they’re starting to change. Some can read minds, others find they have super strength, and still others can actually sprout wings and fly. And with these powers comes the realization that they are now strong enough to escape their prisons. Amidst the backdrop of a town full of trigger-happy citizens who want nothing more than to rid their town of monsters, the children plan their uprising.
Based on the cover, I really thought this was going to be a lighthearted fantasy, maybe more of a humorous adventure tale, but it turned out to be neither of those things. DeLouie’s latest is a serious story. It takes the idea of prejudice and cranks it up several notches, and the events play out like a Shakespearean tragedy. As far as the fantasy elements go, they are really more of an afterthought. Most of the story is grounded in reality, and most of the time I forgot that Dog actually has the head of a dog, or that Goof has an upside down face. They spoke and acted like regular kids, so when the fantasy elements did kick in, it was almost shocking.
DiLouie does a fantastic job creating an atmospheric tale, steeped in tension and just-under-the-surface violence waiting for an excuse to break free. I’ve always loved stories set in small towns with rough characters and lots of buried secrets, and this story delivers those elements in spades. But this town is also still stuck in the past, and nearly everyone looks down on the plague children as something less than human.
The humans come across as almost caricatures. You’ve got the bigoted, uneducated men and women who turn a blind eye to the atrocities that are going on at the Home, the gun-toting farm boys who shoot first and ask questions later, the sensitive teenager who wants everyone to accept the plague children just the way they are, the tortured sheriff who is trying to fairly uphold the law but can’t seem to escape his personal demons, the mother who fiercely protects her daughter’s secret.
I actually found the monsters more interesting than the humans and of course I found myself rooting for them. My favorite character was a boy nicknamed Brain, a genius who looks like “a lion fucked a gorilla” and is not only the smartest kid in the Home but the most self-aware. He knows exactly what the monsters are facing, but he’s also the first to realize that the kids are starting to change into something else, something potentially powerful. I also loved Dog, who you guessed it, has the head and sharp claws of a dog. And then there is Mary, an unassuming girl who appears mentally handicapped, but she surprised me at the end. DiLouie doesn’t really focus on the physical descriptions of the monsters, and I did have a hard time imagining what some of them looked like. But ultimately it didn’t matter that much. This story is more about the idea of ostracizing anyone who is different. Take away the fur, deformities, tails and wings and give them a skin color other than white and you still have the same story.
For readers who are bothered by violence, rape, and torture, be warned because One of Us does not shy away from these things. For the most part, the violent acts fit the story that DiLouie is telling. But there was a moment at the end where I felt like he went too far, as if he just wanted to squeeze in one more shocking scene, and it just didn’t work for me.
But it’s not all bleakness and depression. Despite the heavy subject matter, there are glimmers of hope and love in this story. Jake never waivers in his belief that everyone should be able to get along, and I loved the upbeat attitude of Dog, Brain and some of the other monsters who are determined to make a better life for themselves and their fellow monsters. There are lots of examples of fierce love in this story, hidden among the hatred, and it’s those moments that kept me going.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.This review originally appeared on Books, Bones & Buffy
July 16, 2018
You may also find this review on Books, Vertigo & Tea.
My Thoughts
One of Us offers readers an alternate reality that unfolds in Georgia, 1984. Most of the world is much like you may remember or have heard of, however, a sexually transmitted disease has caused mutations in many unborn children. These children have been cast out by society, deemed inhuman and sent at birth to live in homes where they are raised under harsh conditions and used as labor on local farms. They are monsters.
But Enoch, also known as Dog, dreams of a better life. One where the children will live in society among the normals and grow to earn respected jobs and possibly even love one day. When Enoch and his friends have a chance encounter with the local normal kids and a friendship begins to develop, this life feels even closer than he had hoped.
Then a body is discovered and a grisly accident occurs and the town is looking for someone to blame. What unfolds could very well be the events that begin a revolution. Will Enoch and his friends find their rightful place among mankind or will they claim it?
“Enoch was the name the teachers at the Home used. Brain said it was his slave name. Dog liked hearing it, though. He felt lucky to have one. His mama loved him enough to at least do that for him.”
One of Us is not a fun or easy ready. At times, I found myself taking small breaks to digest what was happening and to even recover from a few graphic moments. I am not quite sure what I had in mind when I picked it up, but I think it was something along the lines of a light, fast-paced science fiction story with a few memorable characters at best. What I received was a heavier, unexpected exploration of humanity that tackled themes of discrimination, hate, and intolerance in the most unlikely but ultimately rewarding manner.
Dilouie crafts a world and cast that perhaps rely on their own familiarities for their true success. Once we strip away the mutation, we are left with a setting and group of characters we can relate to with incredible ease. Enoch and his friends are just teenagers trying to find a small slice of happiness in a life that has dealt them a shit hand. It is 1984 and prejudices and bigotry are common problems in many towns, and here is no exception. The mutation is simply another example, albeit a very extreme one. The fact that One of Us utilizes children to deliver its theme cleverly amplifies it.
“Again, my goal for you kids this year is two things. One is to get used to the plague kids. Distinguishing between a book and its cover. The other is to learn how to avoid making more of them.”
A tale of caution, One of Us exposes us to the real horrors and challenges us to face actual monsters in the form of intolerance and hate. Dilouie offers something truly unexpected, a cleverly written, beautifully executed story with an unbelievable amount of heart masquerading as your typical science fiction but ultimately proving to be something much greater.
Contains graphic, violent & sexual content with a heavy theme of intolerance and hate.
*I would like to thank Orbit for this advanced copy. The quotes included above are from the advanced copy and subject to change. This review is my own, unbiased and honest opinion.
☕Serves well with earthy blends such as your favorite pu-erh.☕
My Thoughts
One of Us offers readers an alternate reality that unfolds in Georgia, 1984. Most of the world is much like you may remember or have heard of, however, a sexually transmitted disease has caused mutations in many unborn children. These children have been cast out by society, deemed inhuman and sent at birth to live in homes where they are raised under harsh conditions and used as labor on local farms. They are monsters.
But Enoch, also known as Dog, dreams of a better life. One where the children will live in society among the normals and grow to earn respected jobs and possibly even love one day. When Enoch and his friends have a chance encounter with the local normal kids and a friendship begins to develop, this life feels even closer than he had hoped.
Then a body is discovered and a grisly accident occurs and the town is looking for someone to blame. What unfolds could very well be the events that begin a revolution. Will Enoch and his friends find their rightful place among mankind or will they claim it?
“Enoch was the name the teachers at the Home used. Brain said it was his slave name. Dog liked hearing it, though. He felt lucky to have one. His mama loved him enough to at least do that for him.”
One of Us is not a fun or easy ready. At times, I found myself taking small breaks to digest what was happening and to even recover from a few graphic moments. I am not quite sure what I had in mind when I picked it up, but I think it was something along the lines of a light, fast-paced science fiction story with a few memorable characters at best. What I received was a heavier, unexpected exploration of humanity that tackled themes of discrimination, hate, and intolerance in the most unlikely but ultimately rewarding manner.
Dilouie crafts a world and cast that perhaps rely on their own familiarities for their true success. Once we strip away the mutation, we are left with a setting and group of characters we can relate to with incredible ease. Enoch and his friends are just teenagers trying to find a small slice of happiness in a life that has dealt them a shit hand. It is 1984 and prejudices and bigotry are common problems in many towns, and here is no exception. The mutation is simply another example, albeit a very extreme one. The fact that One of Us utilizes children to deliver its theme cleverly amplifies it.
“Again, my goal for you kids this year is two things. One is to get used to the plague kids. Distinguishing between a book and its cover. The other is to learn how to avoid making more of them.”
A tale of caution, One of Us exposes us to the real horrors and challenges us to face actual monsters in the form of intolerance and hate. Dilouie offers something truly unexpected, a cleverly written, beautifully executed story with an unbelievable amount of heart masquerading as your typical science fiction but ultimately proving to be something much greater.
Contains graphic, violent & sexual content with a heavy theme of intolerance and hate.
*I would like to thank Orbit for this advanced copy. The quotes included above are from the advanced copy and subject to change. This review is my own, unbiased and honest opinion.
☕Serves well with earthy blends such as your favorite pu-erh.☕
Read
July 3, 2018Do not let the simple cover of this book fool you. Do not let the synopsis sway you. Do not assume because the main characters are teenagers that this is a book for middle-grade readers. This not a book for everyone. This is the most intense book I have read in a very long time. It is dark and heartbreaking, full of violence, and leaves you absolutely wiped out when you turn the last page.
In the alternate reality narrative of One Of Us, a sexually-transmitted disease from the summer of love has created an entire generation of monsters: babies born with wings, missing arms but with tentacles for legs, upside down faces, and those that look like dogs or apes. The world is horrified, and scared. What caused this horrific plague? In a move based on fear and revulsion, the children are taken away at birth, most are given away, and housed in decrepit, and unmonitored, orphan homes where they are subjected to flea-ridden beds and abuse.
The babies, called plague children, or creepers, grow up in a society that despises them and treats them as slaves. Adults are tested for “the germ” before they engage in any sexual contact. And the horrors of teratogenesis are a mandatory part of all school curriculums. It’s a horror story full of metaphors, blatantly symbolic of the hatred and bigotry that infests our society.
Set in a small Georgia town in 1984, the plague children are coming into their teenage years with the older ones realizing they are more than just hideous creatures. They are developing unusual abilities. And an agent from the Bureau of Teratological Affairs has been visiting what is referred to as the Home interrogating the children, asking if they have "special talents". Four hundred plague children are housed at the home they receive subhuman treatment and are surrounded by felons and miscreants called "teachers".The plague children have Christian names but prefer to call each other by their nicknames: Dog, Tiny, Goof. Only Mary has kept her birth name. When Goof shows off to the agent that he can practically read minds, he disappears in the night.
Dog and Brain and Mary are forced to pick cotton at a local farm as slaves provided by the government. Their truly disgusting teacher verbally abuses them as he lusts after the farmer’s daughter, Sally. The man truly thinks she must love him. It’s really a low point in the book.
Meanwhile, Amy, a normal girl daydreams about her new boyfriend and the friends she has finally let into her life. She lives with a devastating secret that only she and her hard drinking, Virginia Slim-smoking, bitter-hearted mother know.
Mainly told from the perspectives of Amy, Dog, Goof and Sally, the narrative recounts horror after horror after horror that happens to these teens. Rape, child abuse, bigotry, slavery, violence, murder, suicide, dismemberment; every trigger you can imagine is in this book. It’s painful to read and even more painful to realize these acts are based on what our society is capable of or has been in the past.
Thank god for the small moments of happiness sparsely scattered throughout the children’s lives. Thank god for the moments of humor sprinkled throughout the book. I would not have survived otherwise.
It’s well written but with some passages of wandering narrative and an ending that still haunts me. There is no easy answer in the end. It’s dark and gritty and nightmarish. It makes the reader question who is the real monster: the children that are unfortunate to have been born with a genetic malformation or the normals that abuse and despise them.
It’s not a book for everyone and it’s impossible to say I enjoyed it but I will say it is a powerful book I will recommend.
In the alternate reality narrative of One Of Us, a sexually-transmitted disease from the summer of love has created an entire generation of monsters: babies born with wings, missing arms but with tentacles for legs, upside down faces, and those that look like dogs or apes. The world is horrified, and scared. What caused this horrific plague? In a move based on fear and revulsion, the children are taken away at birth, most are given away, and housed in decrepit, and unmonitored, orphan homes where they are subjected to flea-ridden beds and abuse.
The babies, called plague children, or creepers, grow up in a society that despises them and treats them as slaves. Adults are tested for “the germ” before they engage in any sexual contact. And the horrors of teratogenesis are a mandatory part of all school curriculums. It’s a horror story full of metaphors, blatantly symbolic of the hatred and bigotry that infests our society.
Set in a small Georgia town in 1984, the plague children are coming into their teenage years with the older ones realizing they are more than just hideous creatures. They are developing unusual abilities. And an agent from the Bureau of Teratological Affairs has been visiting what is referred to as the Home interrogating the children, asking if they have "special talents". Four hundred plague children are housed at the home they receive subhuman treatment and are surrounded by felons and miscreants called "teachers".The plague children have Christian names but prefer to call each other by their nicknames: Dog, Tiny, Goof. Only Mary has kept her birth name. When Goof shows off to the agent that he can practically read minds, he disappears in the night.
Dog and Brain and Mary are forced to pick cotton at a local farm as slaves provided by the government. Their truly disgusting teacher verbally abuses them as he lusts after the farmer’s daughter, Sally. The man truly thinks she must love him. It’s really a low point in the book.
Meanwhile, Amy, a normal girl daydreams about her new boyfriend and the friends she has finally let into her life. She lives with a devastating secret that only she and her hard drinking, Virginia Slim-smoking, bitter-hearted mother know.
Mainly told from the perspectives of Amy, Dog, Goof and Sally, the narrative recounts horror after horror after horror that happens to these teens. Rape, child abuse, bigotry, slavery, violence, murder, suicide, dismemberment; every trigger you can imagine is in this book. It’s painful to read and even more painful to realize these acts are based on what our society is capable of or has been in the past.
Thank god for the small moments of happiness sparsely scattered throughout the children’s lives. Thank god for the moments of humor sprinkled throughout the book. I would not have survived otherwise.
It’s well written but with some passages of wandering narrative and an ending that still haunts me. There is no easy answer in the end. It’s dark and gritty and nightmarish. It makes the reader question who is the real monster: the children that are unfortunate to have been born with a genetic malformation or the normals that abuse and despise them.
It’s not a book for everyone and it’s impossible to say I enjoyed it but I will say it is a powerful book I will recommend.
February 14, 2019
Is it a horror novel? Is it a thriller? Chiller? YA? Science fantasy? I’m not sure. But I know it’s -handed allegory.
A sexually-transmitted disease (called “the plague”) has caused severe abnormalities, defects, and aberrations in 10% of children (during 1960? 1990? I can’t tell). Government has stepped in to prevent carriers from creating more, but this book is not about that. This book is about a small set of them at an orphan home that would make Miss Hannigan cringe.
Miss Hannigan Annie
The book never uses the term “mutation”, but let’s call them what they really are: X-Men. The book goes out of its way to make sure everyone knows the plague children are persona non grata. They’re forced into unpaid labor at local farms. They have “school” but no one teaches them. The security abuses them regularly. And even though they’re treated like lepers, they have special skills that should make them exploited, not shunned.
For example, one kid can finish anyone’s sentence, so he’s pulled out to a government facility to figure out muffled radio communications. But leaves behind the one who has pyrokinesis (pyro), the human gorilla (Beast), and the one who remembers everything that has ever happened to him with perfect recall, even as far as being born (he’s the “brain”). The main character looks like a dog and has similar attributes (like Wolverine). I can’t believe that the American government would leave these kids in their crappy “Home for the Deranged” instead of military testing facilities.
And so they’re treated like stand-ins for blacks during the peak of Southern segregation. Thus the story is a full-length “don’t bully the dragon” tale. I know X-men’s an allegory too, but not as transparent as this. It even takes place in Georgia. And that fact doesn’t do the book favors.
Everyone is a redneck or murderous or lecherous or otherwise a Stephen King third-stringer. The stereotypes are predictable “man is the real monster” stuff and it uses rape as a plot-driving device. The author is Canadian and he writes like he’s only heard of the South but never been there.
It doesn’t break any barriers or do any fresh takes. And despite the message, it doesn’t practice what it preaches (i.e. for an allegory about black people, where are the black people?).
A sexually-transmitted disease (called “the plague”) has caused severe abnormalities, defects, and aberrations in 10% of children (during 1960? 1990? I can’t tell). Government has stepped in to prevent carriers from creating more, but this book is not about that. This book is about a small set of them at an orphan home that would make Miss Hannigan cringe.
Miss Hannigan Annie
The book never uses the term “mutation”, but let’s call them what they really are: X-Men. The book goes out of its way to make sure everyone knows the plague children are persona non grata. They’re forced into unpaid labor at local farms. They have “school” but no one teaches them. The security abuses them regularly. And even though they’re treated like lepers, they have special skills that should make them exploited, not shunned.
For example, one kid can finish anyone’s sentence, so he’s pulled out to a government facility to figure out muffled radio communications. But leaves behind the one who has pyrokinesis (pyro), the human gorilla (Beast), and the one who remembers everything that has ever happened to him with perfect recall, even as far as being born (he’s the “brain”). The main character looks like a dog and has similar attributes (like Wolverine). I can’t believe that the American government would leave these kids in their crappy “Home for the Deranged” instead of military testing facilities.
And so they’re treated like stand-ins for blacks during the peak of Southern segregation. Thus the story is a full-length “don’t bully the dragon” tale. I know X-men’s an allegory too, but not as transparent as this. It even takes place in Georgia. And that fact doesn’t do the book favors.
Everyone is a redneck or murderous or lecherous or otherwise a Stephen King third-stringer. The stereotypes are predictable “man is the real monster” stuff and it uses rape as a plot-driving device. The author is Canadian and he writes like he’s only heard of the South but never been there.
It doesn’t break any barriers or do any fresh takes. And despite the message, it doesn’t practice what it preaches (i.e. for an allegory about black people, where are the black people?).
March 24, 2018
One of Us is a cautionary tale. And WOW, is it an important one! Despite being set in the American south of the 1980s, the book highlights the social issues that are still relevant today in 2018. They are issues that are still being fought for, and issues that could lead to explosive consequences should change continue to be avoided.
I was immediately absorbed into the world of this alternate-80s small town and found myself not only rooting for each character but identifying in more ways than one to each of them. I was empowered and angry and crying (so many tears). Craig DiLouie has managed to emphasize so many current injustices as it compares to the injustices of the past with his book, and in my opinion, that deserves the ultimate praise.
For anyone who knows what it feels like to be ostracized, oppressed, abused, and/or discriminated for being exactly who you are – this book is for you. For anyone who considers themselves allies in the fight for social justice – this book is for you. For anyone who just doesn’t get all of the hubbub of the current political and social climate – this book is for you.
One of Us is a revolutionary tale “for the people in the back!”
Many thanks to the BOTM Readers Committee for sending me an advance copy for review. This book club is seriously the best investment I've ever made and I am #blessed to have them in my life.
I was immediately absorbed into the world of this alternate-80s small town and found myself not only rooting for each character but identifying in more ways than one to each of them. I was empowered and angry and crying (so many tears). Craig DiLouie has managed to emphasize so many current injustices as it compares to the injustices of the past with his book, and in my opinion, that deserves the ultimate praise.
For anyone who knows what it feels like to be ostracized, oppressed, abused, and/or discriminated for being exactly who you are – this book is for you. For anyone who considers themselves allies in the fight for social justice – this book is for you. For anyone who just doesn’t get all of the hubbub of the current political and social climate – this book is for you.
One of Us is a revolutionary tale “for the people in the back!”
Many thanks to the BOTM Readers Committee for sending me an advance copy for review. This book club is seriously the best investment I've ever made and I am #blessed to have them in my life.
August 10, 2020
3 AND 1/2 STARS
After reading Craig DiLouie's near masterpiece, Suffer the Children, I was excited to dive into this promising book. The premise was potentially fantastic, and although there were many original scenes and surprises, it felt, overall, too preachy and heavy-handed. Removing some of the author's clear moral choices and adding another hundred or so pages could have helped, since many of the scenes progressed too fast and elements of the story skipped in time, leaving too many details out that could have really filled in much needed holes.
Overall, I certainly enjoyed the book and many of the characters and I will definitely seek out more of DiLouie's work, based on his strong history of original horror. I just hope he can put aside his politics and simply focus on writing a great story without his opinion sticking to every scene. Suffer the Children is still his best work and I hope he can match that level some day.
After reading Craig DiLouie's near masterpiece, Suffer the Children, I was excited to dive into this promising book. The premise was potentially fantastic, and although there were many original scenes and surprises, it felt, overall, too preachy and heavy-handed. Removing some of the author's clear moral choices and adding another hundred or so pages could have helped, since many of the scenes progressed too fast and elements of the story skipped in time, leaving too many details out that could have really filled in much needed holes.
Overall, I certainly enjoyed the book and many of the characters and I will definitely seek out more of DiLouie's work, based on his strong history of original horror. I just hope he can put aside his politics and simply focus on writing a great story without his opinion sticking to every scene. Suffer the Children is still his best work and I hope he can match that level some day.
May 19, 2021
Review to come.
July 31, 2024
Wow. I didn’t expect it to be so violent and disturbing but it was really good. The ending left lots of loose ties but I somehow didn’t really want more; it was a decently satisfying conclusion.
July 30, 2018
Read more reviews at Book Geeks Uncompromised!
Trigger warnings for: sexual assault, violence, extreme racial prejudice, character death
In One of Us, the 1960s saw the rise of a virus of which the origins are terribly well known but are likely a combination of many things (radioactivity, AIDS, etc.). What is known is that if a person that has "the germ" has a child, that child will be born mutated. Their face may be upside-down, they may grow fungus on their skin, they may bear a strong resemblance to a dog or a gorilla.
In a panic as to how to handle this crisis, all plague-kids were taken from their families (usually without much of a fuss from said family) and put in a home where they were brought up and taught separately from the normals.
This book is about those children reaching their teenage years and realizing that not only were they dealt a bad hand in life to begin with, but they have been beaten down and ostracized for no real reason. Thus, tensions between them and the normals that feel smug in their superiority over the plague kids rise drastically to the point of bloodshed.
One of Us examines why prejudice in any form toward other humans is a thing and how it continues to live. How in this day and age can we possibly be dealing with some people treating others as if they are less?
The answer, unsurprisingly, comes down to fear. Fear of what one is not familiar with but also fear of accepting responsibility for what a person has allowed to continue on or has contributed to.
Every action that drove the plot of this story onward came from a place of fear and (often) willful misunderstanding. Which leads to danger actions which are of course misunderstood which means more fear, etc. And all of it inching closer to violence.
This book is very much character driven and as such it didn't really have a defined plot and was more of a "follow the events" kind of thing even going into the ending. Because the problem is that some people are assholes to other people and will continue to hold prejudice because of their own fear despite not having a good reason to. One of Us does not end with everything tied up in a neat little bow because there is no easy solution to prejudice that that a 400 page novel can provide. It requires continuous, ongoing effort.
The only thing that I was not crazy about was how brief the discussion was on sexual harassment and assault in the story. Nothing that was presented was wrong but it also didn't dive into the topic with the same depth that prejudice received. It felt like the discussion was only there to lead up to a particular plot event and then was dropped entirely. Personally, I think that plot event would have been just as impactful without a one-off sex-ed style lecture on consent.
Other than that though, One of Us is a beautiful constructed tragic tale of prejudice and where it leads. Several times through the course of listening to this audiobook, my heart broke into tiny pieces for things that happened. I cannot recommend this book enough.
Trigger warnings for: sexual assault, violence, extreme racial prejudice, character death
In One of Us, the 1960s saw the rise of a virus of which the origins are terribly well known but are likely a combination of many things (radioactivity, AIDS, etc.). What is known is that if a person that has "the germ" has a child, that child will be born mutated. Their face may be upside-down, they may grow fungus on their skin, they may bear a strong resemblance to a dog or a gorilla.
In a panic as to how to handle this crisis, all plague-kids were taken from their families (usually without much of a fuss from said family) and put in a home where they were brought up and taught separately from the normals.
This book is about those children reaching their teenage years and realizing that not only were they dealt a bad hand in life to begin with, but they have been beaten down and ostracized for no real reason. Thus, tensions between them and the normals that feel smug in their superiority over the plague kids rise drastically to the point of bloodshed.
One of Us examines why prejudice in any form toward other humans is a thing and how it continues to live. How in this day and age can we possibly be dealing with some people treating others as if they are less?
The answer, unsurprisingly, comes down to fear. Fear of what one is not familiar with but also fear of accepting responsibility for what a person has allowed to continue on or has contributed to.
Every action that drove the plot of this story onward came from a place of fear and (often) willful misunderstanding. Which leads to danger actions which are of course misunderstood which means more fear, etc. And all of it inching closer to violence.
This book is very much character driven and as such it didn't really have a defined plot and was more of a "follow the events" kind of thing even going into the ending. Because the problem is that some people are assholes to other people and will continue to hold prejudice because of their own fear despite not having a good reason to. One of Us does not end with everything tied up in a neat little bow because there is no easy solution to prejudice that that a 400 page novel can provide. It requires continuous, ongoing effort.
The only thing that I was not crazy about was how brief the discussion was on sexual harassment and assault in the story. Nothing that was presented was wrong but it also didn't dive into the topic with the same depth that prejudice received. It felt like the discussion was only there to lead up to a particular plot event and then was dropped entirely. Personally, I think that plot event would have been just as impactful without a one-off sex-ed style lecture on consent.
Other than that though, One of Us is a beautiful constructed tragic tale of prejudice and where it leads. Several times through the course of listening to this audiobook, my heart broke into tiny pieces for things that happened. I cannot recommend this book enough.
July 14, 2018
I went into this book expecting it to be a dark tale, but also fearing that it would shy away from getting "too dark". I like being punched in the gut when I read a book, and unambiguously happy endings rarely do anything for me.
One of Us did not disappoint me. Craig DiLouie really, REALLY went there. My gut was definitely punched. Several times.
Sometimes, despite my love of darkness and fictional despair, I actually kind of wished DiLouie HADN'T gone there, because I got invested in certain characters and some part of me just wanted them to fare better, I guess. Nevertheless, this book was everything I hoped it would be, possibly more. I loved the references to real world history, the comparisons between historical scenarios and the book's reality - it added to the world-building, and it didn't feel forced. As previously mentioned, I loved some of the characters... and I loved to hate some of them, as well.
The only reason why this is not a 5 star read for me is I had some hopes for the ending that weren't realized. The book could have been a bit longer, as I would have liked to have seen some plotlines play out a bit further. On the other hand, ending it like DiLouie did certainly has its merits; it is still effective, and it doesn't ruin my enjoyment of the story as a whole.
In conclusion, if you're thinking of picking this up, you should. Just be prepared to have your gut punched, and possibly your heart broken, by the end of it.
One of Us did not disappoint me. Craig DiLouie really, REALLY went there. My gut was definitely punched. Several times.
Sometimes, despite my love of darkness and fictional despair, I actually kind of wished DiLouie HADN'T gone there, because I got invested in certain characters and some part of me just wanted them to fare better, I guess. Nevertheless, this book was everything I hoped it would be, possibly more. I loved the references to real world history, the comparisons between historical scenarios and the book's reality - it added to the world-building, and it didn't feel forced. As previously mentioned, I loved some of the characters... and I loved to hate some of them, as well.
The only reason why this is not a 5 star read for me is I had some hopes for the ending that weren't realized. The book could have been a bit longer, as I would have liked to have seen some plotlines play out a bit further. On the other hand, ending it like DiLouie did certainly has its merits; it is still effective, and it doesn't ruin my enjoyment of the story as a whole.
In conclusion, if you're thinking of picking this up, you should. Just be prepared to have your gut punched, and possibly your heart broken, by the end of it.
July 6, 2018
Not really for me this one. Interesting premise and it started out well, an intriguing bit of world building and some engaging characters. But by about half way honestly I realised I just wasn't enjoying it. Some of the detail felt more salacious than relevant and it all got a little bit preachy.
It's not a badly written book at all but the way it played out just left me vaguely disconcerted rather than provoking any kind of thought on the underlying themes. I don't mind when a book makes me feel uncomfortable, fiction SHOULD challenge us but it needs to be for the right reasons. This particular narrative was just wrong for this particular reader.
It's not a badly written book at all but the way it played out just left me vaguely disconcerted rather than provoking any kind of thought on the underlying themes. I don't mind when a book makes me feel uncomfortable, fiction SHOULD challenge us but it needs to be for the right reasons. This particular narrative was just wrong for this particular reader.
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