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We Can Save Us All
"At a moment when it’s hard to trust anyone who claims to see things clearly, Adam Nemett has written a smart, sensitive, terrifying novel about masculinity, philosophy, technology, and the end of the world. Recommended for all college first-years and their parents, as well as those in between." ― Keith Gessen
Welcome to The Egg, an off-campus geodesic dome where David Fuffman and his crew of alienated Princeton students train for what might be the end of days: America is in a perpetual state of war, climate disasters create a global state of emergency, and scientists believe time itself may be collapsing.
Funded by the charismatic Mathias Blue and fueled by performance enhancers and psychedelic drugs, a student revolution incubates at The Egg, inspired by the superheroes that dominate American culture. The arrival of Haley Roth―an impassioned heroine with a dark secret―propels David and Mathias to expand their movement across college campuses nationwide, inspiring a cult-like following. As the final superstorm arrives, they toe the line between good and evil, deliverance and demagogues, the damned and the saved.
In this sprawling, ambitious debut, Adam Nemett delves into contemporary life in all of its chaos and unknowing. We Can Save Us All is a brave, ribald, and multi-layered examination of what may be the fundamental question of our time: just who is responsible for fixing all of this?
Welcome to The Egg, an off-campus geodesic dome where David Fuffman and his crew of alienated Princeton students train for what might be the end of days: America is in a perpetual state of war, climate disasters create a global state of emergency, and scientists believe time itself may be collapsing.
Funded by the charismatic Mathias Blue and fueled by performance enhancers and psychedelic drugs, a student revolution incubates at The Egg, inspired by the superheroes that dominate American culture. The arrival of Haley Roth―an impassioned heroine with a dark secret―propels David and Mathias to expand their movement across college campuses nationwide, inspiring a cult-like following. As the final superstorm arrives, they toe the line between good and evil, deliverance and demagogues, the damned and the saved.
In this sprawling, ambitious debut, Adam Nemett delves into contemporary life in all of its chaos and unknowing. We Can Save Us All is a brave, ribald, and multi-layered examination of what may be the fundamental question of our time: just who is responsible for fixing all of this?
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First published November 13, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
October 29, 2019
Don't have the "shelves" or words to categorize this book but it hit me on many more levels than it missed. Nemett was giving a reading at Union last week, and though I ultimately had to be away, it was a great impetus to check out his book. It also did not hurt that I had read an essay of his before about Jewish superheroes. And this book stars one Jewish kid -- David Fuffman (I kid you not) -- who heads to Princeton (I know, I know) and ... end of world, 'superhero' stuff. Very ironic key; some triggering grrr moments that I personally would have trouble taking into the classroom; and some Joycean passages at the coda that were really effective. 4.5 rounding up :)
December 2, 2018
It's the mid-2020s when we find a group of Princeton semi-dropouts living off campus in a geodesic dome with Wayne Manoresque crypts and contraptions bracing for a creeping apocalypse. Like today's college students, they're always running short on time, though their affliction is in equal measure youthful ambition and an actual space-time reconfiguration. And like today's college students, they have to prop up their crumbling world while looking cool doing it in front of the girls on campus.
And so in We Can Save Us All we get an intimate bildungsroman and an iridescent save-the-world drama. Its characters are the charismatic, precocious kind that will feel familiar to readers of Pynchon, Wallace and to those who've stepped on the kind of educational institutions that's carefully and evocatively described in the novel at hand. The writing is fast-paced, sometimes profane and often hilarious. If that's not enough to keep you going, wait 'til the story turns around about the half-way mark.
And so in We Can Save Us All we get an intimate bildungsroman and an iridescent save-the-world drama. Its characters are the charismatic, precocious kind that will feel familiar to readers of Pynchon, Wallace and to those who've stepped on the kind of educational institutions that's carefully and evocatively described in the novel at hand. The writing is fast-paced, sometimes profane and often hilarious. If that's not enough to keep you going, wait 'til the story turns around about the half-way mark.
October 5, 2018
This was a tough read for me.
Our characters were unbearably precious - I think purposefully so. Immature, bold, bright, and so blastedly aware of how bold and bright they were that I wanted to slap them at times. There's so much arrogance in them.
Our story? I spent a lot of time waiting for big things to happen....and wondering if I really wanted to wait for those things to happen.
Unfortunately, I found myself unable to engage here. Maybe I'm too jaded at this point?
Others may love this. It just didn't work for me.
Our characters were unbearably precious - I think purposefully so. Immature, bold, bright, and so blastedly aware of how bold and bright they were that I wanted to slap them at times. There's so much arrogance in them.
Our story? I spent a lot of time waiting for big things to happen....and wondering if I really wanted to wait for those things to happen.
Unfortunately, I found myself unable to engage here. Maybe I'm too jaded at this point?
Others may love this. It just didn't work for me.
January 9, 2019
Six stars. Five isn’t enough.
Warning: it isn’t for everybody.
But it IS an amazing, fascinating, somewhat terrifying book. The last 100 pages or so completely took me over. I was absorbed into the couch until I finished, totally oblivious to what was going on around me.
Literally the end of Time.
Warning: it isn’t for everybody.
But it IS an amazing, fascinating, somewhat terrifying book. The last 100 pages or so completely took me over. I was absorbed into the couch until I finished, totally oblivious to what was going on around me.
Literally the end of Time.
March 5, 2023
We Can Save Us All is an ambitious debut by a very talented Adam Nemett. The book begins with a chance meeting of our rather nerdy protagonist, David Fuffman, in an odd, drug-enhanced damn-building exercise where he meets the charismatic and wealthy Mathias Blue—in a frigid river, at Princeton. This clever scene is a fun springboard into the witty, satirical, and nihilistic novel that is to follow. The story is set in the near future where all-too-realistic issues of war and climate change combine with a phenomenon called “Chronostrictesis,” where time itself seems to be coming to an end as though through a funnel: human existence as we know it is no longer, as the characters have to stockpile food and supplies for the severe weather and the impending superstorm.
As the compelling and carefully crafted story progresses, we follow David on his journey to the Egg, an off-campus Geodesic dome where a group of Princeton dropouts reside with the enigmatic Blue, where, “You’re always working on your project, your vision, your Thesis—something only you can do.” David’s project is to form a vigilante superhero group that is fueled by a special drug, Zeronal, concocted by Blue in the panic room/laboratory under the stairs in the Egg. His new group, joined by David’s high school drug dealer and great love, Haley Roth, attempt to form a sort of Justice League, which expands through campus communities nationwide like a cult of sorts, while all seem to be waiting for the final superstorm to make landfall.
The novel is a work that seems to consider our current environment and how the millennial and future generations will survive given the past generation’s lack of empathy for our planet. The tone of the novel is optimistic, while the occurrences seem to speak to our collective unease about our uncertain future as trade wars escalate, unrest continues abroad and domestically, and the world in general seems to be ignoring the fact that our weather is slowly unleashing itself upon us all. It begs the question, is it even possible that we can save us all? This is a thoughtful narrative that is well worth the effort. I highly recommend it.
As the compelling and carefully crafted story progresses, we follow David on his journey to the Egg, an off-campus Geodesic dome where a group of Princeton dropouts reside with the enigmatic Blue, where, “You’re always working on your project, your vision, your Thesis—something only you can do.” David’s project is to form a vigilante superhero group that is fueled by a special drug, Zeronal, concocted by Blue in the panic room/laboratory under the stairs in the Egg. His new group, joined by David’s high school drug dealer and great love, Haley Roth, attempt to form a sort of Justice League, which expands through campus communities nationwide like a cult of sorts, while all seem to be waiting for the final superstorm to make landfall.
The novel is a work that seems to consider our current environment and how the millennial and future generations will survive given the past generation’s lack of empathy for our planet. The tone of the novel is optimistic, while the occurrences seem to speak to our collective unease about our uncertain future as trade wars escalate, unrest continues abroad and domestically, and the world in general seems to be ignoring the fact that our weather is slowly unleashing itself upon us all. It begs the question, is it even possible that we can save us all? This is a thoughtful narrative that is well worth the effort. I highly recommend it.
September 9, 2019
This was so hard to put down after the first 50 pages or so. So eventful with such rich characters and energetic story telling. The imaginativeness of the story stuck with me for a few days afterwards as I kept on thinking about all of the characters and events.
February 17, 2019
I had to stop half way through. Could not even muscle my way through it. Too juvenile. It should have been a graphic novel perhaps. In any case, this book is NOT for me
April 7, 2019
Finally, the superheroes I've been waiting for. Nemett writes with real energy. This was a very fun book about some serious topics.
April 14, 2019
It is a few years in the future, and the world is a chaotic mess, beset by war, natural calamities and the scientific reality of time collapsing in on itself. Many truly believe that the end is near.
(Hello, We Can Save us All. I think we’re gonna be friends.)
Charismatic Princeton dropout Mathias Blue sets up a “Hall of Justice” like facility off campus called “The Egg” and at The Egg he assembles a group of other likeminded and alienated dropouts. Together, they form the Unnamed Supersquadron of Vigilantes, with the self-imposed task of saving the world, such as it is.
His right hand man, David Fuffman, aka “Business Man” is along for the ride. He has always been hampered by his awkwardness and lack of strength. He is hopelessly in love with Haley Roth, a former high school drug dealer who finds her way back into his life at the Egg. He is a self-proclaimed super hero in his mind but in reality he is still that weak person he was before. This comes into play early when he finds that in spite of his new position as the member of a legion of superheroes, he is incapable of actually saving anyone when it matters.
But the group does a lot of drugs and have demonstrations and help out people where they can. And it all rolls along just fine until it takes a turn and this little cult begins to look like what it really is…
This book draws heavily from the world of comic books and taps into the zeitgeist of this time that we live in, where optimism still pokes its head through sometimes, in spite of the direction that our world appears to be headed.
I loved this book. Even as I often have little hope for the world that we live in, I sometimes still believe (like the Unnamed Supersquadron of Vigilantes) that we can save us all.
(Hello, We Can Save us All. I think we’re gonna be friends.)
Charismatic Princeton dropout Mathias Blue sets up a “Hall of Justice” like facility off campus called “The Egg” and at The Egg he assembles a group of other likeminded and alienated dropouts. Together, they form the Unnamed Supersquadron of Vigilantes, with the self-imposed task of saving the world, such as it is.
His right hand man, David Fuffman, aka “Business Man” is along for the ride. He has always been hampered by his awkwardness and lack of strength. He is hopelessly in love with Haley Roth, a former high school drug dealer who finds her way back into his life at the Egg. He is a self-proclaimed super hero in his mind but in reality he is still that weak person he was before. This comes into play early when he finds that in spite of his new position as the member of a legion of superheroes, he is incapable of actually saving anyone when it matters.
But the group does a lot of drugs and have demonstrations and help out people where they can. And it all rolls along just fine until it takes a turn and this little cult begins to look like what it really is…
This book draws heavily from the world of comic books and taps into the zeitgeist of this time that we live in, where optimism still pokes its head through sometimes, in spite of the direction that our world appears to be headed.
I loved this book. Even as I often have little hope for the world that we live in, I sometimes still believe (like the Unnamed Supersquadron of Vigilantes) that we can save us all.
March 14, 2019
How can a book about a cult based on drugs, superheroes, and sex be bad? At times I thought I was in on the ground floor. Other times I wasn't sure if it was serious. In the end, it is a straight forward love story with a very strange backdrop. Never really felt like I truly connected with the narrative. But did I mention the drugs, superheroes and sex...
January 2, 2019
I don't know if I liked this or not, but I can say - I've never read anything like it, and may never again. Occasionally beautiful, occasionally reeeeally messed up.
June 6, 2019
I consider this book to be an accurate representation of what happens when we depend on privileged, wealthy Ivy Leaguers to solve world problems for us. The main character sees himself as a kind of superhero meant to save the world, but he is really a sexist, manipulative hipster dude with an incredibly huge ego who cares more about the fame and recognition he would get from saving people than he does about actually saving people. It shows a perversion of "mutual aid," if it were dispersed by a group of Princeton students who put most of their resources into creating interesting drugs, having rave parties, and looking 'cool' and about 5% of their resources and efforts into actually setting up survival mechanisms of some sort when things are going to shit. In the book, everyone is expecting the apocalypse because of some weird time-warp thing and because of extreme weather events, but I found it odd that the author felt the need to invent an apocalyptic scenario but kept everything else in the book realistic - why didn't he just use our real-life apocalyptic scenario, climate change? That also creates horrific weather events, without any strange time-shortening physics. And it's really happening, and we do need to do something about it. This just confused me.
It was entertaining, not the best writing, and I got the sense that the author himself has a huge ego and has a lot in common with the main character. That being said, I thought it was worth reading as a lesson in why not to expect to be saved by genius Ivy League students. We need mutual aid that is truly built up of regular people and real networks that will save people when disaster arises, as it surely will. The good thing about this book was that it did make this point, that bad things will happen and we should be prepared. It weakened this point with the ending, but I won't tell you what happened.
It was entertaining, not the best writing, and I got the sense that the author himself has a huge ego and has a lot in common with the main character. That being said, I thought it was worth reading as a lesson in why not to expect to be saved by genius Ivy League students. We need mutual aid that is truly built up of regular people and real networks that will save people when disaster arises, as it surely will. The good thing about this book was that it did make this point, that bad things will happen and we should be prepared. It weakened this point with the ending, but I won't tell you what happened.
December 30, 2018
This was a delightfully surprising novel. Part White Noise, part Fight Club, part Avengers: Infinity War.
Using superheros, cults, magnetic personalities, and really average ones, Adam Nemett carves a kryptonite spear through millennial intellectualism, fatalism, and generational feuds all while reaming incredibly readable to those of us who roll their eyes when those words come up in conversation.
****Below be spoilers****
One more thing I want to congratulate this novel on is being written in 3rd person. Perspective matters a lot for a novel like this. When you tackle very real and consequential issues like sexual assault on campus it really helps that our narrator can take a firm stance without compromising the gray morality of our characters. Calling out our protagonist when he utterly fails to do the right thing.
While it doesn't always come togeather it never flies apart. 3rd person novel that commits to going off the rails, it's interesting and feels new very refreshing. Check it out you will have a good time.
Using superheros, cults, magnetic personalities, and really average ones, Adam Nemett carves a kryptonite spear through millennial intellectualism, fatalism, and generational feuds all while reaming incredibly readable to those of us who roll their eyes when those words come up in conversation.
****Below be spoilers****
One more thing I want to congratulate this novel on is being written in 3rd person. Perspective matters a lot for a novel like this. When you tackle very real and consequential issues like sexual assault on campus it really helps that our narrator can take a firm stance without compromising the gray morality of our characters. Calling out our protagonist when he utterly fails to do the right thing.
While it doesn't always come togeather it never flies apart. 3rd person novel that commits to going off the rails, it's interesting and feels new very refreshing. Check it out you will have a good time.
March 22, 2019
Literary speculative fiction -- set in the near future, set on the Princeton University campus, involving storms, a purple pill, the main character, David, trying to figure it all out--sex, war, technology, university-- at times, in a kind of navel-gazing way, but still curiously gripping. I liked the language and ideas, and I'm curious about literary speculative fiction for my own writerly self interest. I will be watching this author for more...
--Caroline
a curious reader and writer...
--Caroline
a curious reader and writer...
January 21, 2019
Idealistic and earnest young people led by a cultish intellect are given license to save themselves and the world by dressing up as super heroes emboldened and enlightened (?) by mind altering drugs. Results vary as you might expect. Communal living, group love and betrayal and a tale of unrequited love thrown in for good measure. Sharply written and set lovingly in Princeton, NJ and environs (I know the area well). Inevitably, ala "Lord of the Flies", the "fun" comes to an end and the predictable rescuers arrive.
June 26, 2019
David Fuffman wants to be the hero that can save everyone. The thing is he is just so bad at it. Set at Princeton University in the near future when the world is significantly more falling apart then it is now, David Fuffman joins a group of current/former students in a world of drugs, sex and trying to plan for the future. In a lot of ways its a lot like typical college but its also nothing like a real college experience. From this book we can learn that we can all be heroes and we are all capable of being villains.
October 22, 2019
Amazing writer - in nonfiction, has turned his phenomenal storytelling talent to fiction with the same quality and success.
September 3, 2024
Wow. I'm so grateful that this novel found its way to me! As a person who spends a lot of time thinking about the end of the world, the role of young people in responding to events that they did not instigate, and the way society contracts or expands in crisis, I loved this book. The world that Nemett builds is potent and immersive, and he does a remarkable job of capturing the sense of growing unreality that often comes with major paradigmatic shifts. The pace of the novel can be intense at times, but it's interspersed with moments of intense poignance, deep emotion, and meaningfully nuanced characters. The complexity of the world, the characters, and the circumstances that Nemett builds still allows for profound moral ambiguity-- not an easy thing to pull off when writing about the fervency of young people on a mission. A remarkable book.
November 29, 2020
Wow, what a ride! Adam Nemett has written a reeling adventure of a novel that is both action-packed as well as very thoughtful and pensive. I couldn't put it down. I was sneaking pages while telling my kids to get their own breakfasts. I read it in under a week, couldn't stop turning pages. The book appeals to both sides of us: the side that wants to think deep thoughts about the future of humanity, and the side that wants to see a knock-down-drag-out wrestling match. All the while wrapped in Nemett's beautiful and heart-pounding prose. Excellent read.
January 12, 2025
I don't even know how to begin describing what I just read.
June 8, 2025
2.5 stars. like I saw in other reviews, the concept of this book is interesting and had a lot of potential for making points. the descent into sex, drugs, and lost values wasn't totally unexpected but the richness Nemett allows for his male characters [which is at times limited, to be fair] do not hold for his female characters. I also think he does his ideas a disservice by not doing more to highlight the HUGE chasm between prepping for a future at an Ivy League university and the idea time is constrained. like that was most interesting - not the story about That being said, I appreciate anything that expands my thinking and helps me clarify my own points even a bit and We Can Save Us All does that.
June 2, 2019
It's a pre-(and not post-)apocalyptic novel about some Princeton undergrads, most of whom who have left the school, gathered in a geodesic dome, ingested drugs to give them a sense of the impending doom and their place in it, turned from liberal arts pursuits to more survival-based studies (pharmacology, energy generation, martial arts, ...), and adopted superhero personas and costumes as part of a JLA-type community.
And if any of that gives you pause, if you have any concerns about issues of privilege popping up, if you have any qualms about what might happen when drop-out college students form a communal society, I'd suggest giving this a bye. Note that Nemett's writing is teeming with inventiveness and I would happily try a second fiction work from him, but I was ready for this book to be over about 75 pages before the ending. There's a frustrating (albeit intentional) aura of naivete in our protagonist (David Fuffman, aka "BusinessMan") that extends to the whole book, in that you are simultaneously grappling with serious world-ending issues and sophomoric approaches to life. I never felt that that struggle resolved nicely, and I tired of the naivete.
And now, some additional semi-snarky commentary (with spoilers).......
1) The book is set in the 2020's, and climate change is producing massive floods and storms. But Nemett feels the need to introduce an additional crisis: something is wrong with the very fabric of space and time in that we are losing seconds days by day. Or we think that might be happening. Nemett puts hints about the crisis in the background throughout the first third of the book, but never explains it. Our cult leader, Mathias, was involved in the initial research that "discovered" the problem and states that June 6th is the Null Point when humanity will be... well, somethinged. But by the end of the novel, we find it's all a ruse. How Mathias and others convinced the world this might be a problem is never explained. But this is the driving apocalypse of the book, not climate change, not the deaths of millions climate change brings, not the bombing of Jerusalem that happens in the background, but a faux end-of-the-world that passes and brings us back to some semblance of normality.
2) Because this book is often a paean to normality. At the end, what saves the college students? Their parents. What brings David a sense of closure? His family and his family to be. Yes, the world may be ending, but the novel appears to assert that the world is always ending and we're okay if we just have those close to us. That's a fine sentiment, but not what I expected from a book with pull quotes comparing it to the "dangerous feel of early Don DeLillo" or Pynchon or Neal Stephenson.
And if any of that gives you pause, if you have any concerns about issues of privilege popping up, if you have any qualms about what might happen when drop-out college students form a communal society, I'd suggest giving this a bye. Note that Nemett's writing is teeming with inventiveness and I would happily try a second fiction work from him, but I was ready for this book to be over about 75 pages before the ending. There's a frustrating (albeit intentional) aura of naivete in our protagonist (David Fuffman, aka "BusinessMan") that extends to the whole book, in that you are simultaneously grappling with serious world-ending issues and sophomoric approaches to life. I never felt that that struggle resolved nicely, and I tired of the naivete.
And now, some additional semi-snarky commentary (with spoilers).......
1) The book is set in the 2020's, and climate change is producing massive floods and storms. But Nemett feels the need to introduce an additional crisis: something is wrong with the very fabric of space and time in that we are losing seconds days by day. Or we think that might be happening. Nemett puts hints about the crisis in the background throughout the first third of the book, but never explains it. Our cult leader, Mathias, was involved in the initial research that "discovered" the problem and states that June 6th is the Null Point when humanity will be... well, somethinged. But by the end of the novel, we find it's all a ruse. How Mathias and others convinced the world this might be a problem is never explained. But this is the driving apocalypse of the book, not climate change, not the deaths of millions climate change brings, not the bombing of Jerusalem that happens in the background, but a faux end-of-the-world that passes and brings us back to some semblance of normality.
2) Because this book is often a paean to normality. At the end, what saves the college students? Their parents. What brings David a sense of closure? His family and his family to be. Yes, the world may be ending, but the novel appears to assert that the world is always ending and we're okay if we just have those close to us. That's a fine sentiment, but not what I expected from a book with pull quotes comparing it to the "dangerous feel of early Don DeLillo" or Pynchon or Neal Stephenson.
July 6, 2019
A seriously engaging novel about the naivete, lost-ness, and rocket-ship power of young adulthood in a confusing, groundless time. We Can Save Us All is part drug-fueled romp, part swashbuckling adventure, and all searching heart. I want to read this again with a group to discuss, because there is so much going on - questions of misogyny & rape culture that need some untangling - and so much just beautiful and smart writing and story construction. I could actually feel how fun and exciting this must have been to write; that fun and excitement translated just right into the reading of it. All in all, an interesting read and a writer I'll follow to see what comes next.
February 22, 2019
A book crammed with ideas and intelligent observations that, for me, ultimately collapses under the weight of its own weirdness. It’s a combination of dystopian novel, coming of age tale, social satire, superhero-themed adventure … all taking place on the campus of Princeton University. As environmental calamities foreshadow a possible apocalypse, our protagonist falls in with a visionary leader – together, they create a band of superheroes whose powers lie in practical skills. It’s an exhilarating setup and works towards what might be a satisfying conclusion if the action scenes were handled a little better, and/or if the hero didn’t so easily revert to his natural nebbish state. I’m not even sure, to be honest, that these were my biggest concerns while reading the book – it’s just that the overall experience seemed to promise more and deliver less. It also got a little dull and repetitive from time to time. It’s still a good book, and certainly one unafraid to take risks, both in story and style – however, to me, the author bit off a little more than he could chew and ended up with a fun read that could’ve been a lot more.
Grade: B+
Grade: B+
March 21, 2023
I want to love this book - quick clip, creative characters, engaging plot - but Nemett's female characters read like the worst of early Sorkin. They are one dimensional sex objects who completely fail the Bechdel test and whose few moments of internal monologue focus on - of all things - the state of the messy bathrooms, while the men focus on lofty ideals, grand paradigm-shifting public actions, and saving the world. Nemett is clearly capable of writing fully human, interesting characters, which only makes the women in the novel that much more disappointing, and the ways the author seems to think women think, that much more insulting.
January 24, 2019
I liked the concept more than the book itself. It was a little too long and some things about it pissed me off
September 27, 2023
Genuinely shocked this book has any positive reviews. It was embarrassingly bad, like, did the publisher forget to read this? bad.
First off, the main character is just a lazy self insert of the author. He's a mediocre average guy, with a crush on a girl out of his league, and no guts but thinks he will save the day. He thinks he is incredibly witty and clever.
The girl he has a crush on is treated like an inhuman projection of his own views, instead of an actual person. He also horrifically wrongs her, and then she does something completely uncharacteristic of anyone who has endured that kind of violence, and then they're just...fine after that? they're even, now? if I remember correctly?
I was falling asleep throughout the whole book and frequently having to go back and reread to figure out what was happening, because locations would change without much explanation.
There were multiple typos and grammatical errors in the book.
The ending is unsatisfying and not much is learned. Real progress isn't made, it's felt like damage control for the whole middle of the book. I felt like I was back where it started.
Genuinely though the biggest issue is how the main character is painfully ego-driven and dehumanizing towards women. There is unnecessary graphic violence towards women and the character development of the main woman character is baffling and centered around the men in the book. A sensitivity reader was needed and I really don't think they hired one.
This book felt like a rough draft by a college freshman guy who didn't stop to consult others or make sure the book made sense. It's a loosely connected dump of concepts and random storylines and characters and plot twists with no coherent point. Despite being a pretty long book, there are huge gaps in the story. Every character is pretty much one-dimensional. The main character is insufferable and such a basic trope of "mediocre guy thinks he can save the day/has a savior complex but also resents the people who actually try to save the day and tells himself they aren't all that, so he can feel better about himself, instead of trying to care about others and get out of his own head".
Overall, an embarrassingly bad book. I don't like judging creative works harshly, but this never should have been published and is outright misogynistic at times.
First off, the main character is just a lazy self insert of the author. He's a mediocre average guy, with a crush on a girl out of his league, and no guts but thinks he will save the day. He thinks he is incredibly witty and clever.
The girl he has a crush on is treated like an inhuman projection of his own views, instead of an actual person. He also horrifically wrongs her, and then she does something completely uncharacteristic of anyone who has endured that kind of violence, and then they're just...fine after that? they're even, now? if I remember correctly?
I was falling asleep throughout the whole book and frequently having to go back and reread to figure out what was happening, because locations would change without much explanation.
There were multiple typos and grammatical errors in the book.
The ending is unsatisfying and not much is learned. Real progress isn't made, it's felt like damage control for the whole middle of the book. I felt like I was back where it started.
Genuinely though the biggest issue is how the main character is painfully ego-driven and dehumanizing towards women. There is unnecessary graphic violence towards women and the character development of the main woman character is baffling and centered around the men in the book. A sensitivity reader was needed and I really don't think they hired one.
This book felt like a rough draft by a college freshman guy who didn't stop to consult others or make sure the book made sense. It's a loosely connected dump of concepts and random storylines and characters and plot twists with no coherent point. Despite being a pretty long book, there are huge gaps in the story. Every character is pretty much one-dimensional. The main character is insufferable and such a basic trope of "mediocre guy thinks he can save the day/has a savior complex but also resents the people who actually try to save the day and tells himself they aren't all that, so he can feel better about himself, instead of trying to care about others and get out of his own head".
Overall, an embarrassingly bad book. I don't like judging creative works harshly, but this never should have been published and is outright misogynistic at times.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 17, 2019
A cult for the trust fund set. If the tagline for college students in the 1960's was sex, drugs and rock and roll, Nemett suggests in his novel that for the 2020's it will be sexual abuse, drugs and climate extremes.
The Unnamed Supersquadron of Vigilantes (USV) is in Princeton. They are expecting an apocalypse, one brought about by a climate armageddon. They adorn costumes and assume superhero identities. Largely through the substantial pharmaceutical skills of one of their members they are convinced that "we can save us all." While the members of the USV all started out as students at Princeton their student status is unclear. Surely going to class is not one of the activities that engages them. As the parent of a teenager I couldn't help thinking about what is must be like to pay Princeton-level tuition to have your son or daughter dress up as a superhero.
One event early in the novel underlies how we see the rest of the story unfold. David, through whose perspective the story is told, is a freshmen in his first semester. He helps organize a massive paintball fight event on campus. During the event he wanders into a scene in which one of his new friends and dorm roommates is raping a girl from his home town that he had a crush on. He neither stops it nor reports it.
Another underlying theme is privilege. Nemett himself went to Princeton. One suspects he got a healthy dose of behavior that was both entitled and juvenile. His characters exude both.
This is a unique and creative story. But I lost interest in it before it was done. Somewhere along the line there was a disconnect with anything I could imagine and I no longer had any curiosity about what would happen or the fate of the characters.
The Unnamed Supersquadron of Vigilantes (USV) is in Princeton. They are expecting an apocalypse, one brought about by a climate armageddon. They adorn costumes and assume superhero identities. Largely through the substantial pharmaceutical skills of one of their members they are convinced that "we can save us all." While the members of the USV all started out as students at Princeton their student status is unclear. Surely going to class is not one of the activities that engages them. As the parent of a teenager I couldn't help thinking about what is must be like to pay Princeton-level tuition to have your son or daughter dress up as a superhero.
One event early in the novel underlies how we see the rest of the story unfold. David, through whose perspective the story is told, is a freshmen in his first semester. He helps organize a massive paintball fight event on campus. During the event he wanders into a scene in which one of his new friends and dorm roommates is raping a girl from his home town that he had a crush on. He neither stops it nor reports it.
Another underlying theme is privilege. Nemett himself went to Princeton. One suspects he got a healthy dose of behavior that was both entitled and juvenile. His characters exude both.
This is a unique and creative story. But I lost interest in it before it was done. Somewhere along the line there was a disconnect with anything I could imagine and I no longer had any curiosity about what would happen or the fate of the characters.
January 9, 2019
My first thought was, “What the hell did I just read?” And while that question can mean greatness, in this case, it doesn’t. I did enjoy this book, well at least the first half or so before it turned into a weak screenplay for a big budget action movie. I kept hoping it “wouldn’t go there”, but alas, it did.
This book was ambitious, and had sparks of real uniqueness, but the author seemed to take the advice “write what you know” and throw it all in a pot and start stirring. There is a really interesting story buried in here...somewhere. The tone is written light and easy-going, but then you are supposed to believe that the entire world is coming to an end - I kept thinking, where’s the catch? Am I being winked at? Is this all just sarcasm?
The pacing was good, and I was interested in finding out what happens next, but at the end it was relatively unsatisfying.
This book was ambitious, and had sparks of real uniqueness, but the author seemed to take the advice “write what you know” and throw it all in a pot and start stirring. There is a really interesting story buried in here...somewhere. The tone is written light and easy-going, but then you are supposed to believe that the entire world is coming to an end - I kept thinking, where’s the catch? Am I being winked at? Is this all just sarcasm?
The pacing was good, and I was interested in finding out what happens next, but at the end it was relatively unsatisfying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2019
The cover blurb compares this to Don Delillo, but that's a mistake. It deals with the kinds of end-of-days disasters that Delillo would but the focus is mostly on personal relationships and insecurities. And that's a fine choice and an interesting one, but it made it a little hard to feel the sense of urgency that the characters seem to be faced with. There was also a point when things were coming to a climax and I thought, "Wait, these are a bunch of 19-year-olds." That also made it hard to really take seriously.
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