For a book with a female main character, the author spends most of the book describing the men with incredible depth, and the women are either vapid or simply exist. Even Helen, our main character, is primarily defined by her relationship with these amazing men. Otherwise the premise was very cool and enjoyed the plot - just not the execution

The premise of this book instantly drew me in. The idea of a university specifically for “cancelled” (usually disgraced) academics to work, free from the woke agenda, opens up so many avenues and ideas.

This book is satire at its best. The start and end are biting and witty, and no one is safe! As much as the book takes a firmly left-wing standpoint, the author doesn’t shy away from making fun of all aspects of the political spectrum. In particular he pokes fun at performative woke-ness, with the main character’s husband agreeing to go to this university of outcasts, provided that they go vegan to make themselves feel better about it.

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Of course, the reality of an organisation without any kind of code of conduct is a bleak one, and soon our two main characters, Helen and Hew, find themselves morally at odds with each other. While they agree politically on many points, the book does a really good job of exploring how your environment – specifically your social life – affects your politics. Both characters are, in different ways, pushed to extreme ways of thinking, and it’s the point that they stop and draw the line that is the most telling and therefore compelling.

For much of the book Helen is trying to reconcile these two sides of the culture wars (and I’ve never been more convinced of that moniker than immediately after reading this book). I won’t spoil the conclusion the book reaches, but the journey it takes is fascinating. In many ways the political spectrum comes full circle with the figures in this book, and while the dilemmas we face in real life are (probably) not as extreme as in the book, we can still recognise ourselves in what the characters have to think about and consider.

There was excellent narration from Lauren Fortgang, who brilliantly brought Helen to life. I was desperate for any chance to listen to it, I enjoyed the experience so much.

This is a book unlike any other I’ve read, but it’s one that will stick with me for a very long time. I know it won’t be for everyone, but I think the discussion this book can inspire (from lovers and haters of it alike) is almost as interesting as the book itself.

I received a free copy for an honest review.

 

it did keep my attention, except for when things got a little esoteric with all the lens talk at first. i found helen, the main character, to be lacking a kind of innate self-awareness/consciousness –– we may call someone like her "spineless" –– but after finishing the book, i think that we are all a lot more complicated than that. wherever one person interacts with another, there is politics. even a pebble can be political. an entertaining read because of the impending stakes and climax that occurs at the end, and hew is made to be a particularly loveable man through the eyes of helen. the reader is supposed to like hew, as helen does, and aspire to be like him, just as helen seems to. his triumph in the resolution is no coincidence. i feel like maybe i've learned something about high focus people or the kind of genius that results in a call from the king of sweden -- something i don't have and don't want. but what i do have is the kind of optimism in one's self, belief in the fate i create day by day. something rooted to my inner life force, which of course is held together by those pesky things we call "values."

An absolutely brilliant premise that had all the potential to be a true masterpiece but just missed the mark. An island with a university for the cancelled elite academics to live out their lives away from the woke world of modern day. It felt like it could have been the perfect deep dive into the cancel culture of the current times but just didn’t quite hit.

It took me a little bit to get into this, as I wouldn't say the main character is the most likable and it covers challenging themes. However the audiobook is really fantastically narrated, the actor brings the story to life and it feels like she embodied the tone and vibe of the main character so well. The exploration of 'cancel culture' and how to reconcile or separate the actions from the actor are nuanced and interesting. Overall an enjoyable and interesting read.