Early Review – Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 303 pages
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: April 4, 2023
ASIN: B0B3YBPB6H
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley for review from NetGalley
Rating: 4/5 stars
“In the far north of Canada sits Camp Zero, an American building project hiding many secrets.
Desperate to help her climate-displaced Korean immigrant mother, Rose agrees to travel to Camp Zero and spy on its architect in exchange for housing. She arrives at the same time as another newcomer, a college professor named Grant who is determined to flee his wealthy family’s dark legacy. Gradually, they realize that there is more to the architect than previously thought, and a disturbing mystery lurks beneath the surface of the camp. At the same time, rumors abound of an elite group of women soldiers living and working at a nearby Cold War-era climate research station. What are they doing there? And who is leading them?”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley to review.
Thoughts: I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book and it ended up being a lot different than what I was expecting. I liked it and enjoyed following these characters and seeing how their lives intertwined. However, it also feels very unfinished and the story took some flat-out weird turns.
This book mostly switches between Grant and Rose. However, there are short chapters between their chapters that are labeled White Alice, in these we hear from a group of women scientists from the past sent to the far north to study climate change. Grant and Rose live in a world that is feeling more and more pressure from climate change.
Rose takes a job at a brothel in Camp Zero. Camp Zero is in the far Northern Canada and is meant to be the eventual site of a haven and school for rich kids who are trying to escape the effects of climate change. However, it’s still being built and the leader planning the building doesn’t know the true purpose of the site. In reality Rose’s purpose isn’t just to serve as a companion for the men on site; it’s to spy on the leader there and make sure he hasn’t caught on to this true purpose.
Meanwhile, Grant comes to Camp Zero to start teaching at the college there, a college that doesn’t exist yet. He spends his days teaching the trench diggers and is relieved that he has finally outrun the influence and fame of his family back in the US…or so he thinks.
This is a twisty story about people trying to make better lives for themselves but finding out that the past will always come back to haunt you and things are never what they seem to be. The story has a cold and melancholy tone to it that perfectly embodies the depth of a cold and dark winter. I do think whatever message is here gets a bit blurred by the inclusion of the White Alice group. This part of the story brings a strange mixture of feminism and cultist behavior to the story that seemed a bit out of place. It was interesting to read about, but seemed to come out of nowhere.
The book ends fairly abruptly. I don’t think a sequel is planned. The reader is left to imagine what might happen to our characters and there is no resolution. This left me feeling a bit disappointed and unsatisfied as a reader. The book is well written though and easy to read and it kept me engaged.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. This book kept me guessing and ended up being much different from what I thought it was going to be. It’s a melancholy and dank look at our future and it feels somewhat unfinished. However, I enjoyed how the characters’ stories weave together and how ironic some of the twists and turns are. I don’t regret reading it, but I don’t plan on re-reading it. I will definitely keep an eye out for Sterling’s future works because this was an intriguing read.
