Carbon Diaries 2017 by Saci Lloyd
Remember what I said about Carbon Diaries 2015 being Life As We Knew It Lite? 2017 changes that. Dark, brutal, gruesome, confusing, frightening ... Laura Brown's world got crazier.
You would think about two years of carbon rationing the UK would have settled somewhat, people would be making do as best they could, and while that is happening, unrest, anger, fear, and discrimination are building, making the world scarier. Laura's trying to get through university, but protesting students are being arrested and beaten and kicked out of university, so she escapes to her parents' home (who moved outside of London) for the spring term and early summer.
The Dirty Angels (Laura's band) are still at it, though Adi is more interested in revolution and fighting than the band. So, Sam (one of Laura's classmates) ends up being a part of the band and when the Dirty Angels get to be part of a European tour, Sam comes with. But France, if possible, is in even more chaos than the UK and when the band is around on election day, a very right wing party is elected, and so the band splits to Italy.
Only to learn that Adi has malaria in Sicily. Laura goes. But it's not easy.
When the group finally makes it back to London, Laura agrees to settle into her university work (there are no jobs out there, so she might as well get an education) and playing with the band.
London explodes with frustration, aggravation, and protests. The army and the government are fighting their own people and after Laura and friends have been lying safely hidden at Kieran's, they decide it's time to be a part of the fight to stand up for what's wrong. It goes amazingly poorly.
Definitely darker than 2015--that book is more about the environment and the side effects of everything going wrong with carbon rationing, 2017 is about people who have finally had enough and want to change the government, which hasn't changed with the changing world. An intense story, and I'm glad that Laura made it out (for now) ok. Changed, but ok.
You would think about two years of carbon rationing the UK would have settled somewhat, people would be making do as best they could, and while that is happening, unrest, anger, fear, and discrimination are building, making the world scarier. Laura's trying to get through university, but protesting students are being arrested and beaten and kicked out of university, so she escapes to her parents' home (who moved outside of London) for the spring term and early summer.
The Dirty Angels (Laura's band) are still at it, though Adi is more interested in revolution and fighting than the band. So, Sam (one of Laura's classmates) ends up being a part of the band and when the Dirty Angels get to be part of a European tour, Sam comes with. But France, if possible, is in even more chaos than the UK and when the band is around on election day, a very right wing party is elected, and so the band splits to Italy.
Only to learn that Adi has malaria in Sicily. Laura goes. But it's not easy.
When the group finally makes it back to London, Laura agrees to settle into her university work (there are no jobs out there, so she might as well get an education) and playing with the band.
London explodes with frustration, aggravation, and protests. The army and the government are fighting their own people and after Laura and friends have been lying safely hidden at Kieran's, they decide it's time to be a part of the fight to stand up for what's wrong. It goes amazingly poorly.
Definitely darker than 2015--that book is more about the environment and the side effects of everything going wrong with carbon rationing, 2017 is about people who have finally had enough and want to change the government, which hasn't changed with the changing world. An intense story, and I'm glad that Laura made it out (for now) ok. Changed, but ok.
Labels: diary format, dystopias, female characters
posted by austentatious at 4:37 PM
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