I'm a huge fan of dystopian novels. The Road is one of my all time favorites, I loved Station Eleven, and I am still very excited about Hulu's version of The Handmaid's Tale. When I saw a dystopian novel as one of my BOTM choices, I had to read it.

American War is set in the not too distant future and follows the story of Sarat from her childhood near the banks of the (now much larger) Mississippi through her radicalization during the second American civil war. The world has been forever altered by climate change, and when the south refuses to give up the use of fossil fuels, a war begins.

Sarat and her family live for a time in a refugee camp, where she meets a mysterious man who teaches her about the world before while simultaneously training her to hate a"Blues" (northerners). As the violence of war continually affects Sarat and the people she loves, she does not sit idly by but takes up arms for the Southern cause. Sarat is constantly motivated by her desire for revenge.

This book was especially scary because the imminent threat posed by climate change makes Akkad's imagining of the future believable. However, as a whole I never felt truly connected with Sarat or any of the book's characters. While I enjoyed this book overall, I don't feel compelled to recommend it to others.