No. I do not buy it. The characters are wooden, the social comportment is not plausible. This is the script to a catastrophy happening inside a computer simulation - maybe SimCity? ( )

Was supposed to get this as part of ER - never came, still hasn't 4 years later. ( )

Look, demagoguery isn't heroic, and unplanned pregnancies as symbols of hope are irresponsible, especially in dystopian fiction.

Secession leader Maid Marian's refusal to listen to advice that she doesn't like is in keeping with her egotistical, impatient, argumentative personality, and this is presented as mavericking. Why don't you like mavericking? Her choices prove very costly to the fledgling nation.

There's a kernel of truth here: Marginalized communities are further marginalized in a crisis. There are seeds of an interesting book, especially in the earlier part of the narrative, in which Maid Marian robs the rich of their illegally-purchased extra water rations. Once the focus shifts from doing this to seceding, the willfully naive libertarianism moves in and the charm wears off. ( )

Heavy topic. Read this for the Silicon Valley Reads event. Quite the dystopian tale. The author came to talk about the book and he was fantastic. It was difficult for me to read, as living in Northern California where we are in a horrendous drought, it made me apprehensive at what our fate might be. I've never wanted a drink of water or to relax in a tub more...but i'll forego that for now, as images of a drought ravaged Portland are fresh in my mind. ( )

I really enjoyed this book despite the fact it could have been helped by some additional editing. (to be fair some of these issues could have been due to e-book formatting.)
The story struck me as very cinematic, I could easily picture it as a movie or mini-series on the SyFy channel.
I liked the characters and found their actions believable aside from the fact the whole process of Maid Marion's nation building happened fairly quickly. The differences in belief and policy between the conventional government and her new country had interesting similarities to our country's current state.
I enjoyed the change in dystopian idea that this started slowly instead of being some cataclysmic event that brought on a huge change.
It was enjoyable, too, to read about the setting of Portland, Oregon where my daughter lives and we visit frequently. Recommended. ( )