INITIAL THOUGHTS:
I finished The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders yesterday. I needed to sit with it, and I will continue sitting with it for a hot minute. Anders has created a world that maybe isn’t too far off from our own, at least in the way that we tend to segregate our societies and look at people who look for change, when change is frowned on. There are similarities to our capitalist societies in the world of January.
The humans have colonized this world and aren’t much better than we are at destroying something that doesn’t belong to us and taking for granted for what it has provided. The strictness of those that follow strict time and are worried about it as it passes, but not enough to break a cycle, the influx of many parties attempting to overthrow each other for made up power, and the willingness of one to attempt to change the world and work with those that other’s fear because they are different…
You can see all the similarities to our current societies and the dire warning of the book (that is also given to our society) that is ignored (make the roof stronger before the next cyclone… instead of how can we change in order to prevent the next cyclone…) is written well and hopefully heeded by those reading it.
The characters though… whew. SPOILERS
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DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Sophie:
Sophie starts out as a quiet friend. She is
- dragged into the night after curfew
- made an example of for trying to save Bianca
- and left for dead
Sophie is saved by The Gelet, yet is betrayed over and over by those who should love her. It’s frustrating to watch her repeatedly return to a friend she loves, only to be continually shown that the love isn’t returned. But it is real life there. That relationship where you want the person to change so much that you are willing to do so much just to get a glimpse of who you think they are underneath. It is THAT relationship. Even at the end, there was a moment that I thought Sophie might try again to sway the world’s opinion of Bianca… but in the end… beauty and kindness and finding those that really would do anything for you.
Bianca:
This woman is the antagonist you love to hate. She has it all.
- money
- beauty
- fame
Bianca is supposed to be Sophie’s friend, but when she finds Sophie alive, Bianca gaslights her into helping. She is such a terrible person. She’s so manipulative in her ways. She knows Sophie’s weaknesses and exploits them to a fault. The love/hate you feel for the character is a testament to how well she is written. And the relationship she has with Sophie is so powerful. It is the epitome of an emotionally abusive relationship. The hold is strong until the bitter end.
Mouth:
Mouth may be my favorite character. I know it’s supposed to be Sophie, and I love her too, but Mouth the most understated character. I love her ambition and fearlessness, even when her hands and body no longer did what she wanted them to do, she was loyal to all she cared about. She carried around the guilt of many things, but in the end she was the one that held power to bring the good together.
The Gelet:
What a fascinating species. They reminded me of the alien species from Hail Mary(https://bookshop.org/a/89840/9780593135204) in their societal thinking. Their story is both heartbreaking and amazing. No sense of time, group empathy, no secrets… yet still sadness. Their society is almost utopian. I love that they love and want to help and share. I love that Sophie found them and worked with them, and, in my mind, will save the world.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I try to not read others opinions of books before I start them. I have definitely not been a fan of many popular books. But I did read reviews of this book that really annoyed me. Many didn’t like the way the book ended. It could have gone on, but Anders made her point.
Sophie tried to share her gift with Bianca and help, but it didn’t go well. Bianca wanted to experiment on her “friend.” She shared with Jeremy and it went better, but not ideal. He wanted to take Bianca and the new regime down. But when she shared with Alyssa, she figured it out. She learned how to share so that others would listen and understand.
In my mind, things would slowly get better. All the people would hear Sophie’s message in January. This one step showed that she had figured it out. I’m not sure what else others wanted.
I’m interested to see what our book clubbers will think.
RATING:
I give this book a 4.5 out of 5.