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All City
All City: A Novel | Alex Difrancesco
1 post | 2 read
All City is more than a novel, it's a foreshadowing of a world to come. In a near-future New York City ravaged by climate change and economic inequality, a superstorm hits, leaving behind only those who had nowhere else to go and no way to get out. Among those who remain are 24-year-old Makayla, who works in the citys most ubiquitous convenience store chain, and Jesse, an 18-year-old, genderqueer anarchist living in an abandoned IRT station in the Bronx. In the aftermath of the storm, Jesse joins Makaylas group of remainders in an abandoned luxury condo building, carving out a small sanctuary in the midst of a destroyed city. Meanwhile, mysterious, colorful murals begin to appear throughout NYC, bringing hope to the forsaken and left-behind. But the storms castaways arent the only ones who find beauty in the art: the media, having long abandoned the supposedly-hopeless metropolis, discovers the emergence of the murals. When one appears on Makayla and Jesses repurposed luxury condo, it is only a matter of time before the landlord class comes back to claim the city for themselves.
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review
ReadingEnvy
All City: A Novel | Alex Difrancesco
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Pickpick

When this novel begins, a storm is coming to New York, one bad enough that most of the people with resources have left to hole up in their "other homes," but it's New York and there are plenty who don't think any storm can really destroy the city. Superstorm Bernice hits, the waters travel farther than people expected, and don't recede. ⤵️

ReadingEnvy All of the sudden nobody is completely prepared to deal with the situation, and even though water is everywhere, you know the saying, not a drop to drink. And people with resources are not necessarily making humanitarian or ethical decisions, so violence and danger abound.
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5y
ReadingEnvy The story has alternating viewpoints, which is something I usually like, but there were some places where I felt it muddied the waters a little bit. I was most invested in the first character introduced - Makayla. There is a fair amount of diverse representation in this novel (racial, gender, sexuality, financial.)⤵️ 5y
ReadingEnvy I like how the homeless characters are more prepared with the skills to survive in this kind of situation, ironic since their homelessness has at times been caused by the increasing gentrification of areas they can no longer afford. While we get some hints of the community that is being built moving forward, I'd actually like to see the next part of the story. I've always been more into the post than the apocalypse.

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5y
47 likes3 comments