The summary of this book may sound morbid, and it may be odd that it drew me in, but here we are. I like a mystery. Here is what my library’s audiobook / ebook app had as a synopsis: Suddenly and without precedent or explanation, something awful has been happening to teenagers across the globe, forcing parents to face a lonely future without their children. At the site of each loss, there lies a cryptic message, A11, which may be the clue to solving the crisis.
That sounds interesting, right? I had no idea it was teens committing suicide until I was already into the story. Then I had to find out why. Holy crap was it a bumpy ride. I listened to this as an audiobook, and by the end I was listening on 1.4x to 1.6x speed, just to get it over with. That’s not a good sign. There are probably 2 too many “parts” in this book.
It covers everything: suicide, opioid use, politics, religion, gun usage, gun laws, the Cheeto, sexual harassment, pedophilia, killer clowns, a prophet, a pet store, super rich people, super poor people, a bear, the Supreme court, potential child abductions, rape, military bases, illegal weapons, eating disorders, and I’m sure I could go on. Those are just off the top of my head. I mean this with all due respect to authors – we don’t need to know EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERYTHING!
There was just way too much. And it wasn’t worth it all in the end. I just read someone’s review on Goodreads, and I cannot say it any better, as it sums up all of my feelings:
“Reading Anthem was like taking a bath in misery, lotioning up with despair, then wrapping myself in a robe of depression. Global warming! Overpopulation! Animal extinction! Sex trafficking! COVID! Donald Trump! IF YOU’RE A KID INHERITING THIS MESS, JUST GO AHEAD AND OFF YOURSELF.”
See, she barely even mentioned the terrible topics I said above and I had so many! I forgot about the global warming. Do not read this book unless your prescription for antidepressants is up to date and your counselor is free for the month after you’re done reading. If you can’t tell, I would not recommend this! I’m only giving it 2 stars because it probably took a lot of time to write all those words!
