Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the Reader's Copy!

Now available on Amazon, Barnes&Noble and Indie Bookstore.

Catherine Hernandez's dystopian fantasy "Crosshairs" seems all too close to reality today with immigration detention camps across the United States, reports of forced sterilizations and "iceboxes" and a resurgence of hate crimes and hate groups. After all, slightly less than 50% of the country voted for a man who condoned white supremacist groups like the Proud Boys this November.

The story follows Filipino drag queen Kay after a traumatizing conversion effort by his mother's conservative church community. As he starts to work as a dishwasher in a local drag bar, Kay is mesmerized by the host & discovers a passion for a new line of work. Unbeknownst to Kay, though, his blissful domestic paradise is about to be shattered when a hate group, The Boots, starts to relegate all minorities into concentration camp. Yeah, it gets wilder and wilder as the story continues with indigenous activist groups, underground rebel factions and some good old political subterfuge.

Crosshairs is an inventive novel that confronts our present reality, our precarious precious hold on life itself. Hernandez asks her readers what they would do themselves to protect their lives, their loved ones and their very humanity. A stirring call to action and stunning tour de force.

This was a challenging read full of disarming and dauntless truth. Though a dystopian in some near-future, it doesn’t feel as unbelievable as it really should.

The author weaves a plethora themes into this story of heart and pain and fight. Three specific themes that stand out to me in particular were humanity, (performative and non-performative) allyship, and intersectionality.

The writing was exceptional with almost a poetic or lyrical quality evoking visceral imagery and emotion. Relatively short in length but expansive in breadth and depth.

I always keep an eye on dystopian books. I feel that the most successful ones are authored by people that have the ability to see beyond our present into a very imaginable future. I think back on books like Fahrenheit 451, A Clockwork Orange, Feed, Animal Farm. All of these books imagined something that might have felt extreme at the time, but reading them now in the present that the author imagined, I begin to see parallels. I always look at where and when the author existed in history and I can connect the dots and see what went wrong that allowed the words of an imagined reality to haunt our present. Dystopians don't entertain me as much as they shake me awake using fictional narratives laden with the truth of where we are in the past and present history of our lives.

Crosshairs follows Canada in the wake of a "Reconstruction". A world leader has sewn seeds of terror and promises of violence at the hands of those who look and identify differently from the rest of the community. His solution? Round up everyone that does not fall in the superior category of white and straight. The people outside of these parameters are labeled "Others" and are rounded up to be imprisoned in work camps. We meet our main character Queen Kay, a Drag Queen on the run from the government's enforcers. He hides in the basement of someone he hopes he can trust to keep him hidden and nourished.

I wish I could sit here typing this in the after tremors of having read Crosshairs and confidently state "there is no way we would ever allow this to happen to the Black and Indigenous People of Color in our community. We wouldn't round up our friends and family members that identify somewhere in the brilliance of the LGBTQIA+ rainbow. That would take so much silence and ignorance!" The parallels of where this book starts and where reality begins holds little to no fiction. The recognition of this forced me to keep reading when I really wanted to put this down and pick up something light.

The writing here was emotionally challenging to read through. After only a couple pages, I felt the bond of my attachment to the characters, but the author had already laid a very clear picture of where this story was headed and it filled me with so much worry for the characters I had come to love.

Recently my husband and I were discussing books that left us with very clear mental images anytime we saw the cover or heard the title. We both named books that we could clearly recall specific scenes in the book we had imagined in our heads , thanks to the powerful imagery the author had put to work. Crosshairs left me with so many mental imaginings that will long outlast the ending of this novel. Some imaginings give me hope, some make me take stock of what I have allowed through the violence of my silence.



⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars


Content Warning:

homophobia, racism, scenes of violence and torture.


Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Publishing for a copy of Crosshairs in exchange for an honest review!


Crosshairs is out now, and available on bookshelves near you!

Everything Catherine Hernandez writes is perfection. Her words have me tearing up yet again. Crosshairs is brutal but relevant. This story is set in a dystopian future yet it’s like peering through the looking glass. This is the tightrope we, as a people, are walking on. Will we choose destruction or love?

Also, A+ for an inclusive, diverse set of characters that aren’t paraded in a performative way.

Crosshairs is a dystopian novel with elements of social justice that definitely hits close to home due to the worlds current events. The LGBTQ+ community and POC are forced into concentration camps. This future world went through massive floods leading to homelessness and hunger while the rich do nothing about it. The parallels between the book and real life in Trump’s America made it very thought provoking and eye opening.

I loved the representation of the LGBTQ+ and people of color characters who were all very strong and well rounded. They each had a personality to them and I cared about each one. We get to hear everyones backstory and what they went through to get where they are now. I also loved the Canadian setting as most dystopian novels take place in America or some unknown land.

Though this was such a heart breaking read, the underlying central theme of hope was continuous and prominent. Hernandez has beautiful writing that is easy to read but has a poetic feel to it as well. Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and even though I finished it a few days ago, I still have been thinking about it.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Atria books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honesty review.

A complicated and coarse book, Crosshairs will feel like a revelation if you have a hard time paying attention to the struggles of multiply marginalized people and rather like a Tuesday if you are one. Some books will envelop you in warmth with their recognition and this book is not that. I often felt like it was speaking for me at a privileged audience instead of conspiratorially with me or to me.

Well, this is one of those books that I think I came across at the wrong time in my life, and without getting into details I think others might quite enjoy this dystopian (but not so far off) future and the characters there. For me, it felt a little too hamfisted, and I think I enjoy my metaphors / messaging a bit more subtle. I had similar thoughts about N. K. Jemisin's The City We Became, which many others thoroughly enjoyed. So, definitely check it out if you enjoyed that one!

Crosshairs is a dystopian story told by Catherine Hernandez in such a powerful and poignant manner that it is heartbreaking and uplifting simultaneously.
This centers around our protagonist, a drag queen who knows as a young boy that he is different and suffers through many abuses before being set free into the world of Toronto, Canada to discover who he really is. He finds himself working as a dishwasher in a bar that features drag shows. While there, he becomes enamored by a more experienced drag queen who mentors him and helps him create his on stage personality. It is through this background that we see how his life changes due to the people and events occurring around him.
As is the case of fascist regimes, they slowly evolve into more rights eroding from those that are considered the underclass. This can be based on immigration, race, poverty, age or disability. Anything that sets one apart from those who have power are fair game.
I loved so many quotes throughout this book that serve as a warning to us all. One of the most important points was when Kay was able to explain why it took so long for them to understand how much they were being turned into second class citizens and therefore in real danger. She states all the warnings that were there and explained away by assuming that this could never happen because it is Canada. Masquerading as a movement for all Canadians, together with the USA, as a program called Two Nations, One Vision leading to The Renovation. This program started in response to the real struggles people faced after flooding and economic downturns. Presented as a way for the countries to help those in need, it was a widely celebrated approach. The downside was hidden from the light.
There is something for many readers in this novel. There is the warnings about fascism and how it spreads, not because everything blows up suddenly, but in the slowly cascading loss of people’s humanity. There is discussion about how the ravages of climate change might affect the reality of life as we know it. There is love and loss, friendship and hardship, bigotry and allyship.
I honestly can’t say enough great things about this book. It’s a hard book to read at times because of its honesty in uncovering these difficult issues.
This is for the reader who likes a dystopian story that challenges you to find compassion and understanding. This book will not disappoint you. I feel like I will be thinking about this story and these characters for a long time.
#Crosshairs #Netgalley #AtriaBooks

This books feels like a reality that we could tip into at anytime. There are too many people in power and people who support the hate towards the LGBT+ community that would thrive in the reality that Crosshairs imagines. It is quite horrifying, which is why it is so good. I loved the fact that the story did not focus on a white protagonist and loved seeing the intersectionality that is desperately needed in queer stories because their stories a far different than what is shown in mainstream storytelling. I also loved the flashbacks to Kay's time in drag and that is was a wonderful period in their life. Sometimes the dialogue was a little clunky but it is okay because this is such a powerful read that will make plenty of people mad.

What can I say? This book covered A LOT. From intersectionality to performative allyship. Crosshairs was a story that examined a dystopian society wrecked by an environmental disaster and how they responded. I often have conversations about 'burning down the system' as a way to address white supremacy and I think Crosshairs was an example of how society would react after being burnt down.

We are thrown into a new Canada - a country that is recovering from an environmental disaster and is seeing a rise in discriminatory practices. Bigots are being recognized as national heroes and heralded for doing the "Renovation."BIPOC, LGBTQIA folks, immigrants, and other marginalized folks are being classified as "Others" and are being rounded up by the "true Canadians." There were a lot of similarities to current and past human rights violations; internment camps, religious cleansing, illegal sterilization, hate crimes, and other triggering events take place throughout our journey with Kay.

Kay, the son of Filipino and Jamaican immigrants, is writing love letters to his lover, Evan, and detailing just how things have flipped upside down. We are navigating this dystopian, yet very possible society through the eyes of Kay who is a gay, femme, drag queen who is on the run. While on the run, Kay meets a group of other folks who are escaping the "Renovation" as well. We are exposed to the additional atrocities through the shared stories of the friends Kay encounters while being on the run.

THIS BOOK IS HEAVY. I wish Hernandez would've shined a little more light on Kay's Filipino side to really examine how ethnicity and culture would shape his upbringing. I also wish the characters were developed a little more. They seemed very predictable and at times I found myself getting a little bored with some of them.

I highly recommend picking this up.

CW: Ableism, bullying, child abuse, child death, deadnaming, death, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, genocide, gun violence, hate crime, homophobia, Islamophobia, kidnapping, physical abuse, police brutality, racial slurs, racism, rape, religious bigotry, sexism, sexual violence, suicide, suicidal thoughts, torture, transphobia, violence, and xenophobia. - thanks to Casey the reader for this extensive list!

*Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I was provided with a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A dystopian tale set in Canada where Others have been rounded up to work in warehouses under the guise of being in exchange for free food and shelter.

The writing of this book truly draws the reader in and feels very real. The balance between the present and the past helped me understand Kay and decisions made.

I was a bit disappointed with the ending - feeling like it was building to a grand moment that felt rushed, but ultimately the message I took from the story that rang true throughout : “We all deserve to live”

Beautifully done.

Crosshairs is AMAZING. It is a book that offers something for all readers to connect with, but not in an unnatural or gimmicky way. This book is just as real as they come, and no one can look away after reading and say they haven't been profoundly affected.

This is a view of a country that is just one step further than where the United States (and many other seemingly democratic nations) sits at the moment. It is a harsh wake up call and a call for change, to make sure that nothing like this ever happens in a place we call home. I thought it was especially clever of Hernandez to set this book in Canada, a place that many view as a liberal bastion compared to the chaotic politics of the U.S. However, Hernandez makes clear that a fascist, corrupt government can form anywhere, regardless of whatever high global standing a country might be considered to have. Hernandez also turns the global ignorance of genocide on its head—one might expect that such a thing would never happen in such an "advanced" country, someone else would step in, the world wouldn't just sit around and watch. But that isn't necessarily true—just as the U.S. ignores genocide happening elsewhere in the world, other countries would happily do the same when it suits their interest. This is a call to action and activism, to take up arms for positive change in your own country because no one will be around later to rescue you but yourself.

Pushing that mini-rant aside (where did that even come from, I've no idea...), this is a novel that is about love and freedom. While the dystopian setting and plot are harsh, scary, and bring activism to the forefront, this story is one that is driven by love from the first page. There is amazing representation, of LGBTQ2S voices, of Black and Brown voices, of people from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. It is genuine, heartfelt, powerful, and beautiful. I fell in love with each character and learned and felt so much from each of their stories. I think everyone can find themselves reflected in this story and the characters who come alive within it.

Hernandez expertly dives into the layers of identity, and how queerness and race intersect. It is a complex topic, and there were moments that characters made mistakes. I really appreciated how Hernandez addressed those conflicts in a way that is both perfectly fitting within the book, and within our own lives, yet nothing felt like a "teaching moment" or out of place. Perfection!

This novel is real, powerful, eye-opening, beautiful, loving, and empowering. It will make you feel all the feelings, and everyone needs to read it!! Definitely one of my 2020 faves!

Well written, decent style. My problem is with the pedantry of the advocacy and the potentially offensive comparisons to the actual Nazi holocaust. Can we, even those of us trans queer community, really envision a dystopian parallel coming about? I can't, and I don't think any but the most ardent would. This book will work for the author's friends - but not for many of the wider potential readership

As a dystopian fiction devotee, I found #Crosshairs to be well thought, brave tale of breaking social injustice in a fascist regime in future CANADA. At less than 300 pages, the author has given us a complete novel and she hasn’t censored any facts. She has speculated happenings based on REAL and CURRENT EVENTS, and its scary! The story will hit hard for BIPOC folx (folks), more specifically queer BIPOC folx. These/Us folx are called as The Others in this biased future; they are marginalised, sent to concentration camps, taken advantage of, abused, and even executed just for existing. This story scared me and made me uncomfortable more than any horror/crime novel I have ever read. Why? Because, pain of the characters felt so real and these depicted happenings have a potential to become a painful future.

Race and privilege are the focal points in this story. The author emphasises on the fact that race is a visible identity, that cannot be unseen/changed, no matter what. Like a light at the end of the tunnel, this story also made me realise the power of willingness, friendship and love!

It is ok if you don’t understand my review. But please make time to read this book. I just wish this story will stay as a scary nightmare. EVERYONE DESERVES TO LIVE.

Thank you Netgalley & Atria books for the arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

A powerful novel about a young gay biracial drag queen (Kay) who's livelihood becomes uncertain following the uprising a fascist regime. I felt like 60% of this book were the strongest. Interesting, creative plot but I felt the ending was rushed. Catherine Hernandez is a fantastic and brave author. "Crosshairs" will make you uncomfortable, but this story is vital in today's climate. People use their political beliefs to treat people who think and live differently from them badly. There's a lot of inhumane treatment including work camps (more like concentration camps), rape, torture, and murder. Usually I'm not a fan of dystopian novels, but this book was excellent, scary, and oh so realistic.

Thank you, Netgalley and Atria for the digital ARC.

I didn't know what to expect when I started Crosshairs. I knew the general gist: queer, femme, drag queen recounts their experience living in a dystopian near future that is run by a fascist regime. BUT, it is so much more.

Kay is Filipino and Jamaican, he's gay and he is a drag queen. I've seen some reviews make jokes about the intersectional identities that Kay has and those folx missed the point. The point is that social identities are real and they often can't be fit into boxes. Intersectionality is extremely important in Crosshairs because it is about what happens when folx at the intersection of many marginalized identities are taken advantage of, are treated unfairly, are disenfranchised and abused. And it asks the question, what will you do?

Crosshairs is set in Canada during a time that could be now. Folx will read this and think "this can't happen now" - I want to tell you it is happening now.

- Trans folx are being murdered without consequence, Black trans women in particular.
- The disenfranchisement, hate crimes, racial abuse that people of color face daily
- The incarceration of people of color, especially Black men
- The genocide of Native and Indigenous people, especially the forced sterilization and stealing of their lands
- The use of detention centers for undocumented immigrants, separation of children from parents, and extreme abuses

Hernandez isn't making things up - this is all based on history and current events. And it's extremely scary. As we read about Kay's current circumstances, in hiding from the Boots because he is deemed an "Other", we also learn about what led to this. How white folx either created this system or let it happen. How folx who have a proximity to whiteness tried to separate themselves from the "Other". And how people continued to fight back. As Kay makes connections within the Resistance, we learn what fighting back looks like against a wide-spread systemic oppression, white supremacy and racism.

This is a beautiful story. It is also extremely sad and made me so angry. Reading it I had a pit in my stomach: I wanted Kay to be safe. I wanted Bahadur to be safe. And I wanted there to be a positive resolution but my hopes were set so low because I pessimistically know that happy endings in our world are rare. There will definitely be Handmaid's Tale references and connections but this is so much more, and I love HMT. The biggest difference is the diversity - there are trans folx, queer folx, Black folx, Muslim folx, folx with disabilities (although I definitely hear the criticism with how those folx are treated. I need to think more and reflect about how my biases might have overlooked folx with disabilities while I read this story.) And there is a great thread about what it means for white folx to be allies, what it looks like to actively unlearn and relearn while not having their learning happen because folx with non-dominant identities are teaching. One of the white characters, Liv, asks another white character "What horrible thing are you willing to watch before you understand that you have to change first?" and that felt so real to me because everyday we are able to watch horrible things happen and just stand by.

Crosshairs also shows how often white queer folx in particular are able to survive and thrive because they are white and they can shake off their "otherness". Hernandez says: "We aren't white boys who can take off the gay like a coat, hang it up in a closet, then lock ourselves in that closet." Although intersectionality is critically important in this story, Hernandez stresses that race is a pinnacle focal point because it is a visible identity, one that we can't take off.

I truly loved this book and it made me cry: cry for the state of our world. Cry for the ways that I fail folx from non-dominant identities everyday. Cry for the ways that I am failed by people who have different privileges than me. Cry for the characters, knowing that they can be real people in the world right not experiencing similar injustices. But this book also reminded me of hope, of the importance of love and friendship especially during hard times. And how critical it is to keep fighting. Because "when I do not act, I am complicit!" and I won't be complicit.

My name is Jess Lee. I am the mother of Charlie Gegenheimer and the wife of Fred Gegenheimer. I deserve to live. Queer people deserve to live. Trans people deserve to live. Disabled people deserve to live. Indigenous people deserve to live. We deserve to live.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for a copy to review.


*this review will be posted on my bookstagram - @literaryintersections

I loved reading from Kay’s perspective— he is such a strong character with so much hope in the face of adversity. I particularly loved the juxtaposition between his old life as a drag performer, and his new life in hiding/learning to fight back.

There is a really great paragraph that flips between a flashback of putting on makeup to perform, and a present-day scene in which Kay learns to load a gun. It’s so easy to root for Kay and empathize with the harrowing situations he deals with.

Unfortunately, the writing style didn’t really work for me. I found that the side characters were underdeveloped, to the point where I felt little connection with any of them besides Kay.

The dialogue also felt forced at times— the lessons that we are supposed to gather from this book are neatly spelled out in the characters’ conversations. I just don’t think that characters in a traumatic dystopian scenario would speak that way, and I think a more nuanced reveal of this book’s takeaways would make it a more powerful read.

Despite my issues with the writing, I do think this book is needed. It brings up important points about privilege and how easy it would be for our world to shift into the nightmare scenario laid out for us here. Reading this during the 2020 election made it all the more real (and terrifying)!

Fans of dystopians and those looking for books with a diverse cast of characters should pick this one up!

Crosshairs by Catherine Hernandez is a piece of art. This book put itself into my soul and so carefully wound itself into me and through me. Although dystopic, this book felt so real that I often had to step away to jerk myself back into reality - topics like climate change, LGBTQ2S+ rights, the forced sterilization of Indigenous women and more were covered so honestly, so raw-ly, and each layer is intersected with each other in a beautiful and difficult way.

Our main character, Queen Kay, a Filipino-Jamaican drag queen, and her journey showed to me so much strength & perseverance, love & joy, within a life of intense hardship and sadness. Although often difficult to read, by the end this book to me shows the beauty of what could happen; a blooming bud amidst the ash. This book is so excellently written and I am keen to read more from Catherine Hernandez.

Post incoming 12/8 on https://www.instagram.com/bookedwithemma/

This is a hard book to review, mostly because it represents experiences, hardships, and desires that my identity shields me from — I’m not an Own Voices reviewer for this one. So I urge you to seek out Own Voices reviews as you decide whether you want to read this one.

Crosshairs tells the story of a near-dystopian future that feels too realistic. Catastrophic weather events caused by climate change have pushed people with privilege to turn their back on “Others” — essentially anyone who isn’t white, cis, straight, able-bodied, or passing for all those things — and the Canadian government has begun a genocide of Others disguised economic recovery. The main character, a queer Black drag queen, is on the run when he’s swept up into the heart of the revolution, which is Other-led and ally-assisted.

What I really liked: I thought the premise of this book was excellent and compelling and important, and I was drawn into the story and these characters. Obviously Hernandez has shown us a future that is really not outside the realm of possibility at all. She’s written from the perspective of one character whose experiences in a dystopia like this would matter most. And, perhaps most importantly for me, she’s created the sort of ideal structure of a revolution — led by the Others, and assisted by those with privilege who fight their unconscious biases every day to center and amplify Others’ voices.

The thing that has me torn on this book is the writing. I didn’t necessarily feel like the plot followed a shape that built up toward the end like you might expect from a story like this, so I found myself 75% of the way through and more than capable of setting it down and doing something else. Only the last chapter really felt like a climactic moment. The writing also felt very heavy handed, sometimes bordering on cheesy. But ultimately, that may have actually been the point. Hernandez is sort of begging allies to get the picture here.

So while I don’t think this book was perfect, I do think that it is very much worth reading, especially for those of us who strive to be allies to those who face discrimination and violence.

TRIGGER WARNINGS
Racism, homophobia, and transphobia: language, aggression, violence, suppression; Child abuse/conversion therapy; Suicide; Dating violence

Crosshairs is such an important and meaningful and difficult book. Not difficult to read, but difficult in the truths it lies bare about the divisions and prejudices our society holds about anyone who is different. Catherine Hernandez dives deeply into the intersection of race and sexuality, describing a world of systemic, targeted violence to eradicate people of color, particularly LGBTQIA+ POC, through death or relegation to work camps. What provides the element of horror to this book is that the way Hernandez plots this out is totally plausible; a step by step militancy overriding the government, the covering up of a work camp program as something benefit to those “hanging onto the system.” Set in Toronto, Hernandez knows this is a world just removed from our current reality.

And yet, despite the hard parts to read, there is so much care and love and authenticity in her portrayal our each character. Hernandez writes this book to show the strengths in the bonds of chosen family, the depths of community care. She details the complexity of discovering who you are and growing into that identity, even if it is one you are reviled for. There is joy in each character’s memories that build their resilience as they organize to fight the enemy. It’s just a necessary and real portrayal of the beauty of each of them, giving voice and space to several narratives in the LGBTQIA+ umbrella.

It’s a book I definitely recommend, and with the TWs of violence and racial and sexuality slurs. This book will shock you, but also hold you. It will ask you to see the damage in society’s narrative and ask you to have hope.