This is a tough one to review, I was absolutely captivated by this book and didn’t want to put it down. It felt very Handsmaid’s Tale/Sea of Tranquility. But at times it felt very surface level and I know it could have gone deeper into some of these social issues.

The year is 2049 and the world (specifically United States) is experiencing a global warming crisis. There are constant floods, hurricanes, and extreme heat making the south a largely unliveable space. Humans at this point are also implanted with a “flick” to provide them with a constant media feed to tap into. The world is a bleak dystopia and we follow three stories of survival and desperation.

I thought the characters were all well thought out, stakes were interesting enough to keep me invested and the pace was very quick. I especially loved the White Alice chapters and the dynamics of a female society.

The main problem I had with it was the very divisive view of men vs women. It was very clear from the beginning that men were either a tool to be used by women or a threat to women. I also wish there was a bit more discussion on land taken from aboriginal people. It’s such a big topic currently in Canada and I think that plot point deserved a bit more than a simple nod. These issues were not as nuanced as I wanted and instead seemed like a clear binary of good versus bad.

I thought the ending was ok, and I felt there was a lot of room for more story to be told. There was so much not told about each story that I feel like each story could have been its own book. Specifically I was interested a lot in the politics of the Loop and Floating City/repercussions of the Flick.

Cap Zero, told from multiple perspectives, explores the realities of a group of climate change survivors in a near-future northern settlement.

Good read for those who enjoy utopia based science fiction novels

* I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada, Knopf Canada in exchange for my honest review

I really liked the concept of this book, and also the way the three storylines came together. I didn't expect it to work out the way it did at all.

Even while being sick for a few days and not being able to read it, I was thinking about it and wondering what would happen next.. but overall it just felt a bit empty in parts? I went into it thinking it was a standalone book, so I was expecting a full, complete story. But the ending (and certain parts throughout) make me think that maybe it's intended to be the first in a series, or at least have a sequel.

If there is a sequel, I'll definitely read it. I feel like this book built up to so much that could happen, and I'd like to know how that all plays out.

I thought the premise of the book was interesting. It's a dystopia which takes place in 2049 and feels like it could realistically happen.

However, I found the first 50% of the book to be really slow, I didn't really feel the need to pick it up and keep reading. After that point, the action does pick up a bit, but it's really the last 20% that have a lot of action.

The story is told through 3 POVs and I really liked Rose's. She's a sex worker, hired to keep the head architect of the camp company, but secretely, she's been sent to spy on him. There's Grant's POV, who's at the camp to escape his famed family. I was often bored reading his POV. And finally, the 3rd POV is of a group of women, only telling their story as 'we'.

All three stories come together in the last 20% of the book, which is when the reader finally understants the full picture.

Camp Zero was an enjoyable read, though I wished there was a bit more action throughout the entirety of the story.

The world is a mess due to increasing climate disasters and only the extremely rich have any safety and resources. As the world becomes increasingly uninhabitable; dual story lines take place in the frozen Canadian North which has become a destination for those with money and those willing to exploit.

This book is well written. There are good characters and believable scenarios about a fight for resources and extreme wealth disparity. I enjoyed the writing and I enjoyed the dual story lines as I tried to guess how they would eventually intersect. The book kept me engaged right to the end.

'When my professor celebrated his book publication by ordering a case of New Zealand air."

'Men will build lies it it makes them feel safe,' Sal responded. "Even a radar station that has no purpose.'

'She'll take this memory of him with her and return to it again and again in the future, until it is soft and shimmering at the edges.'

Thank you to penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC. I really enjoyed this book. I am a huge fan of dystopian novels and the author created an interesting and realistic scenario for our future with global warming. It actually was so real it is totally possible that this is what our future looks like. It was written from three different perspectives. A bloom, Rose, Grant and the White Alice station. While it was a bleak look at what may happen to our world in the future, there was still hope in the writing. I would recommend this book.

A character driven dystopian story with black mirror vibes that takes place in the near future.

This book is a slow burn that subtly incorporates many current issues (race, climate change, technology, etc) and makes you question the world we're in now.

The author does such an amazing job at bringing everything together and making you think. This isn't for you if you prefer a more obvious storyline.

Definitely one I'll have to read again to better see the underlying issues and details.

I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

This book was a slow burn. Atmospheric, richly built characters, and a setting (both in places and times) that at once feel distant and unbelievable, yet all too real.

I’m telling you the twist at the end absolutely threw me for a loop. So brilliantly constructed & clever. I was very impressed.

I recommend this book for fans of cli-fi and character driven stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I would give this book overall a 3.5. I found the story and concept of climate change resulting in a dystopian near-future (2049 into 2050) to be interesting. The whole premise of the book is ultimately about what our world could look like if we don't get climate change under control. That being said, I found the author, although good at describing physical locations/surroundings, left a bit too much for the reader to infer as most of the effects of this climate/oil crisis were "off-page". The story is revealed through 3 different perspectives. Sometimes it was confusing to see the purpose of certain characters and figure out their motivations. They are not all who they appear to be, which does lend to a sense of mystery throughout the book. We go back and forth in time with flashbacks and some of them add context for the reader and some of them don't seem necessary. We have "Rose", who is one of the "Blooms" (basically prostitutes) who serve upper management "clients". Her motives are well laid out and easy to figure out. She wants a better life for herself and her mother. We are introduced to the other Blooms, but don't really get to know them in any real depth. Then there is Grant, who is running from his powerful family name so he goes to "teach" a bunch of roughneck "diggers" up North. I'm not sure what Grant really added to the story, and there was really only once that we even had him in the classroom "teaching" the Diggers. Then we have the group called "White Alice", which is made up of a group of female soldiers that are living at an isolated climate station. Some of the flashbacks with White Alice are confusing in terms of where in the timeline they're at with each flashback. Overall, I would have liked a bit more character development on some of the other key players (such as Meyer, the lead architect at the camp called "Camp Zero" and even The Barber - a local who returned to the area and works at the camp) etc.. The book was well written and for a first novel, it was a good kickstart for an author I'd read again. The beginning of the story was a bit slow, but towards the second half it picked up. I found the end a bit too abrupt for my liking, but I can see the effect that the author was going for. I would have liked to see if Rose and the other character she was with at the end managed to finish the job and find new lives etc. I would read from this author again as overall I did find the book to be well written and interesting.

Camp Zero exists in the North as a supposed refuge from the global warming crisis, but the real reason is to provide precious minerals for an upgraded Flick, which everyone has imbedded in their neck, both a connection to the Internet and a repository of memories. Rose, who lives in the Floating City on the east-coast of Boston, gets an undercover job in the northern camp as a hostess. Her job to service members of the Diggers, who are the workmen of the northern development. Even further north, is an abandoned group of military women, named White Alice, whose current mission is to survive and create replacements to run the station, to report back to the south.

Some of the Diggers and the hostesses had real connections, most though, were simply serviced by them. The military station had finite supplies and evidence was found of previous inhabitants. Resources often had to be stolen from the local towns and oilfields, often with force. Despite the warming world, the setting of the novel takes place in the far north, where survival depends on staying warm and having enough food.

I enjoyed the story, the characters and the setting. The violence at times is not believable, maybe a little too mater of fact, though does not detract from an interesting story of survival.

This was probably my first time reading this genre, and it is not one I would typically pick up, but I am sure glad I did! I recently read Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton, and this book was a fantastic follow up, as it takes place in the not too distant future, in Alberta’s oil sands after a global climate crisis and collapse of the fossil fuel industry. I think it’s one of those novels that is better to go into blind, and let the twists unfold as you read. There were times when I felt a bit lost, as the reader isn’t given the characters backstories but that is by design. It all came together at the end and I found myself cheering for the main characters. The final ending was not quite what I hoped would happen but it leaves the door open for a possible sequel? Impressive first book by the author. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is Read With Jenna’s April pick. It’s speculative fiction, which is not a genre that gets a lot of love from book clubs. Personally, it’s not a genre I enjoy reading with the exception of Station Eleven and all of Emily St. John Mandel’s books.

The basic premise is climate change has affected “the south” aka U.S., and the government has bought up parts of northern Canada. The book follows the early settlers/scientists who are trying to start a new world order, which is called camp zero.

The book is told from 3 POVS

Rose - Rose and her mother have had a tough go in the south due to catastrophic storms. Rose agrees to take a job in camp zero to help her and her mother secure a better life and living situation. She will be housed with “The Blooms” in an upscale brothel. She and the other women will tend to the needs of the new order elite.

Grant - Grant comes from a bougie family in the south. After a life altering event, he leaves them to become a teacher in camp zero. He is a client of The Blooms.

White Alice - This is a group of early scientists who were left in an area called White Alice. Think of them as Matt Damon in The Martian but there is only one character with a name. The rest are just background.

I never really got into any of the characters. I’m all for plot driven books, but this wasn’t that either. Everything felt very surface in both emotion and action. I would’ve liked either the entire story told from Rose’s POV OR short chapters focusing on plot. This was promised as a page-turner but I felt myself bored through most of it. I think it’s a clever concept but the fractured nature of it left me in the wilderness.

Camp Zero was a great read that will be of interest to anyone who enjoys post-apocalyptic fiction. I enjoyed the way it explored women's power, questions of family and loyalty, and what might be ahead for humans on this warming planet. This was an excellent debut, and I'll be watching for more from Michelle Min Sterling.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This vision of the future is frightening, but only too real in this day of global warming and climate change. Camp Zero is a settlement in Northern Canada where climate researchers are working and people are trying to survive however they can in a changing world. I found this book a little hard to get into but ultimately was worth the read.

Firstly I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Set in a semi-dystopian future, where the Earth's climate is becoming almost unlivable, and people have a direct link to the internet implanted into their brain, "Rose" is beginning a new contract as an escort at a base in the far north of Canada. We follow Rose and college-TA Grant as they live and work at Camp Zero, as well as the group of scientists at a base called White Alice, learning to live and thrive in this new and dangerous world.

The concept of this book was great, and I did really like the story. The writing was well done, but I felt like it lost focus sometimes. The pacing was really slow, and I didn't really feel like we were progressing anywhere until about 75% of the way through the book.

Pitched as a dystopian thriller, it felt more like a character study for most of the book, and I think could have benefitted from spending more time on the current timelines rather than wrapped up as much in the memories of the characters.

I am sorry but I can’t leave a review as I didn’t finish the book.I am not saying it was bad but I just couldn’t get into it.

Sterling is a Canadian author who now teaches in Massachusetts and this is her first novel. It is set in the near future in the Canadian north, in a world where increased temperatures and higher sea water levels have dramatically changed the world. Rose agrees to take a job in a brothel at a camp in the north in order to spy on the architect in exchange for housing for her mother in a comfortable and safe 'Floating City'. Also new to the camp is Grant, a young teacher who wants to distance himself from his wealthy family. At the camp there are rumours of a group called White Alice, an elite group of women who live and work at a Cold War era radar station a few days drive away. This is a complicated story with a feminist bent that imagines what life could be like in the future of our warming world and is a good recommendation for fans of dystopian stories.

this was a really interesting story. Climate fiction, futuristic Floating City, a bit of a mystery, some family drama, military involvement, science !! A little bit of everything.
I liked the MC, Rose, immediately. Her story was engaging from the start. (I do appreciate the normalizing of sex workers in the story, as well. )
There were two storylines going on in the book, and i didn't realize the different time frames right away. I liked the way that they ended up dovetailing.
I would definitely read a continuing story involving Rose.

I really enjoyed this book. There is a note at the beginning talking about the radar stations in Northern Canada. I had in my head she meant the Loran system (a completely different thing) so had in my head a visual image of White Alice based on my own knowledge of that station. It did help with the visual, even though it wasn't the right visual. My mistake, not the author's!

This book proves how important good characterization is for me. By the time we reach the end, the fact I care about certain characters left me reeling. Without giving anything away, there is a dichotomy that is so brilliantly done that the ending is a bit disconcerting.

And I'm really hoping the ending means there is room for a sequel, because that would be brilliant!

I was excited to read Camp Zero, as it sort of reminded me of Station 11 another dystopian novel that takes place in Canada and the US.

Camp Zero takes place in the future where the oil is gone and people have destroyed the continent, the rich live on a floating island off the coast while the less fortunate live in what is now basically a wasteland. Told from multiple points of view, Rose the main character and another know as White Alice.

The story was interesting, but a bit slow. I felt that it could have been sped up just a bit. Good for fans of dystopian novels.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada and Knopf Canada for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars rounded to 4. Publishing April 4, 2023.