Yours For the Taking is a book that tackles a lot of big questions: How do we solve gender inequality? In what ways does power corrupt morality? Who decides what people to save at the end of the world and what are the consequences of that? What do humans need to live fulfilling lives? What type of society do we want to build for our future generations? And so much more!

I was honestly stressed the whole time reading this book because it felt so immediate. It's set in the near future (roughly 2050-2080s) and the impacts of climate change and state of the world felt so real. It's like watching your worst nightmares come true. But in an entertaining way, for sure!

I loved the whole cast of characters, although Brook and July were definitely my favourite, particularly their sisterly bond. There was a lot of great rep among the characters, including characters who were lesbian, queer, non-binary, and trans. Although I wish we got more of how those identities informed certain experiences, particularly with the Inside.

Overall, I flew through this book and it really got me thinking, which I always appreciate in a sci-fi. I gave it 4.5/5 stars (rounded to 5 stars on NetGalley).

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC. All thoughts expressed in this review are my own.

YOURS FOR THE TAKING by Gabrielle Korn is a great read. It's a compelling take on the climate crisis and how it could--or could not--be changed. The author thoroughly skewers the "billionaires in space" escape that seems so popular now as well as the uber-rich white feminist philanthropist "savior" the media loves to center. Even though Jacqueline Millender's actions or attitudes were a bit predictable, I was still hooked on the story and could not quit reading. Many of the characters were richly written and very compelling. I especially enjoyed reading the story lines about the younger generation, those who were born on The Inside. Korn brilliantly fleshes the answer to that "what if" question in the book. The only reason I'm giving this four stars is because of the character Olympia, a Black woman. Other than the scene where Olympia meets with Jacqueline for the first time (and Jacqueline delivers a dozen microagressions and several overtly racist statements), she sounds and acts like all of the white characters. The author, who, as far as I know, is white; her choice to write a Black character from a first person POV did not work.

I really enjoyed Yours for the Taking by Gabrielle Korn, with its unique futuristic forecast of our society. Great concepts, examining sexuality and gender roles, as well as mother-daughter bonds, and new rules of society. Was an interesting and captivating read! Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the Advanced Reader Copy. All opinions are my own.

I really liked the plot here, the premise is very interesting and really sets the stage for a unique post apocalyptic world. I was a bit disappointed in the end by a couple things but I do still like the premise here and that kept me reading. The story is told from the point of view of characters both inside and outside, I liked that both were included and it gave a nice perspective. In the end though there are 8 separate perspectives and it made it a bit difficult to connect with any one character and also made the progress feel a bit disjointed. In particular one POV is from a person in the future in the form of excerpts from a book being written on the happenings of the Inside, these pulled me from the story and were in general a bit disruptive to the flow in my opinion. The excerpts and outside perspectives also reveal to the reader details of the goings on far before anything really happens, making the actual finale a bit anticlimactic. From all this I was waffling between 3 and 4 stars but the end was sort of a disappointment, leaving the reader in the dark about what happens to one of the characters. I was looking forward to hearing what eventually happens here only to find that we aren't told, maybe an opening for a sequel but overall left me feeling like it was unfinished. I like the premise a lot and feel like it had some great potential but some of the storytelling just wasn't what I was hoping for here. It was an ok read and I would try something by this author in the future.

I'm not generally one for science fiction but enjoy a good dystopian story. This story really had me enthralled for a good bit. The thought process behind this new world called Inside. The feminist point of view in how all the worlds problems could be attributed to men (which in many ways could be considered on point). Trying to build a calmer, more peaceful life. It was great...until it wasn't. In the end, egomania is found amongst females and males and power corrupts everything. I wasn't super keen on the ending...made me feel like there may be a second book but I'm not sure I'd read more of this story line at this point. 3.5 stars.

An intriguing cli-fi novel that's notable mostly for the representation and female forward cast and plot. That said, the science is iffy at best (and sometimes downright sideways) so you'll have to go with it occasionally. Focus on the drama between the women and know that it does take big leaps in time. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Interesting if not as engaging as I'd hoped.

It's a compelling read - is the future feminine? And if so, what version? Is it cis white corporate "girlboss" feminism? What is a family? Can you choose your family? The ideas are interesting, and the characters varied. I did think it ended a bit quickly, although at least on a note of hope considering the setting.

"The year is 2050. Ava and her girlfriend live in what's left of Brooklyn, and though they love each other, it's hard to find happiness while the effects of climate change rapidly eclipse their world. Soon, it won't be safe outside at all. The only people guaranteed survival are the ones whose applications are accepted to The Inside Project, a series of weather-safe, city-sized structures around the world.

Jacqueline Millender is a reclusive billionaire/women’s rights advocate, and thanks to a generous donation, she’s just become the director of the Inside being built on the bones of Manhattan. Her ideas are unorthodox, yet alluring—she's built a whole brand around rethinking the very concept of empowerment.

Shelby, a business major from a working-class family, is drawn to Jacqueline’s promises of power and impact. When she lands her dream job as Jacqueline’s personal assistant, she's instantly swept up into the glamourous world of corporatized feminism. Also drawn into Jacqueline's orbit is Olympia, who is finishing up medical school when Jacqueline recruits her to run the health department Inside. The more Olympia learns about the project, though, the more she realizes there's something much larger at play. As Ava, Olympia, and Shelby start to notice the cracks in Jacqueline's system, Jacqueline tightens her grip, becoming increasingly unhinged and dangerous in what she is willing to do—and who she is willing to sacrifice—to keep her dream alive."

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Gabrielle Korn, and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

The concept of Yours for the Taking was extremely intriguing, as a LGBTQ+ sci-fi that discussed climate change and specifically queer women. Unfortunately, the concept was better than the execution. Ultimately, there's nothing majorly wrong with this book, and I was mostly fascinated while reading it. The concept of the Inside was gripping, and I liked Brook and July as characters. It was interesting to see the climate aspects of the future, and I think the book makes some valid critiques. As always, I love reading about queer women, and this book was definitely full of them! However, I think that Korn tried to take on too much in the book, making it just not work. The characters felt very shallow, and there was a lot of "telling" what characters were thinking/who they were versus the story unraveling this as it went on. This book covers a time span of 20+ years, but I felt like the characters were the exact same all the way through because there was very little to no growth. I also didn't like how some characters, such as Shelby, took a back seat once more characters were introduced; I would have liked to see more of Shelby's storyline, as I think her perspective as a trans woman would have added more to the story. The book definitely critiques basic white cis feminism, but while it does that, it also still reads like a white woman writing it lol. There were just lots of statements made where I felt like "okay, and?" This book definitely had potential, but I think it needed to be trimmed back on characters some and reevaluated to see truly how much of a statement it wanted to make.

I've followed Gabrielle Korn for years. She's an incredible journalist and she's paved the way for so many queer writers (or maybe I'm just projecting). The world she built is so intricate and if it weren't so terrible I'd want to live with the Mc's too

It's 2050 and the world is experiencing a major climate disaster. In the US, flooding plagues the coasts, cities disappear underwater, tornados are unavoidable in the Midwest. The solution? Insides - completely self-sufficient bubbles in major cities that can fit millions of people. The New York Inside will be different than the others, as it will be managed by women's rights activist Jacqueline Millender.

Ava is approved for the New York Inside just before her long-term girlfriend breaks up with her. Olympia is hired by Millender as the Inside's medical director. And Shelby, Millender's personal assistant, has a front-row view of her boss's decision-making.

This is a phenomenal book that explores climate change, the class divide, race, feminism, separatist movements, gender inequality, queerness, and a whole host of other extremely relevant issues. Usually when a book tries to tackle this many issues at once in an average sized dystopia, the story and characters become either simplistic or extremely convoluted. Here though, the result was thought-provoking and nuanced. Each character is complex in their own way. I especially appreciated Korn's discussion of the family, queerness, and feminism.

If I hadn't already bought a copy for the library, I'd go back and do that.

Thank you very much to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC!

Thank you netgalley for providing this arc in exchange for an honest reviews

Dnf/ did not finish.

I really didn’t like this writing style. Especially on the first page, the descriptions were crazy. I didn’t need that much, it felt very forced. It needed to be toned down. Otherwise, it just didn’t intrigue me. I didn’t love the way the characters were written, and the plot was a little meh.

I really loved the concept for this book. In a world where climate change is destroying the planet, what will people do to survive? I enjoyed the characters and getting to know each of them and their different points of view. And I liked all of the intertwining relationships between them. Overall a really interesting and thought provoking read!
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this!

In 2050, climate change is wreaking such havoc that the ultra-wealthy have retreated to space shuttles circling the Earth, a chosen portion of the population will take refuge in closed domes called “Inside(s)”, and the rest of the population is left to the ravages of hurricanes, tornadoes, and extreme heat. In this world, wealthy feminist billionaire Jacqueline Millender has secretly commandeered one of the “Inside” domes, turning it into an all-female world where she hopes to root out the ills of patriarchy by excluding men, surveilling and drugging the population to ensure maximum social harmony, and generally engaging in a covertly controlling social experiment. YOURS FOR THE TAKING follows Shelby, the transwoman chosen to be Jacqueline’s personal assistant; Ava, a young white woman grieving a breakup with a lover who was not chosen for the “Inside”; and Olympia, an ambitious and hardworking African American doctor who hopes to mitigate the worst aspects of Jacqueline’s experiment by becoming the medical director of the Inside.

Over approximately thirty years, Shelby, Ava, and Olympia deal with the loss of their earthside lives, grapple with loneliness and desire for genuine human connection in their socially engineered worlds, and become increasingly disturbed by their growing awareness of Jacqueline’s true beliefs and intentions. The novel is essentially a philosophical meditation, in fictional form, on the ethics and social implications of an idealistic attempt to deal with the ravages of climate change.

This grappling with politics is the both the novel’s strength and its weakness. On the one hand, the engagement with climate change and the utopian philosophy of Jacqueline’s Inside are interesting, the details about the Inside kept me reading, and the matter-of-fact centering of lesbian love works. On the other hand, rather than grappling with politics in a truly original, deeply considered way, the novel essential grafts contemporary Millenial/Gen Z progressive politics (race, gender identity, intersectionality, and critiques of capitalism) onto the world of 2050-2085 with thin fictional excuses for why the political landscape has barely changed.

It’s true that one of the projects of fiction is to grapple with the political and ethical challenges of our time (even in fantastic or futuristic settings). However, it is disappointing (and increasingly irritating) to see the political tenets of progressivism presented as “the truth” that the characters come to realize–rather than seeing political ideas interrogated and explored in complex, human contexts. Complexity was, perhaps, the author’s goal, but ultimately the lack of perspective beyond contemporary progressive truisms renders the novel little more than a fictionalized version of a political tract.

Cli fi enthusiasts who want to see a fictional rendering of contemporary progressive identity issues may appreciate this novel; readers who desire a complex, imaginative investigation of inequality and social issues (which I found in Allegra Hyde’s Eleutheria, Michelle Min Sterling’s Camp Zero, and NK Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy) will be disappointed.

What a gripping premise and thought-provoking execution. We follow multiple women connected in some way to the Inside Project, a protective city type deal created to protect the population from the inhospitable world being destroyed by climate change. But what happens when the creator of this project decides only women are allowed in?

This dives deep into themes of gender, queerness, identity, bodily autonomy, consent, motherhood, radical feminism, and power. There is never a moment where it isn’t challenging you to think about these themes and decide for yourself that what is happening is wrong.

I did struggle to connect in maybe the first 1/5, but once our characters went “Inside” I was hooked. Great debut!

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

"Yours for the Taking" is a feminist speculative fiction novel set in the near future, starting in 2050 with an impeding climate crisis looming ahead. In an attempt to save humanity, The Inside Project is underway to house those accepted into weather-safe, domed city structures in various parts around the world. While many books out there address this issue (especially recently), in "Yours for the Taking," Korn approaches the typical failsafe solution with a critical and timely question: What role is considered for the LGBTQIA people in a survivalist approach to humankind?

Korn's queer representation is fantastic, and the core of the story is a direct hit to the "save the humans" approach we've seen in the past. If the sole mission of survival is simply to take a select group, continue with the status quo, and focus on repopulating the earth, how does that set up the future to be anything different? But Korn's attack method goes beyond a simple and antiquated idea of feminist ideals.

The Inside in New York is funded and headed by a women's rights advocate, Jacqueline Millender. Her billionaire status comes from both family money and because of her own pursuits in a too-late-to-the-game solution called Refillables, a direct answer to address the damage inflicted on the planet with our overflowing landfills and plastic-laden oceans. Additionally, she penned a self-help book about female empowerment, elevating her to icon status. Under her leadership, Millender lays out a plan where the future is just female.

As of 2023, we find ourselves in what appears to be the fourth wave of feminism. The struggle seems endless, and Millender's creation of a city exclusively for women mirrors this ongoing battle. This concept, which might seem inevitable to some, especially considering the misunderstandings by angry men during the second wave, actually stems from outdated notions of feminism, equality, and inclusivity. Millender's influence is pervasive throughout the city, yet doubts arise among key figures: her assistant, the lead medical adviser, and a resident named Shelby, Olympia, and Ava, respectively. Their growing concerns and suspicions follow a story that subverts the typical expectations of a communal, survivalist narrative, turning it completely on its head.

Korn has tackled cisgender corporate feminism fully head on, and the concepts seen in "Yours for the Taking" are what we've all been waiting on, but this was held back and overshadowed by an issue I had with the book and its voice, pacing, and character development.

"Yours for the Taking" lands in the realm of adult fiction, but it's mired in a disappointing simplicity. The huge conflicts that bubble up are swiftly smoothed over with solutions too simple to be satisfying. The characters, who should realistically evolve over three decades, seem frozen in time, their growth stunted and their dialogue clipped by stilted language. And to add another layer of frustration, the writing almost exclusively resides in the realm of telling, not showing. Also, the narrative is shadowed by a peculiar point of view, flitting in and out, seemingly torn between a future perspective and an omniscient narrator's indecision about where to plant its feet in the timeline.

Also, if we take a step back from the story for a moment, Korn's take on addressing the larger issue seems to be a humans-only approach. Though it certainly would've overwhelmed the novel, it was disappointing to have this much focus on the coming-soon effects of climate change and not address the flora or fauna.

Korn's "Yours for the Taking" grapples with contemporary themes, boldly questioning the role of LGBTQIA individuals in humanity's survival and challenging the norms of cisgender corporate feminism. Despite this, the book falls short of its potential for a deep and excavative exploration of humanity, lacking the nuance I really expected from such a rich premise. While the pacing is on point, the predominance of a 'tell, not show' approach detracts from the depth and complexity that could have been a much stronger and more impactful narrative. The characters, stagnant across time, and a narrative voice wavering between different perspectives, add layers of frustration. Nonetheless, Korn's novel is a step in the right direction, stirring necessary conversations and reflection.

Yours for the Taking by Gabrielle Korn is an excellent concept that falls short on execution for me. I am loving climate future fiction and I love the imagining of the future world here. The book explores the future by considering class (billionaires!), power, and agency. I loved it conceptually and story wise I really enjoyed some of the ideas and solutions. Where the book fell short for me was in the characters, writing, and believability. I wish we had gone so much deeper in the development of the characters, world, and science because it fell so short on emotion and connection for me. It read as a YA book.

Overall, I raced through this and really did enjoy it overall but also experienced specific gaps. It was refreshing and exciting to explore the future through the eyes of women.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC - Yours for the Taking is out 12/5/23!

Fans of climate change-related dystopia, rejoice! Gabrielle Korn has figured out how we can survive. You just need to be smart, fertile, and a woman.
I enjoyed this take on cli-fi from an all-female perspective. Yes, some of the science is a little "unsound", but it IS fiction. Korn has built a solid world with interesting characters and even more interesting ethical dilemmas. There's a lot going on in these 336 pages. and while I would have loved more detail into some aspects, the editing kept everything moving along so there are no parts that drag.
I was also impressed with the ending. Does this mean there could be a continuation? If not, I still think it worked quite well.
#NetGalley

“Yours for the Taking” doesn’t quite fit comfortably into either sci-fi or realistic fiction, but somewhere in between. Yes, it takes place in a dystopian future, but one that’s so close in both time and realism that it doesn’t quite feel right to call it futuristic or dystopian. It’s already happening.
The story follows two different generations of women preparing for the end of the world. Jacqueline Millender, an unbelievably wealthy millennial girl boss, is one of the people in charge of creating city-sized structures to protect people from climate disasters called Inside. When she takes over the New York City Inside, she decides to set up a bold experiment: only women will be allowed in. However, her brand of feminism doesn’t play so well with her younger and more aware employees. What follows is a story of love in spite of adversity, atrocities committed for the sake of supposed progress. This book is very compelling, well-paced, will well-crafted characters and an incisive look into the future of female empowerment. It’s also very bleak (not completely hopeless, but bleak). I definitely enjoyed it and found it interesting, so pick it up when it comes out on December 5th if it sounds like something you’re interested in!

"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." ~ Lord Acton

This phrase came to mind so many times while reading this book! Jacqueline Millender. a future feminist, is being asked to help fund the creation of an "Inside," a contained city to help civilization survive all the horrible things they've done to the planet. In exchange, she wants to be in charge. Similar to the frog in the pot of water as it starts to warm up, her ideas and implementation can be justified at the beginning. But as time goes on, the frog's water heats up and her eventual goals become apparent. But is it too late? That is the bare bones plot of the book; however, as seen through the eyes of several different views within the world created, this is almost more of a character study. Perhaps one of characters under a stress we haven't seen before? I don't think I am getting my point across well, but I loved this story and would pick up the book to read even when I knew I could only get in a couple pages. I loved the characters and I loved the mystery of what was going on and where the book was leading. Definitely one to consider even if you aren't in to science fiction, fantasy, or even LGBTQIA+ because it is just that well written of a story!

Power is poison when it goes uncheck regardless who holds it. Since white men are given more opportunity to exercise power, it is more frequent to see one of them making headlines after abusing their power years over years. But let's not forget them women can be no different than their male counterparts. While we are vocal in demanding for more power for women, we should be equal in monitoring how that power is used.

Jacqueline Millender was no different than a white man. While promising a world where people can be equal under her command in the underground world that was created against the climate stricken world above, she was actually forming a dictatorship. Like all dictatorships before hers, this one was bound to fall because people eventually fed up, people want some sense of control over their own lives.

While I believe we will need to live underground or in space in couple of decades due to climate beating us for all the things we did to it, I hope that it will be not the be the dystopia described on these pages. If we are going to have no sunshine or once in a while cool breeze, we might as well have no dictator looming over us.