This novel is like if Greg from Succession was trapped in a late-stage capitalism hellscape that slowly transformed him from victim to enabler....oh wait. But genuinely, Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind is a dark, depressing portrait of corporate greed run amuck, with the titular character being a poverty stricken college dropout who is recruited by a mysterious corporation to sift through the dreams of employees in order to encourage productivity and discourage personal focus. This job is nightmarish both literally and figuratively, as Jonathan's financial desperation and overwhelming self-doubt blinds him to the horrible reality of his service. Don't go into this book looking for a happy ending or an easy read, as it is grim look at the consequences of nihilistic corporate greed that are the reality for millions of Americans.

What struck me most about this novel was its nuanced exploration of chronic poverty. Being poor impacts every single aspect of Jonathan's life, from his social battery to his relationships to his sleep to his mood. McGhee eviscerates the antiquated concept of the poor needing to pull themselves out of poverty by their own force of will, exploring how capitalism and terribly designed governmental systems merge to make socioeconomic escalation all but impossible. I was especially struck by her commentary on the often predatory nature of student loans, and how a person who can't legally drink or vote can become crushed a lifetime of debt simply for the crime of wanting an education. McGhee also deconstructs the meaning of mortality in a corporate world: is easy to condemn service employees for working at awful companies, but such principles are often a luxury in the face of a system that violently enforces class divides and blocks social mobility.

Jonathan Abernathy is unhappy. He is lonely and broke and lacking in any particular skill and tired of life (even though he sleeps 10 hours a night). He is presented with a very specific job opportunity. This does not happen the way job opportunities normally present themselves. No, Jonathan Abernathy is visited in a dream, not by God but by serious looking people in suits. And he is offered a way out of his misery.

While not in any direct way a horror novel, the almost post-apocalyptic capitalism that forms the basic framework for Earth anno Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind is /quite/ the horror. Abernathy's new job is to audit people's dreams, and suggest ways to improve them - to make them happier in order to improve their work performance. Actively unhappy people don't make as much money as people who are okay.

The entire book feels a little like a dream. Time passes slowly, sometimes, and then months will pass. The story itself takes quite a while to pick up pace, to start to grasp the way everything ties together in the end. Even though I really like how intentively stylised the writing was - and it fits the themes and settings of the book really well - it also kept me at a slight distance at all times. Jonathan Abernathy's head is not a kind place to be - it's heavy and sad and filled with as much longing as inertia. Jonathan Abernathy is kind. Or at least he tries to be. But how do you remain kind when the world feels set up against you and the people you love?

Jonathan Abernathy is not overly bright or interesting, he had no family, and he has an astronomical amount of debt, with no way out. He’s been unemployed for months. He’s behind on rent. And then, he’s recruited one night. In his dreams. Abernathy is ushered into a debt-repayment dream job, literally working to remove the unsavoury dreams of people who are being distracted by their lives instead of being good workers.

This is a darkly hilarious story, wandering through time and dreams, sometimes a little muddled, but mostly very sharp and funny, while bleakly wandering through the grim reality of debt and capitalism. For all of us who enjoy class critiques and strange fantasy worlds.

the only word i have to say about this book now that ive finished is grim. as humorous as it could be at times, this book was a crushing read - a great metaphor about how far the world could fall if we let it, where we are at now, and with a hard ending about what we need to do to stop it.

this was such a unique take on the soul-sucking nature of capitalism, and the little bit of magical realism that made this possible really spoke to me.

i thought abernathy's narration was so true to the human experience though, or at least to mine. he worries so much about the way others perceive him and barely stops to focus on what he is doing to make himself happy. because he was so caught up in his own head as well, a lot of the side characters get left behind and you don't really find out what happens to them after, which while i found so heartbreaking i also found really true to the story that this book set out to tell. abernathy could have found community. he could have found family. but he committed so hard to capitalism to be the only way to determine his worth that by the end he couldn't find his way out of it.

Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind is the sort of book where I wish I had the brain cells to review it in depth. If only I had studied English lit after GCSE, but alas! I did not. So, this review is what you’re going to get.

With this story, we follow the eponymous Jonathan Abernathy who is, to put it bluntly, quite pathetic. Further, through no fault of his own, he’s stuck at the bottom of society, debt ridden and unable to get out of it. It’s a vicious circle: every time he might make it out, the anchor of his debt and the lien that comes with it pulls him back down. So, when he’s offered a job that frees him of said debt, you can see why he would jump at the chance and dismiss any concerns that it’s too good to be true.

Ultimately, this is a book examining capitalism and debt and desperation. About the lies people tell themselves so as not to sink under its weight. You empathise with Abernathy even as he makes shitty decisions because, at the end of the day, all of the options he has are shitty in their own way. He’s so desperate to longer be desperate, he tells himself that he’s not deserving of the situation he finds himself in, that he is deserving of this better opportunity that appears to come this way, even as everyone warns him against it. Even as things start to go wrong.

I think this book, then, is also a critique of the American Dream. That someone can drag themselves up by the bootstraps and make something of themselves through sheer hard work. Because Abernathy tries, he spends the entire book just trying, and finds himself getting nowhere. I mean, the only chance he even has of doing so is to fully immerse himself in it, to believe that he’s getting somewhere, when he gets this job which, ultimately, is about exploiting people. Abernathy’s own desperation is exploited, so that he’s thankful for the job, thankful that he can finally rise up out of everything, and doesn’t question what they’re actually doing. And the job itself is about the enhancement of a capitalist system, where workers have no concerns except work.

It’s interesting to have chosen Abernathy to take the role of main character here. As a character, he is sympathetic, but also he might tempt you into thinking that, in his situation, you would do better. You would stick to your guns, your morals, and not fall into the trap that he does. But, until you find yourself as desperate as he is, there’s no way of knowing that. This is a book that makes you examine your own preconceptions and biases, in an entirely human way. You feel for Abernathy, and Rhoda and Timmy, and you want them all to make it out. You want there to be a good kind of fairy godmother showing up to save them because, following Abernathy’s affirmations, they deserve it. But at the same time, you know that that’s not going to happen, that the more likely outcome sees them chewed up by the capitalist maw.

What I hope I’ve got across here is that this is a book everyone should read, one that I highly recommend. It’s a book about impossible choices, about relationships formed under those conditions, and an entirely human one at that.

Extremely entertaining read and also thought provoking with its look on what capitalism and corporations do in the name of more and more profits told through a story with very interesting characters and premise. Enjoyed Jonathan Abernathy (the character) a lot, as well as his interactions with the other main/side characters in the story and when it went always from those interactions in parts of the book, it was the less enjoyable parts of a really good book.

Parts of the book were confusing at times and Im not sure if I fully understood how everything "worked" or even if I was suppose to considering the idea behind the book. However the confusing bits of it really don't take much away from how solid the book was.

I really enjoyed Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind. I liked the author's writing in really fleshing out the characters and showing their vulnerabilities. I liked the speculative element and it wasn't too heavy. While at times funny, the book had a sad tone as well.

CW: depression, suicide, poverty, death of loved ones, emotional abuse

I'm pretty sure I heard about Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind via Twitter. It didn't have a cover yet - and I can't say that this is the cover I pictured for it - but I immediately added it to my TBR and jumped at the chance of reading an advance copy. So, I'm grateful for that opportunity.

From the beginning, the narrator's voice is quirky and presents Jonathan Abernathy with all his lovable traits and flaws to us. Abernathy is quite the indecisive and passive character, an anxious yet optimistic people-pleaser on top of that. All of which makes sense considering his history, while simultaneously making him quite infuriating at times. Possibly that is why I found it hard to connect with him and the other characters. Or, maybe, it's because we were being told so much of what was happening.
Don't get me wrong, some stories need you to tell instead of show things. I totally get that, but here I felt we were told everything - even the things that didn't end up happening. 

Regardless of how much I actually connected with the characters, I thought that the concept was really fascinating. As a vivid dreamer myself, I loved exploring other peoples dreams and what taking them away meant for them. Even if all of this is fiction, I can see some truth behind it. Add the hard-hitting realities of poverty and capitalism, and you have quite the mix. I definitely mean it as a compliment when I say that I got Black Mirror and Severance vibes while reading the novel, albeit Abernathy tried to keep it more upbeat.

In the end, I found the story and its themes really interesting. It was a quick read that muddled reality and dreams in the later stages, offering a hard-hitting resolution. I wish I had connected with it a bit more, but I still think it offers a lot of food for thought. Maybe I'll even dream about it ...

Fazit: 3/5 stars! Interesting for sure!

A great take on the hold corporations have on the world and truly terrible people can be. I thought this was a fun and unique book with a great take on darker topics yet written through the voice of a quirky character. Jonathan was a great character and written really skilfully, I loved seeing his character arc as well and it worked really well with the dystopian feel of the book almost like a light vs dark scenario. Overall a fun read and I would recommend.

A really unique take on capitalism. I did not overly connect with the characters though and felt this detracted from the book. Definitely one to read though - a really interesting premise.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher and Molly McGhee for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is like nothing I have ever read, and it is just fantastic. I’ll try to keep the details of the book I share in this review minimal, because I feel like this is truly a story you should go into completely blind and really just experience it.

The writing in this was excellent. It’s not overly lyrical (which I personally like) but the way Molly McGhee communicated emotion through her writing was stunning. In doing so, a book about the way capitalism essentially forces the humanity out of people is told in such a human way and you really feel for Abernathy and the other characters. It also helps a book about literal capitalism feel a lot more accessible (especially for someone like me, this was a little out of my comfort zone). Shockingly, despite being an emotional sad time (those last two chapters really get to you, I literally cried myself to the end) this book is so funny. Obviously humour is subjective, but it worked so well for me and definitely balances out the more serious topics in the book nicely.

I also loved the characters in this book. Each character is so flawed but the way in which they are written allows you to sympathise with even the most detestable character in this book because the issue isn’t the people, it’s the system. And as the characters were so well-developed, they never felt like they were being used as vessels for a greater commentary. Rather, the critiques being made came through as a result of great character work (this is what we love to see!).

The plot was engaging and the light speculative/sci-fi element in the book brought something different to the table and I really liked that it wasn’t over explained. The sort of plot twist that happened towards the end was extremely well done as well.

My only critique of this book (and this is minor, I promise) is that the book does really well at providing subtle commentary throughout, but this would occasionally be followed by a more obvious statement that I felt was implied (others might feel differently to me on this, so take it with a grain of salt). Sometimes, this kind of undermined the subtly we got before this but this only happened from time to time in the first half and I’m only noting this because I don’t really have any other criticism otherwise (can you tell I’m like kind of in love with this book?).

I, as you can probably tell by now, loved this! It’s brilliant debut and I would urge everyone to pick this up when it comes out!

I was so excited to read this one but sadly it didn't quite work for me. I think the main issue I had with this novel is its writing: there is nothing egregiously wrong with it, but personally I just struggled to connect with Jonathan Abernathy, our main character. The novel hinges on Jonathan Abernathy: he is the one whose perspective we get on everything, and he is the character whom we learn the most about. So whether you get along with this novel or not is going to depend on whether you like Jonathan's POV. And it's not that I disliked his POV, exactly, but more that I didn't feel like it had enough momentum to keep me interested or engaged. I was not as compelled as I wanted to be by his POV, and so that brought down my overall enjoyment of the novel.

Thanks to Astra House for providing me with an eARC of this!

This was very unique and interesting. Johathan Abernathy finds himself falling behind and in so much debt. He gets a job offer as a dream auditor and things get even weirder, At times, I wished there was more to this novel, and I wish it had focused on different details, but, it's such a different take on capitalism and the wealth divide in a very sci-fi, almost dystopian way. Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publsiher!

Let's talk about late stage capitalism and auditing dreams for nightmarish content to clean up an employees subconscious so they become more productive at work. Who wants that kind of job? Not to help people, but to help corporations. People who are desperate, that's who. Jonathan Abernathy is desperate. Sometimes he 'lies' to himself with peptalks to get through the day. Jonathan Abernathy you are kind. You are loved. You are a valued member of this community. It's hard to keep lying to yourself the more you learn about the scummy truth behind your job (and how it's impacting loved ones). But how do you reconcile those feelings when you are finally able to start chipping away at the mountain of debt you've accumulated?

I loved getting my heart ripped out by this. I found myself in Mr. Abernathy in ways and hated myself for it.

Please please please pick this up when it comes out.