Really struggled to get through this one as I was really traumatised as a stay at home mom with babies during the pandemic. It was just not my cup of tea due to my own personal journey but the concept is incredibly fresh and exciting and I know for a fact it will find a die hard audience that will eat it up entirely and want more.

Thank you for the opportunity.

The Shutouts is a delightful mix of thriller, science fiction, horror, and queer feminist story telling. Per usual, Gabrielle Korn creates masterful worlds that reflect our current condition and make us question how different her stories are from reality.

"The Shutouts" by Gabrielle Korn, was a wonderful, well thought out futuristic experience, with wonderful characters and different timelines weaved together. Second book in this series, was nice to follow through the story as well as zoom in to the lives and outcomes of the characters presented in the past, reflecting forward and backwards through the generations. Strong women prevailing through a very difficult existence. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

In 2041, the world is falling apart due to rapidly accelerating climate change. The cities are being destroyed by storms, fires, and viruses. So many climate refugees find themselves without homes. Kelly, a hacker and activist, is traveling across the United States. Seven years ago, Kelly joined a group she believed would save the world. In 2078, a group of queer characters seeks out new ways of surviving in a world that is unimaginable and nearly uninhabitable. Survivalist Orchid sets out to save her ex-girlfriend Ava from the Inside Project, a highly selective, government-funded climate protection program. Meanwhile, Ava and her daughter, Brook, have escaped the Inside Project. I am not disclosing more as I want you to read the novel to discover what characters do in this dystopian world.

The author tells the story of those who have been shut out from Inside, and their fight to survive. There is an interconnectedness larger than all of them. The novel is a page turning queer, feminist dystopia. I enjoyed it immensely after learning what the Inside Project was.

I didn’t realize this was another book in a series that had already started when I requested this, but I honestly think it still made sense even without reading the first one in the series!! I really enjoyed the actual idea behind the story- super unique :)

Author Gabrielle Korn returns to her dystopian world, and follows six different women in two different time periods, 2041 and 2078:

-Max: Born into a cult, the Winter Liberation Army, which started as a group of activists attempting to live totally independently of everyone and everything then devolved into the men holding all the power, in 2078 Max attempts to escape with their crush, but gets hurt and abandoned. They eventually encounter Camilla, who had been living with her father, Orchid and others.

-Orchid: In 2078, she left her settlement to find Ava (they were lovers in book one years earlier) in New York City. She finds Ava and Brook outside of their Inside Project compound, and they begin travelling back to Orchid's home together, encountering difficulties and some dangers.

-Kelly: She left her young daughter Orchid behind to join a group of people, the Winter Liberation Army. She becomes disenchanted with their behaviour and changed aims eventually, and attempts to return home in 2041. We learn about her through a series of letters she sent to young Orchid.

-Camilla: Shelby's (from book one) sister, cares for Max, and waits alone for Orchid to return, with the intention of them all reuniting with the others, who have moved to a safer location to settle after storms made it too difficult to stay.

-Ava: Back in the world, and finding it hard to adapt, but is also glad Orchid is with them. The three women travel the long, hard road back to reunite with Camilla.

-Brook: Eager to find a way to reconnect with July, who is living in New Zealand after the shuttle carrying the wealthy landed there.

The writing is compelling, fleshing out our understanding of Orchid, Ava, Brook and Camilla, and introducing new characters, who are equally well drawn.
-Orchid's independence and behaviours (in book one)become clearer with information about Kelly, and how Orchid manages the trip back to her home with a struggling Ava and naïve Brook.
-Kelly's letters are a combination of exciting revelations as she works with the activists, and gradually show a woman full of regret whose choices took her far from the daughter she loves.
-Max must learn to overcome the prejudices of her cult and open themselves to new experiences, ideas and relationships.
-Camilla has become incredibly resourceful, and it's great to see Shelby's younger sister come into her own.

Korn shifts perspectives repeatedly, and each person's section is full of drama, intimacy, pain, and wonderfully brought to life as we see the climate continuing to devolve over the thirty year timespan of the novel. Korn does a wonderful job of making us care about each character, and we see the importance of connection and community in a hard, unforgiving world.

I switched back and forth between the prose and the audiobook, and enjoyed both. Gail Shalan does a great job voicing all the different characters, so that I always knew whose perspective I was listening to. Shalan conveys each person's emotions beautifully, while also bringing the damaged world to life as they make their way through it.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for these ARCs in exchange for my review.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the arc. This was so so good. I loved it so much. I was hooked right from the beginning and could not put it down. This sequel can definetly be read as a standalone, I ended up reading the first one after I finished this, and I wasn't confused when reading it. Gabrielle Korn is now an autobuy author for me. This was so creative and all the characters were rich and vibrant. It was set in such an interesting world, and the world building was so well done. I loved that nearly everyone was queer, and seeing how the different stories all came together. I highly recommend this, one of my best reads of the year.

Gabrielle Korn has crafted an incredible duology of queer speculative fiction. Because every great work of SpecFic builds on reality and asks "what if?", the effect in Your For the Taking and The Shutouts is often chilling. The reader is reminded that the very near future could be well reflected in this work of fiction. I feel that is what makes a strong piece of SpecFic - not the fabulous outlandishness of the future, but the plausible reality of a fictional outcome.

Each character these two books follows is a masterpiece. At once a hero and villain, showing that humanity lives within the shades of gray. On one page, you love Ava and another you hate her. You understand Jacqueline's motivations in one chapter and in another find her methods abhorrent. In the first book, we empathize with Ava in her struggle with her relationship with Orchid and in the second book, we are given the gift of Orchid's history even if she never knows it for herself.

The first book sometimes felt rushed, as though some elements of the story were skipped over but in reflection on the two books as one story, I see that sometimes a lived experience is felt the same way. As though the details of the day to day are unimportant and what matters are the punctuations of significant events. The second book is a dual timeline, the "past" told in letters written to Orchid by her mother and the "present" in third person limited omniscient POV from multiple perspectives. This allows the story to feel like it's unfolding at a sufficiently progressive pace.

By the second book's conclusion, the reader is left with a fairly clear image of most of the factors that led the story to its end and we're left with a beautifully reflective final passage that gives the reader the opportunity to consider what can be done to change the paths our planet is on while also giving us the hope of a believing that a better world is possible.

I genuinely loved these two books and if queer speculative fiction is your jam, I think you will too.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I loved the first book in this series, and maybe liked this one even more. If you're intrigued by the premise, and haven't read the first one - do that first! Otherwise book one will be spoiled. This is great for any fans of the postapocalyptic genre, it has more queer storylines than any other I've read. I hope there's another book in this series!

I wanted to love this, but it wasn’t really for me.

The time jumps kept confusing me, which I’m normally fine with. I also was not a big fan of the writing style. I don’t think this author is for me.

A follow-up to "Yours for the Taking," this is the rare climate change/dystopian novel that somehow manages to end of a note of hope. This time, we get see the world from the outside - the perspective of those shut out from The Inside. Told in dual timelines, we get to see how we got to the point of almost no return. With some disappointing, but not at all surprising, motivations and actions by those who should/do know better. But the hope at the end of the novel is that we do know how to do better, and and that it is possible to put it into action.

"The year is 2041, and it's a dangerous time to be a woman driving across the United States alone. Deadly storms and uncontrollable wildfires are pummeling the country while political tensions are rising. But Kelly's on the road anyway; she desperately needs to get back to her daughter, who she left seven years ago for a cause that she's no longer sure she believes in.

Almost 40 years later, another mother, Ava, and her daughter Brook are on the run as well, from the climate change relief program known as The Inside Project, where they've spent the past 22 years being treated as lab rats. When they encounter a woman from Ava’s past on the side of the highway, the three continue on in a journey that will take them into the depths of what remains of humanity out in the wilderness."

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.

Yours for the Taking was one of my favorite books of 2023. A sci-fi dystopian story that hooked from the start. This is book 2, a breakdown of what happened Outside of the ultra elite survival community. As the world breaks down, this one has 3 different groups with POV.

We have a mom writing to a child, detailed how the world broke down and what broke first, how it crumbled. The 2nd POV is a group that has made it through the worst and is trying to survival. The third group has left one spot and is making their way to another - all to search and hope that someone is still there.

It was a great mix, the reveal of how it first started out and the more now POV that showed just how far it had all gone. It was a great story of survival but also the push to understand what surviving meant and what we would want to live for. It was still characters I loved and a story I could fall into, even if it was sad and broken. It was a great conclusion and I loved being back in this world. I definitely look forward to more from this author!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

The Shutouts is an excellent second book to answer Yours For the Taking. Placed in the outside world where the impacts of climate change affect those left. Orchid makes the trip to save her lost love and her daughter, and together they make their way through the United States and into Canada. Despite the dreary situation and occasional moment of danger, we see love and hope bloom in this book. I gave this four stars because I enjoyed it and would recommend it to a friend but wouldn't read it again.

This was a perfect follow up to Yours For the Taking! I loved the dual timeline and multiple POV aspect of this. I also loved seeing some characters from the first book and finding out more about the background of the world. This is such a unique climate change science fiction book and I think it is so realistic because it truly exposed how humans can be motivated by greed or by love. I really really loved this one!

"Queer people at the end of the world," according to the author, is the subject matter for last year's Yours for the Taking and this very, very recent release and sequel, The Shutouts. A powerfully written, character-driven story of the collapse of the world as climate change drives rapid ocean rise and catastrophic storms, this story is much stronger if the first book has already been read. Otherwise, the emotional impact of the characters' decisions and choices won't hit as hard.

Where the first book in the duology focused on the people who escaped the wrath of climate change by going Inside, this book focuses on those who were left outside to face the elements. My favorite character is Kelly "Green", a new character who plays such an instrumental role in this book's story arc.

I am very impressed with this series, and will add Gabrielle Korn to my list of "must read" authors for any new works that she produces. Bravo to an awesome set of books, a story that should be read by all those with anxiety over global warming. I wouldn't have minded if it were longer.

I had really liked Korn’s previous novel and had really appreciated the questions it raised with the “utopia” it built. Korn continued to excel in the intersection of strong queer representation and unsettling cli-fi dystopia in this one. Where Yours For the Taking had more of a conventional plot, this one focuses more on character exploration and subtly building the bleak situation the world is in. There are 2 perspectives but it tells a story of three different timelines and the characters are compelling and well built. I think having the background Yours For the Taking really made me appreciate the deeper worldbuilding here and I personally wouldn’t recommend skipping it, they complement each other very well.

Korn's writing style is noted for being raw and honest, with sharp observations about the complexities of human interaction. She has an ability to capture the quiet, unspoken moments in relationships, as well as the larger conflicts that arise. This makes the characters feel authentic, even as they wrestle with personal flaws and insecurities. Readers have praised Korn for her empathetic approach to character development, particularly when it comes to portraying nuanced, imperfect protagonists.

This was a tough read, especially so close to the aftermath of the U.S. election. The dystopian future felt disturbingly plausible, but that proximity to reality made it a hard start. The shifting timelines and changing protagonists were difficult to follow, keeping me from getting fully immersed. The writing style didn’t pull me in the way I’d hoped. At times it felt more like a checklist of progressive representation - gender, sexuality, social issues - packed in rather than something organically woven into the story. The characters didn’t feel relatable or likable, which made it hard to stay invested. I pushed through despite wanting to DNF and the second half improved for me. I started to care (if only slightly) about how it would all resolve. Ultimately, the ending didn’t satisfy me. I’m glad I had the opportunity to read it because it seemed like something I’d enjoy, but it wasn’t for me. I won’t be purchasing a physical copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the early access to this book.

I started reading this book and realized it's in the same world as another book written by the same author. I'm going to read both of them and update my review.
What I did read seemed amazing so please look in to this book and Yours For the Taking as well.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC.

The Shutouts by Gabrielle Korn was so unique. A dystopian sci-fi focusing on devastating climate change and featuring queer main characters. I really was enthralled by this book. It was unlike anything I have read.