May 13, 2024
In this ambitious sophomore novel, Askaripour (Black Buck) casts a young woman as a sorcerer’s apprentice in a dastardly scheme to “reset” the world. In 2529, Sweetmint is the first Invisible to work for the Northwestern Hemisphere’s Chief Architect, Tenmase, an elderly eccentric who has been instrumental in upholding apartheid policies that separate the Invisibles from the visible Dominant Peoples. Fast-thinking and a decent tennis player, Sweetmint impresses Tenmase, who shares with her his half-baked plan to remake Northwestern society. After someone murders Northwestern’s religious head honcho, suspicion falls on Sweetmint’s brother, Shanu, who disappeared several years earlier, and Sweetmint sets out on a dangerous quest to find and protect him. She must first locate the parents who abandoned her and Shanu as babies and then navigate a labyrinth of arcane alliances, including the Rainbow Girls (her former classmates who paint themselves visible so they can work as prostitutes) and underground rebels who call themselves Children of Slim. Meanwhile, two Local Managers vie to become Northwestern’s next Chief Executive, Tesmane’s real identity is revealed, and violence simmers between the Invisibles and the Dominant Peoples. Askaripour crafts a plot so intricate and twisty it occasionally leaves the reader on the sidelines. At it’s best, however, this energetic, speculative deconstruction of colonialism feels like watching an expert put together a 1000-piece jigsaw.
December 6, 2024
Askaripour, award-winning author of the bestseller Black Buck, tries his hand at speculative science fiction that takes place 500 years in the future. The story follows invisible Sweetmint as she searches for her brother, who is the prime suspect in a political murder. In this dystopian world, minorities are invisible, and racism continually impacts their existence. Actor Emana Rachelle narrates the audiobook. Her voice is smooth and dynamic, but the dialogue characterizations are at times sing-songy, unconvincing, and cringeworthy. Clocking in at over 15 hours, this story has steam only in the first chapter. It begins quick-witted and fascinating, with the mother of the first invisible child, but then the plot jumps to a futuristic reality that is confusing, disjointed, and packed with racial allegories that give pause as they mimic present-day issues and problems. Overall, the futuristic plot is difficult to follow as a listener. VERDICT Though his debut was on point, this sophomore novel is a miss for an author who holds so much promise.--Sarah-Ruth Tasko
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