Reviews and Comments

I just love Kacen Callender's writing - Felix Ever After was a masterpiece of Queer Literature and I knew that I would feel the same about Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution. I don't normally talk about the actual book itself but I have to just to mention how gorgeous the sprayed edges are on the paperback- I love how it looks like handwriting as both Lark and Kasim are writers and I find it cute as anything to have this little detail.

The sheer amount of representation within Lark and Kasim Start a Revolution is wonderful see. We have Black/BIPOC characters, some who are neurodiverse in various ways, lgbtq and transgender characters and a sweetly written polyamorous relationship. All of which is wonderful to see and doesn't for one moment feel anything other than perfectly done and each and every character contributes to the story to give Lark and Kasim's story depth.

The neurodiversity especially resonated with me as I saw loved ones who has the same problems at times and the diverse way of seeing and processing what is around them. There needs to be more stories written that are truthful to how it is to be neurodiverse such as this, as many are quite contrived and detrimental. So thank you Kacen Callender.

I love that Lark especially is messy and complicated, they don't have life easy and they aren't infallible. They make mistakes, often in an attempt to do the right thing and are left suffering the consequences for it - some justified and some cruel. This is a reality of life and especially for someone such as our seventeen year old protagonist who puts their life and thoughts online for all to see, praise and judge. And boy! Aren't we judgmental as a species.

I felt for Lark, and wanted to several times reach through the pages and point out that the hole they'd inadvertently found themselves in due to someone else? Was only getting deeper and wish to drag them out because Lark is terrible and helping themselves believing it will all fix itself. Life as we know, doesn't work that way even in fiction most of the time (or not until near the book..) Kasim is a wonderful black trans character who I loved so much. He's gone through the ringer of life with an absentee father and being raised by his older brother who is working so hard to raise him that he's away from home for periods of time. He's so beautifully written and I loved his vulnerability hidden beneath a cool visard and indifference. There's a wonderful realness to him that I feel many will relate to.

The was cancel culture, responsibility for one's actions, depression, racism, transphobia and other serious topics are handled is wonderfully done and I think will possibly enable conversations between others to occur. It isn't done in a sensational manner at all, and thrown in for the sake of it. As a reader, the excellent character portrayal and worldbulding enables you to be immersed fully in the world of Lark and Kasim Start a Revolution and with the additional mention of masks etcetera; it feels very much as though it is a tale of now. Both in a good and a bad way given the awful way the lives of people similar to this group of teenagers, is being attacked in 2022.

The only thing I found that I personally could have done without is the voice of Lark's fictional character. I don't feel it adds anything to the book and often distracts from the actual situation such as when Lark is struggling with how others have reacted to their words etcetera.

Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution is another incredible book by Kacen Callender and I have a feeling that it will be like Felix Ever After and fly off the shelves. I'm so glad I got to read it.

The idea of this book is an interesting one of blending science fiction and fantasy together so there is a tale that covers a dystopian world far into our future with aliens, a destroyed or depleted world and the wonder of magic.

Given how we're even now looking at the idea of humankind living on other planets? This doesn't feel too far fetched or at least things such as land deeds for the moon don't. (I would like to hope that if an alien species or ten do exist we won't find ourselves at war - I still have nightmares over The War of the Worlds)

The world building is indepth and wonderfully done, you can imagine yourself in this alternate not too distant future facing the multiple problems the remaining humans do thanks to the creativity of the author. This was the positive for me but then problems for me arose.

I went into this book hoping to be fully immersed in a story that had me never wanting to come up for air from it's 598 pages because a book that is that thick holds promise. Or it does to me normally - Moon Deeds did not do that for me; in fact I struggled with being drawn in and I wasn't sure exactly why. Let me explain what I do know; I wanted to read the story, I wanted to explore the 'sci-fantasy' which was new to me and I really wanted to know about the twins, Cassidy and Torr who unexpectedly (for them) are faced with saving the world they know and Earth itself.

All of that should have led to me being in my element but I was fighting with myself to finish the first few chapters, never mind the book. From the get go, it felt like I was overwhelmed with the fictionalised history of Earth in Moon Deeds: Star Children Saga. Whilst normally, I would welcome an explanation of how a fantasy or sci-fi world has come to where they are now; I was reminded rather painfully of sitting doing coursework and my professors throwing more and more information at me until I couldn't remember my own name.

I struggled with the balance of how desperate the situation was - Earth is pretty much ruined as a planet but half the time it didn't feel like that. There was a deep disconnect for me between the plot and characters especially the main two that was near on impossible to rectify. I do wonder possibly, if the book has been shorter maybe half the size, that disconnect could have been rectified and the reader would have been able to connect more with what was happening? After all as I've said, given the environmental impact of humanity on Earth as it stands - some elements of Moon Deeds don't feel so far fetched. There is sadly, a need to look for other planets (to ruin) to find suitable to live on and that fear should have been both relatable and palpable but it wasn't.

I also strongly disliked the plethora of swearing. I find myself having to stress, I'm far from a prude, I swear at times but I don't think there is a need for the amount of profanity that occurs throughout the book. Sometimes that level of anger or emotion adds something but it is rare - this was gratuitous and unnecessary.

This could have been so good but the author didn't seem to remember things that had been mentioned before or place the same relevance on it throughout the book. Events that happen don't seem to be fully recognised by the characters for example, if a tree branch fell and caused damage? It was barely acknowledged even if people were hurt which makes no sense.

I was really looking forward to this, and was hoping for a great tale but I think in truth, it needed more editing and perhaps being a little less (unnecessarily) in depth at times.

I could go on as to why Moon Deeds wasn't the book that I hoped it to be but I feel that would become almost an essay. No one needs that long a review of problems..