The novel is thought-provoking, controversial, compelling and dystopian, beginning with its opening sentence: “The summer our children began to kill themselves was the hottest on record.” And that’s just the first of many thoughts that will make you sit up and take notice. You’ll find yourself thinking, “What’s this guy about? Where’s he going with this?” It’s only one of many times you’ll say that while you read. Believe me . . . you will.
Young people in their teens begin killing themselves in greater and greater numbers all across the world, while adults and parents are beside themselves trying to figure out why. Is it the pandemic? Isolation? Why are they writing A11 on or next to their bodies? As the mystery of the suicides grows, we’re introduced to Simon Oliver, a privileged fifteen-year-old who found his older sister’s body after she killed herself by overdosing on the pharmaceuticals that their epically rich father manufactures. It’s the first of a boatload of ironies and social commentaries to come. Depressed, Simon is sent to a rehab facility outside Chicago called The Float Anxiety Abatement Center where he meets another inmate who calls himself The Prophet. He tells Oliver that they’re going to start a new utopia, one run exclusively by teenagers, because adults have made a disaster of planet earth; they’ve abused, lied to and taken advantage of the younger generations . . . as well as making a complete mess of society in general and civilization as a whole with their endless wars. Without much of a plan, Oliver and The Prophet escape from the Float facility, promptly hooking up with a motley bunch of outcasts, renegades, and outlaws, followed by much fleeing, fighting, and setbacks that lead to peril and a few disasters, all mixed in with observations like this: “How do you make people behave in ways they know are immoral?” Answer: “You undermine the idea of morality itself.” If you’re ready to be intellectually challenged, provoked and made to think, read this book. You’ll learn a lot, squirm a little and disagree with some of the authors premises, but enjoy it throughout. One thing is for certain . . . you won’t be able to put this one down!!

I love Noah Hawley's other books and TV writing and was so excited to check out a new novel. While it is interesting and thought provoking, I sometimes found myself overwhelmed and had to set the book aside and come back to it.
I'm glad I finished it because it is a brilliant book!

This is a story about society.  The novel is set in the near future.  Teenagers across America are dying in growing numbers, seemingly prompted by memes that are inscrutable to adults that they are sharing among themselves on social media and in chat.  At the same time, places across the United States, and the world, are experiencing extreme weather unlike anything they have seen before that is disrupting lives, all while the nation's politics seem to create ever greater cleavages in American society undermining any possible response to these crises.

In the midst of these developments, Simon Oliver, the only surviving child of one of America's richest families whose fortune comes from dubious sources, is sent to a treatment center for teenagers with anxieties.  There, he meets the Prophet, a fellow patient, who claims Simon is destined for a mission, potentially to save the world's children from the crises at hand and bring about a new utopia.  They break out of the facility, together with Louise, a fellow patient, to track down The Wizard, one of the world's wealthiest men who has dedicated his life to the exploitation of both the environment and individuals, including Louise. 

On their trek, they join up with a man whose sister is being held captive by The Wizard and his girlfriend who, unbeknownst to them or to her, is connected to the highest reaches of political power.  Will this ragtag group be able to succeed in their quest, potentially the last best hope for the future of the next generations, or will they fail in the face of the forces of some of the world's greatest economic and political powers and their commitment to maintaining control?

This book is terrific.  It explores some of today's most challenging issues -- including climate change, polarization, inequality, the opioid epidemic, social media, connection and disconnection, the role of the individual and community in American society, and truth -- all through a propulsive story. 

Using fictionalized versions of key contemporary figures, the book provides an unrelenting lens on how individuals and groups have been failed by many current institutions, the incentives that certain powerful groups have to gloss over those failures, and the potential ramifications of these dynamics as resentments on all sides of issues and among people of all ages and backgrounds grow.  This is also one of the most incisive examinations I have read about the relationships between the generations.  It all comes in a story that is impossible to put down.  All in all, a remarkable book.

Strongly recommended!

Hawley has written a near-future dystopian thriller interwoven with essays about the state of the world and our broken political system. His writing is excellent and his discourses are insightful and balanced, but it was a little jarring to keep being taken out of the action to read a treatise on how messed up the planet is. An epidemic of suicide is sweeping through the world's teenagers, and a small disparate group of teens team up to rescue a girl held captive by a Jeffrey Epstein-like monster. This is a really good book in many ways, but I think I would have preferred two books: one with the thriller uninterrupted, weaving social commentary in through the plot and the interactions of the characters; and one as a collection of essays. Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Superior for its type

Terrifying in its premise

False hope in the youth because they are of course us

Great writing

I have liked books by this author before and the topic is so prescient that I thought I would enjoy this book. Sadly, I was mistaken and I was unable to finish this book and thus will not be posting a full review of it. I think it was trying to be too cerebral such that I was panicked but also bored.

This book was a powerhouse but totally traumatizing. The story takes place in the near future after we have already endured a pandemic, weather and climate catastrophes and a fractured political system. Add to that an epidemic of suicides that begins with teens and spreads to all ages. The writing contains some of the sharpest observations you will ever experience . To introduce you to Hawley’s perspective, here is a sample taken from the very beginning, even before COVID had entered the scene.
“ A group of unvaccinated third graders clamber down the aisle to join their renegade families. They are biologically unprepared for mumps or measles, chicken pox or rubella, but anecdotally free from the whispered threat of autism. Everybody has a theory, Judge Nadir has come to believe. A conviction, dogged and tenacious, which they refuse to surrender. This is the American way. We have home remedies we swear by, superstitions we will not renounce. We are optimists or pessimists, trusting or suspicious. We confirm our theories online. The internet, invented to confirm our theories online. The internet, invented to “democratize information,” has turned out, instead, to be a tool of self-affirmation. Whether you believe you’re suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome or that 9/11 was an inside job, the World Wide Web exists to tell you you’re right. You are always right.”
The fractures in society only widen as the world becomes more devastated by natural disasters like drought, rising temperatures and deadly wild fires. Unexpected and dangerous alliances develop while the basic principles of civilization are undermined in the process.
With this backdrop of impending disaster we follow a small group of rebellious young people attempting to save at least a small portion of their world. I wish I could say their efforts balanced the tragedy of the rest of the book, but unfortunately, the overall tone of Hawley’s vision of the future is bleak. To be fair, the world he paints seems very likely to be facing us all. This is a horror story far worse than any tale of werewolves and zombies, but keep in mind this man can really write and what he writes needs to be read.
You have been warned.

In ANTHEM, Noah Hawley incorporated the madness that has currently overtaken our country with a parent's worst fear - their child committing suicide. Hawley incorporates his signature understanding and depiction of people we both love and hate and dramatically shows were the current civil (or uncivil) discourse could lead. Scary, but compulsively readable.

This book is hard. There were times I wanted to put it down and pretend that hadn't been approved to review it. It picks at the unhealed scab of where our country is as we enter a new year, and it is terrifying.

There's a group of young people who are searching to create a Utopia that will reject everything that has come before. We see both sides of the political divide and the battle coming our way. There's a rash of teens and young adults committing suicide. There will be a knot in the pit of your stomach for most of the reading experience.

But Noah Hawley skillfully loads each character and challenge with heart and distinctly etched backstories. He is an excellent writer who holds you in this story. This is an important book. Challenge yourself to read it.

It's all here. The frightening possible day after tomorrow. Given what fills the news broadcast, we should not be surprised, but there's nothing gentle about our future.

Hawley has woven a story, with a few essays mixed in, from all the extremes in American society as we enter 2022. Consequently, the story has lots of guns, anxiety meds, power and money hungry adults, climate concerns, suicides, references to anti-masking and the capitol riot. The story centers mostly around a group of young people who end up on a quest to rescue some other young people from a bad guy known as the Wizard - a rich and powerful businessman/sexual predator. Occasionally, the author stops the story to speak directly with the reader, breaking the fourth wall. Probably could have been edited down a bit, in my opinion.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this novel.*

I must admit I’m a little intimidated by this attempt to review Noah Hawley’s latest novel. Only because it’s difficult to concisely describe everything this epic tale covers and how I felt reading it. Right off the bat I can say Noah Hawley is one of my favorite authors. His writing never fails to impress me. Diving into one of his books is like binge watching the best kind of tv show, full of heart, drama and thrills. He’s a master at entertaining you while making you think.

In regards to Anthem, I believe Hawley has truly outdone himself. Setting his novel in the very near future, he attempts to include every issue the world and the United States specifically are dealing with and make sense of it all and I believe he succeeded. Writing this must have taken a lot of research and I imagine a whole lot of stress. Has anyone checked on Noah Hawley, is he okay?

A group of young adults are drawn together on an epic quest in the hopes of building their own utopia, starting over and eschewing the world the previous generations have given them. That’s the gist but doesn’t begin to fully describe the plot. I would sum it up as Stephen King’s The Stand reimagined for the modern era. There’s even a character who chooses the name Randall Flagg for himself so I don’t think I’m too far off in that assessment.

When I got to the end I immediately started over again, something I never do. I think Anthem is such an important read. Hawley does an amazing job of explaining and making sense of the political divide in the United States in an unbiased way. There’s also plenty of facts and figures concerning the effects of global warming and other issues.

Which is why I will say this novel isn’t for everyone. Due to being all about the very real and serious things going on in the world, the subject matter can be anxiety inducing. I know I felt tense pretty much the whole way through! We are inundated constantly with doom and gloom online and feeling the strain in our daily lives. Sometimes you read to escape reality for awhile and if you’re sensitive or not able to read about what we’re all going through right now, this book might not be for you.

While there are content warnings galore, I wholeheartedly believe you should give Anthem a try. While Hawley doesn’t sugarcoat anything, he does leave you feeling like change is still possible.

Maybe there’s hope for us yet.

Expected publication date: January 4th, 2022

Thank you Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for the e-ARC

Thirty-five years ago we made a decision. That if we had a child, that child would be our love letter to the future, someone who would contribute and make a difference. And, that the world would deserve this child.

Today, that child is deciding whether they want to have a child. I worry that the world is not worthy of this possible grandchild. That this possible grandchild would inherit a world of turmoil and violence and deprivation.

Reading Noah Hawley’s Anthem was very difficult and several times I considered walking away and leaving the book unfinished. But I trusted the author to take me on a journey past the horror, his imagining the logical outcome of the trajectory we are on–the West burning up, toxic individualism turning to anarchy, the insulated rich indulging their worst natures, children institutionalized for anxiety. And mass suicide, the protest movement of the young.

A group of teenagers go on a rescue journey, and to save the world. In a violent world, they take up violence. They understand what the adults fail to see.

Hawley set his novel in the world of the near future. A society divided, a political system broken, the climate spiraling toward a disastrous reconfiguration. Post-Covid19 lockdown and social isolation and the “lost year,” post “stop the steal.”

Anxiety is crippling children who lack the stability and surety we are supposed to provide them to grow healthy and whole. They understand that adults have focused on the wrong things–money, power, greed, success, the right to dominate, self-importance. And the outcome is death. The children respond by killing themselves in an “act of collective surrender.”

Then, this world erupts into the worst possible, but not inevitable, outcome. While wildfires destroy the redwoods and the West, home-grown terrorists come out in force to destroy the hated and feared architecture of order–the government, anything that restricts their individual freedom.

The authorial tone is caustic, angry, eviscerating both The Party of Truth and the Party of Lies, slicing open our festering wounds to reveal the rot within, reflecting like a funhouse mirror, the grotesque and disturbing image in which we see both who we are and who we may become. The children talk in deeply reflective language, understanding what has gone wrong, with a precocious maturity. But it is this exaggeration, the extremity of violence and horror, that allowed me to read on, knowing it was a tool, a device, to elicit a a reaction in the reader.

“As a writer, your author has long believed that fiction is an empathy delivery device,” Hawley writes at the end. He tells us that his daughter asks how the novel will end, and he admits the future of his characters is “unclear.” He tells us there is a way out of this inevitable future scenario. “All we have to do is change,” for we are in control of our actions. It is up to us.

This may be considered a ‘plot giveaway,’ but it is important to understand this book is not your typical story. The intrusive authorial voice alone sets it apart. The grappling with deep, existential, societal, and political questions is integral.

It’s a novel that gives a huge wallop, sets you back on your heels, gives you the shakes. You will mull it over for days. And then you will look around and wonder, what can I change today?

Because if my child has a child, I want it to inherit a world on fire to share and repair and forgive and affirm.

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

I have an idea for the marketing of Noah Hawley’s thoroughly terrifying new novel #Anthem. Here goes. Starting in January 2022 it should be placed ,like Gideon’s Bible, in all the hotel and motel rooms of the country. Maybe some insomniac traveler will give it a look see and drift off while contemplating it’s somber message. Seeing how apocalypse at the hand of madmen is a challenging sell, the exposure to the wandering sojourners who traverse the world might be just the ticket. You see, a new epidemic is threatening our existence- mass youthful suicide. But to thwart this one must put our survival in the hands of young warriors, those who will risk all in their attempt to put living back into life. #Anthem is a mutant book, pulling from sources as varied as A Clockwork Orange to Animal Farm, and will certainly scare the bejesus out of you. My advice : only read #Anthem if you have somebody near you to give you a big hug when you’ve finished and remember, you are not Alone.

Noah Harley is spot on as he describes what’s wrong with today’s society. Clever plot, great writing.

I've read all of Noah Hawleys books and love the way he tells a story. A great quick and entertaining read that will do well. Thanks for the advance read.

This novel has a distinctive cadence that I just couldn’t quite vibe with. I suspect that this may be a novel that would work better on audiobook rather than print and I may try it again in that format after publication. But, for now, I just couldn’t engage with this one and did not finish.