A well written Dystopian Climate Fiction story that follows three POV's who come to Camp Zero a settlement in Northern Canada which is trying to carve out an existence away from the crumbling world.
Rose who comes to Camp Zero as one of the sex workers The Blooms in exchange for her immigrant mother's protection. Grant comes to Camp Zero to escape his wealthy family and help teach the workers but finds more going on below the surface. And a group of woman doing climate research nearby known as White Alice.

This was an intriguing and thought provoking read but I found the timelines a bit confusing and thought the author tried to touch on too many subjects making the story as a whole a bit muddled. There's a lot going on in this slow burn story. While i'm not a huge dystopian reader I thought this was a better than average one and worth checking out if that kind of story is your thing. This one had more a literary feel than thriller so be prepared for a slower moving story that will finally intersect towards the end.

*Thank you Netgalley and Atria books for the Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I just read Camp Zero in one sitting and overall really enjoyed it. First off though - I would suggest you do not read the synopsis on Goodreads. I went in without reading it and think it is better to let the story unfold as we learn things and sometimes I feel like a synopsis gives away too much.

I was a little bummed though because the reason I was so excited to pick it up was seeing a lot of comparisons to Station Eleven which is one of my favorite books. Going in with that comparison gave it a high bar and it wasn't quite there.

However - I do think this book did what most of my favorite science fiction does which is to take a new world that is different from ours and illuminate things from our current lives in a different setting. This story managed to do that with a lot of current issues - climate change, reliance on technology, greed, misogyny - without feeling like we are being preached to which can be a fine line to walk. I'm glad I read this and appreciated the story but it's not one of my favorite books of the year.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

I am so glad I heard about this book because it was absolutely incredible from start to finish. The three different story lines came together so beautifully. The end left me hanging, but in the best way! I hope there is a sequel!

Camp Zero is a dystopian climate change mystery thriller that follows Rose, a young woman sent to a frigid northern Canadian camp called Camp Zero. This camp is an American owned building project that’s riddled with secrets and it’s Rose’s job to spy on its architect.

This is a bleak story that I didn’t want to put down. Through the lens of a few different characters, we see a miserable, dying world in the near future. The temperatures are rising along with the water levels. There are floating cities on the ocean for the rich and elite while the less fortunate deal with climate change fueled natural disasters on the mainland. With the exception of a very black mirror type of technology, everything else about the disasters, environmental and societal, is not too far fetched. Although the world in Camp Zero is quite unsettling, I really enjoyed reading about it.

Set in the future, this story follows multiple climate change survivors. They're all going to Canada to help build a new settlement called Camp Zero. It's supposed to be a new way of life.
While they all want a better future, they each have an ulterior motive for going. No one is who they seem to be, and it's difficult to know who to trust.

I enjoyed the writing and most of the story, but the flashbacks were not my favorite.

This book is disturbing in that it could happen, and the behaviors of some of these people were disturbing as well. I'm curious to see where they end up.

This one was a slow burn, it took me a while to get into it and really understand what was happening. I enjoyed all the individuals back stories: the development of White Rabbit, and the childhood/early adulthood of the other two characters. I thought the present day scenes seemed a little sluggish and could have used something else. Overall I enjoyed this book but I honestly don't think it will be one that sticks with me.

Camp Zero is a dystopian story that follows three perspectives in a world where climate change has ravaged the earth. Severe weather and climbing temperatures are the norm. The future lies either in a specially constructed floating city for the wealthy or far up north. The characters we follow have all fled to Canada for a variety of reasons. The plot culminates as their stories converge.

This book was just not for me. I sensed that early on and would have DNF’d it, but I wanted to give an honest and thorough review. One of the main characters is a sex-worker turned spy trying to survive and many of the situations she finds herself in are described. There was a serious ick factor here that really bothered me. The world of this book is very bleak and it was difficult for me to stay there. The characters are all morally grey (at best). Everyone is scraping to survive and morality and ethics have been left far behind. The ending also felt rushed and incomplete.

Fans of The Power by Naomi Alderman, which I stopped halfway through, would likely enjoy this book but it was just too bleak for me.

Thank you the NetGalley for the ARC.

Camp Zero released on April 4th, 2023.

- CAMP ZERO is a near future dystopia, terrifying in that it's not all that different from the path we are currently on.
- I flew through this novel, fully immersed in its world and invested in the characters, all of whom have come north for different reasons, all of whom have done good things and bad things and are simply trying to survive.
- CAMP ZERO mainly explores how gender effects each character's path in this melting world, but it also gets into class, race, education and more. I already want to read more by Sterling.

Dystopian near future Earth coping with climate crisis. Characters and places vividly written and memorable for me. I loved the pace of this book and how three different viewpoints connected. Would be great for fans of Station Eleven.

I loved the first half of this and was really excited about it, especially the White Alice chapters, but then the last half didn't nail the landing for me. Far be it from me to complain about men being portrayed badly, but it really started to feel like it was showing that men ruined everything singlehandedly. Although one of the main characters is mixed race, I didn't feel like the critique of the power systems addressed race or any intersections other than gender, though I could have missed it. Also, when a running theme of this book is colonialism, I wish this had an Indigenous point of view—or any significant Indigenous character. Grant as a POV character didn't feel necessary to me. I feel like this had a ton of potential that wasn't realized.

I really do love a good dystopian novel and I don’t pick up enough of them. I’m honestly not sure how I feel about this one though.

This was a super unique concept that had great potential. There were glimmers of a really intriguing story that pushed through, but it was overshadowed at points. I found myself getting a bit confused in the beginning trying to keep track of all the characters, where they belonged, and what their motivations were. I also found it difficult to connect with any of the characters.

This was a slow burn which typically isn’t my favorite and I, unfortunately, did start to get bored at points and struggled to stay engaged.

In the end, I powered through because I did ultimately want to know what happened, but it wasn’t something that I felt I needed to drop everything and read to find out. I really hoped to like this a lot more.

A dystopian future told from 3 different points of view, Camp Zero is a well written and thoroughly immersive, even if some parts seemed to be a little bit dragged out.

Rose is hired to "entertain" at the camp as one of the Blooms. The Blooms are all renamed as flowers, just in case they had any sense of identity left. She isn't in it for the experience. She is there for a better life...by spying.

Grant is a rich kid escaping his father by tutoring at the camp.

"We" are a group that has cut themselves off from the world. They were my favorite part of the book.

Even though I got invested in what was happening, the ending left me feeling...meh. It seems like it sacrificed a good ending for a chance to write a sequel.

Camp Zero
Michelle Sterling
Pub Date: April 4, 2023
Atria
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Science Fiction
Good writing in a dystopian climate change thriller. I got bogged down in all the flashbacks. Not my favorite book this month but others may like it more.
3 stars

Global warming is at a fever pitch. Engineers have made a floating city, and anything outside the north is getting too warm to live comfortably. It’s a great premise for a novel, and yet, we don’t fully explore how devastating the world has gotten. Instead, we focus more on the alternating perspectives, which is completely okay, but I was hoping for more world-building. If there’s a floating city, what more have they come up with in all this time?

I enjoyed the concept of the flick, which is essentially built in access to the web. Whenever I have a doctor’s appointment, most people in the waiting room have their heads down to their phones. Sterling shows us how things probably will go and, for these characters, the repercussions of being forever hooked up and online. It’s scary because it’s a feasible idea. We’re seeing so many more climate events than we used to, so when an author puts that into a book, it makes it scary and a thrill to read.

I liked the alternating perspectives and how this one came together, but the ending was a bit of a sore spot, as it felt unfulfilling. Though sometimes we don’t always get the endings we want or hope for. Perhaps there will be a book 2 down the road. The world felt so bleak that it would be nice to revisit this world and watch it crumble or be saved; I’m okay with either direction. This lovely debut tackles many real-world issues that will appeal to many readers.

Thank you, Atria, for sending over an ARC.

Bleakly haunting and atmospheric, this story of a near future plagued by energy shortage and environmental disaster tries to see salvation through the grim choices of women fighting to reclaim the earth from the men who have ravaged it. Its haunting depiction of a North America burning and melting is unsettlingly honest, and the grim determination of its characters breathes tension into every moment.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my free copy. These opinions are my own.

Some books jump from “read” to “reviewed,” as I quickly note what I liked and didn’t, briefly summarizing and moving on. Other books sit with me as I try to describe what I experienced. CAMP ZERO is the latter. I finished it six days ago (tearing through the ending with a focused intensity, I remember standing in the kitchen, pretending to carry on a conversation, while still reading the book). The story was compelling, the characters interesting, and the ending was not a tidy bow.

The story follows three POVs, primarily Rose, a sex worker sent as a spy to Camp Zero – an American building project in Canada. We also spend time with an unnamed group of women scientists and soldiers learning to survive at an abandoned outpost known as White Alice. Finally, we follow Grant, a monied academic who wants to grow a college at Camp Zero. For the longest time, I had NO IDEA WHERE we were headed, which I loved. Then Sterling started parsing out little puzzle pieces, and I began to see the big picture.

CAMP ZERO was a fascinating look at what people can accomplish when they’re willing to bond together. It’s especially feminist-focused as most men are cast in adversarial roles, and the women support each other. As with most dystopian fiction lately, this one focuses on the devastating impact of climate change.

@ReadWithJenna picked this as their April Bookclub book, and I’m interested to see what they say about it. Speculative Fiction isn’t a “typical” pick for her, but she loved the strong female roles and relationships.

If you are intrigued by a feminist, near-future, climate change/dystopian fiction story set in the frigid north, this is a good one! I enjoyed it and look forward to the author’s future books.

Thanks, NetGalley and Atria Books, for the Digital Review Copy.

Where to begin with Camp Zero, which was absolutely one of my most anticipated books of the year, and a real Shannon Book™ in general? I mean, it had all the hallmarks of something I'd love: near-future dystopia, set in a remote locale with wonderfully messy characters, and a bizarrely wonderful secondary plot. And I liked it, I did! I just didn't love it? I was... I daresay a tad bit underwhelmed at times? But again, this is not to say it isn't good; it is just to say maybe I had different expectations.

What I Loved:

►The different characters' stories intersected beautifully. I love when you're reading a book and things just... click. And I love that the author wove this story together in such a great way.

►Speaking of weaving, talk about twists! This book had some great ones, some really messed up stuff that kept me wanting to keep reading.

►I found what we knew of the world to be very fascinating. I do wish there had been a bit more worldbuilding, but what we do know I really enjoyed. Unsurprisingly, climate change has basically decimated the world, and so people have to find new ways to survive. That is my jam! Plus, I love that this book takes the characters to a cold, desolate locale. Definitely fits the vibe of the book.

►The whole White Alice subplot was just so wonderfully weird! Seriously, I was so curious about what was going on there! It was messy and bizarre, and I probably would have read a whole entire book about those shenanigans.

►I liked the backstory of Rose and her mom a lot. I think those moments were lovely, especially knowing that her mom is a big motivation for why Rose ended up coming to this place to begin with.

What I Struggled With:

►The pacing just felt off to me. Like, there were times that I was really interested in the story, and then other parts that just felt like a slog. I think, especially in the middle, that there were some extraneous bits that if pared down, may have made the pacing better and more readable.

►The whole tone just felt super bleak to me. And I love bleak! I am like, the queen of bleak! But this didn't have enough warmer moments to offset that, basically. I love a dark book, but I also like to feel like the characters have something left to hope for, you know?

►I think I'd have liked a few more answers? Like- the ending is an ending proper, don't get me wrong, but I think there were just questions I had as a reader that were never fully answered, is my point.

Bottom Line: Pretty solid near future cautionary tale that ties the various characters' stories together nicely.

Didn't work for me for a few reasons. I am in no way against main characters in books being sex workers, but I certainly expect this information to be included in the book description/content warnings. I felt caught off guard and had to check I was reading the book I thought I was. Between that and the mc immediately judging another character a whore on sight within the first chapter, it was not a tone of book that I enjoy.

This book also suffered from some over description- for example, I just don't need a list of every single item in a character's suitcase. There are other ways to inform the reader about the lives of the characters.

Overall, interesting sci-fi/futuristic concept, poorly executed.

Camp Zero is a climate fiction/dystopian novel set in the not so distant future. Global warming has ravaged the world and most of the Southern United States is uninhabitable due to extreme temperatures. Humans are implanted with "The Flick" at birth and their mind is an endless stream of newsfeed that begins to hinder their true memories - not too far off from the world we live in today.

Camp Zero follows three different points of view. Rose is a sex worker from the Floating City off the coast of Boston. She takes a job at Camp Zero in the hopes of getting close to Meyer, the lead architect. In exchange for information she will receive citizenship and a home for herself and her mother. Grant is also a new arrival at Camp Zero. He hails from one of the oldest and wealthiest families in America, but he wants to carve his own path as a professor. The third POV comes from the women of White Alice, a collective of scientists residing in a Cold War era base camp.

This book was a bit slow to start, but once I started reading I was hooked. It's the kind of dystopian novel that is highly plausible and that made it even more gripping to me. I loved following all three storylines of Camp Zero, but the White Alice chapters were by far my favorites. I probably would have given this five stars if we spent more time with the White Alice storyline. Overall I did really enjoy Camp Zero and thought it was a strong debut. I would recommend it to fans of other climate fiction/dystopian novels like Station Eleven or Oryx and Crake.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for an advance copy. I will definitely check out more from this author in the future!

I am at a loss for words. This is a statement on the world and what's to come. I'm thinking and will be for awhile on this story and all its complexities. I highly recommend this novel, which must be read by all soon so we may change the world before we destroy it.