We Once Were Giants is an interesting and futuristic take on a depleted planet that has been ravished by war, famine, and major ecological/environmental disasters. With the dwindling of the human race, society is at peril and agricultural syndicates have taken over.
Drop Duncan, misperceived as a weak-minded and kind individual is set to inherit a powerful syndicate, but in order to prove himself, he must lead a motley crew of misfits on a mission to Antarctica to find a vital seedbank. With peril lurking at every corner, will Drop and his team succeed?
This genre is not my usual pick, but I very much enjoyed this fast paced book that makes you consider a dystopian future plagued by the catastrophic effects
of climate change.

Many thanks to the author for the ARC. This review is voluntary. All thoughts are my unbiased opinions.

DNF due to extremely graphic content - please consider providing content warnings as there was infanticide, paedophilia, and sexual assault within the first 10%. I was enjoying the writing style and how the story was unfolding however I cannot continue reading a text with this content.

I received a free copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Verbitrage; all opinions expressed are exclusively my own.

DNF at 20%; however, I felt I read enough to recommend this book with caveats, We Once Were Giants does a fantastic job of painting a post-apocalyptic world that combines elements of classics like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 along with newer works like "Idiocracy". The writing is sharp and descriptive, the characters are unique and poignant, and the world feels entirely too relatable. My biggest issue was entirely personal: some of the subject matter was too disturbing for me to continue reading the book. I don't believe that translates to the inherent worthiness of the book as a work of fiction as they were not glorified acts or advocated by the text, but it simply made it too difficult for me to complete at this place and time. On that note, I'll list my content warnings below:

[Graphic violence, misogyny, sexual assault/rape, pedophilia, infant death, and suicide.]

Ebook/science fiction: Disclaimer as I am a big believer in climate change. I started this book with great expectations and was let down. I hated this book. It took me over a month to finish and got me so behind on my annual reading goal.
Why did I hate it: The book starts out with good intentions and an old west flavor. Fungus is everywhere because of climate change to the point that people have "hallmarks", inside or out, mostly in the form of scars, I guess. Then it took forever for the trip to Antarctica to start (40% to get out of NY State). . There was great character development for only three of the characters And then it got stupid. There's slogging through narrative of all the rest of the characters. If you don't believe in the trip, then why did you go and why are you sabotaging it. Problems I had were mostly with time. The crew leaves Manhattan to go to Antarctica. With climate change and the fall of society, it would take more than this book and the equator would be a nightmare. While parts were passed on, other were harped on.
Then they finally get to Queen Maud Land which is civilized after the crew is told to beware. There is no description of the place. Is the hospital a building or a tent? Are there streets? Queen Maud Land has scientist, but no one explains why the fungus didn't go there and why wasn't the crew put in quarantine. The whole book irked me.

Good dystopian novel filled with exciting writing. I am getting tired of dystopian novels, but this stands out.

This book was compelling, interesting, disturbing and a really great read. I started this book after a string of mediocre books, and what a breath of fresh air it was. Or rather, what hot, polluted air. Fishman's writing transports you into a future where climate change and pollution have continued unchecked, to their inevitable conclusion. But this isn't just about climate change, it's about people and the types of societies we can build. I was so engaged with the characters and their stories that it wasn't until I was more than half-way through that it struck home that this isn't just a story, it's a warning. This book does this without ever reading like a lecture. Highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for an e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Planet earth and its inhabitants take a nosedive in the future. The takeaway lesson from this dystopian novel: if we don't, at sometime, make environmental changes, our society will be in jeopardy. In this case, the truth hurts.

Gritty and hard, yet hopeful in a world that could still be our future. I would like to see more from this author.