Well, this was an interesting sci-fi read.

A teenager and his blended family are on vacation by the lake. When they wake up, the lake is gone and they find themselves alone on a curiously contained farm. Is it a fever dream? Alien abduction? A parallel universe? A government conspiracy? They have no idea. All they know is they can't get out for three long years.

Then, another family arrives.

The teen and his family are pacifist, intellectual, mixed-race Canadians. The other family is American, led by their racist, conspiracy theorist, gun-toting, mentally unstable father.

The story is not about the sci-fi elements, or the mystery behind who kidnapped these people. It never really answers the worldbuilding questions, though it does heavily hint at the answers. Instead, it's about the conflict among the cast. Should they choose to content themselves with their domesticated life within the strict parameters of their captors (holy Canadians) or risk punishment and worse by rebelling against their captors (debased Americans) and trying to escape?

Xavier, our main character, is torn between the two worlds. It's a compelling scenario, and I was interested the whole time.

The only thing is, the message of this book left me slightly baffled. What is it saying? That the intolerance of captivity, no matter how benevolent the bondage, is a destructive impulse antithetical to the greater good of humanity? Maybe I'm too much of a debased American to be satisfied with this.

Welcome to THE DOME

dun dun dun

SUMMARY:
We follow Xavier Oak, a 13 year old boy with a blended family. He is currently on a summer trip with his father and pregnant stepmother at their lake cottage. He is NOT happy with this as he wanted to stay home with his mother and brother and play D&D with notable Cool Girl Serena. So he wakes up on the second day of the trip ready to text Serena about their campaign.

BLEHEHEHEHEH

That's right. There is a whole goat outside. The lake? Gone.

They wander around for a few days. They manage to figure out that they are in a dome due to rocks and math. UHOH! Right when you thought things couldn't get worse, stepmom goes into labor.

Three years pass.

Another family arrives in the dome. And they are the worst kind of monsters you could imagine. They are white people from the south.

MY THOUGHTS:
This book got WAY more political than I could have imagined. Which is great! I love a book that has something to say. However this felt super heavy-handed. It kinda took over the entire plot, which I was invested in at the beginning! But it became a little bit of a slog to get through somewhere in the middle. Very much became look at these redneck people what with their conspiracy theories and racism and balloons. Like man I just wanna know more about this dome. I don't care that you are scared of this mostly reasonable man because of his *checks notes* ultra scary PTSD. Like yeah he sucks but like honestly his reaction to The Dome is much more realistic.

FINAL OPINION:
Overall this book was a bit of a nothing burger. Not much happens. I was expecting more of a mystery, or at least some suspense, since this is a survival thriller. The ending happens and you are just like. Oh. So it was...ok. The characters are pretty shallow and unlikable. Like, I wish we learned a bit more about who these people were pre-dome. You don't really see why any of them would want to get out, and honestly they don't seem to worked up about it either. I guess the book was fine. Not a recommend, but there are much worse books out there.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for providing an advanced copy! All opinions are my own.