Novel Bakery

The food in Camp Zero was, overall, disgusting. And while my goal was to recreate a rather disgusting and gristly “cat stew” — mountain lion roadkill — with chicken. Admittedly, my version is delicious.

“Grant!” the Foreman calls out from the feed line. “Get in line! It’s cat stew night.”
 
“Cat stew?” Grant asks. He feels his stomach turn.
…
The line inches forward and Grant peers into a wide trough of food. The cat stew is brown and oily, with bits of gristle and what looks like bones.
 
Flin ladles the stew into a bowl and tops it with mashed potatoes.

Camp Zero by Michelle Lin Sterling

Camp Zero by Michelle Lin Sterling is a sci-fi, apocalyptic, dystopian…I’ve heard it described as a thriller, but I don’t feel the pacing is fast enough to call it a thriller.

The story follows several characters in a post-apocalyptic world trying to survive in the freezing tundra. The food is mostly processed, canned, or roadkill, unless you’re wealthy enough to live in the “floating city,” a temperature controlled haven floating on the ocean outside of Boston. 

But this is where I felt some of the world-building broke down. The world is falling apart and overheating, but the wealthiest have tropical fruits flown in from countries along the equator. Wouldn’t those places be too hot to grow those fruits now? With all their technology, wouldn’t they just grow those things in a green house in the floating city?

I am conflicted about this book.  The story is surreal and a bit bonkers. My main complaint was the pacing which felt off most of the book. The story would lag for stretches until a crazy turn would be dropped into the plot and the book would speed up. Only to lag again. I did appreciate how all the stories weaved together at the end of the book into so many insane twists that I never saw coming. Also, I just keep coming back to this book even though it drove me crazy. I can’t stop thinking about the themes or the twists or the moral dilemmas! If you’re looking for a post-apocalyptic sci-fi that will blow your mind and force you to think twice, this is it. It may also bore and frustrate you.

It was fun creating fake gold teeth for the reel I created for Camp Zero!

For the cozy chicken stew, I grabbed a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. It added a lovely smokey flavor to the stew. And I served over some creamy mashed potatoes. This is the perfect comfort meal for a cold day!

What’s a hyped-up book that you didn’t enjoy?