Skip to main content

Review: Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins



Blurb from Goodreads:
In a parched southern California of the near future, Luz, once the poster child for the country’s conservation movement, and Ray, an army deserter turned surfer, are squatting in a starlet’s abandoned mansion. Most “Mojavs,” prevented by armed vigilantes from freely crossing borders to lusher regions, have allowed themselves to be evacuated to encampments in the east. Holdouts like Ray and Luz subsist on rationed cola and water, and whatever they can loot, scavenge, and improvise.

For the moment, the couple’s fragile love, which somehow blooms in this arid place, seems enough. But when they cross paths with a mysterious child, the thirst for a better future begins. Heading east, they are waylaid in the desert by a charming and manipulative dowser – a diviner for water -- and his cultlike followers, who have formed a colony in a mysterious sea of dunes.

Immensely moving, profoundly disquieting, and mind-blowingly original, Watkins’s novel explores the myths we believe about others and tell about ourselves, the double-edged power of our most cherished relationships, and the shape of hope in a precarious future that may be our own.
My Review:
I am definitely starting 2016 off right by making this my first read.  I don't think I've EVER highlighted a book so much -- every single passage was so beautiful, so astonishing.  I hate to even try to tell you about this book or lump it into some category -- part dystopian, part literary fiction, every single part gorgeous.  I got lost in the world, in the descriptions, in the language.  If you've ever lived in the Southwestern U.S., ever visited, ever cared a single shred about it -- you must read this book. 

I highly recommend this to fans of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel or The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (or anything by either author), truly, two of my all time favorites.   This book is an outstanding novel debut (the author has also written a book of stories, which I can't wait to read).  Incomprehensibly beautiful book.

Gold Fame Citrus came out last year, you can purchase HERE, and I highly, HIGHLY recommend it! 
"Some people I know have a place.  Even if they didn't, Hoosiers aren't quitters.  California people are quitters.  No offense.  It's just you've got restlessness in your blood." 
"I don't," she said, but he went on.   
"Your people came here looking for something better.  Gold, fame, citrus.  Mirage.  They were feckless, yeah?  Schemers.  That's why no one wants them now. Mojavs."

Comments

  1. I love it when the writing of a book is so beautiful. I'm so glad that your first 2016 book was such a winner. I hope this sets the tone for the rest of the year for you! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gah I love the sound of this one. I hadn't heard of it before either. I really enjoyed Station Eleven so I will for sure be checking this out!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's rare when I find a book that I highlight almost the entire thing; there have been just a slight few. I'm glad this one worked for you, and your enthusiasm about it makes me want to bump it up.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love books like this! If only they could all be like this right?
    Wonderful review and thanks so much for putting this on my radar!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This sounds so good! I loved Station Eleven, so your comparison is making me really want to read this. Thanks for reviewing it!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I love this trope, sub-genre, setting: My Best Friend's Brother/My Brother's Best Friend

I Love This Trope, Sub-Genre, Setting is a new feature on my blog in which I discuss a trope, sub-genre or setting that I love and tell you about books that are shining examples of said trope, sub-genre or setting.  Feel free to play along and please let me know about your favorite books in this realm and whether you like this trope, sub-genre and/or setting as much as I do! Today I am spotlighting the trope of:  My Best Friend's Brother/My Brother's Best Friend , which I would define as any book where the heroine either has a crush on or falls for her brother's best friend or her best friend's brother. I have to confess that I love this trope in nearly all of its iterations!  I have a younger brother so I never got to crush on any of his friends but it's fun reading about that and it's equally as fun as reading about falling for your best friend's brother -- instant sisters!  I know there are a ton

Conversations With Myself (& Hopefully You): ARC Greed

This discussion is inspired by my feelings lately when reading and reviewing ARCs versus the feelings I had when I requested those same ARCs: ARC GREED ARC greed -- have we all experienced this?  What I even mean by this term is that I sometimes feel overwhelmed when looking at Netgalley and Edelweiss and  I sometimes over-request, if only because I can!  I get greedy when I see all the new and shiny ARCs available and I will sometimes request things that have even a hint of interest for me, not necessarily focusing only on those books that I really, really want.  The problem with this over-requesting and with getting greedy with requesting (and receiving) ARCs is when it comes time to read and review these ARCs.  Last month and this month, I have looked at my ARCs with a release date in each respective month and I just haven't wanted to read any of them.  I need to start asking myself -- If I was immediately approved for this ARC, would I read it right thi

Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For the Rest of 2015

Top Ten Tuesday  is hosted by the fab ladies at  The Broke and the Bookish ! What books are you anticipating for the rest of this year?