Struggled to get into it. DNF

Aretha is a young lawyer in a high-power New York City law firm who meets a new boyfriend, who turns out to be a member of a “survivalist” group. (The term “survivalist” refers to people who spend a lot of time and money making preparations for some great catastrophe that will end civilization in its present form. An essential part of that preparation commonly involves lots of guns and ammo.) In spite of her initial aversion to the “survivalist” mentality, especially the fascination with guns, her relationship with Aaron gradually pulls her in. The book contrasts the aggressive and competitive culture of corporate law firms with the slightly paranoid, reclusive nature of the survivalist culture. As someone raised in a lower economic class, Aretha is determined to achieve wealth and success, and identifies with the former. But she reluctantly leans toward the later, as the emptiness of the winning-is-everything lawyer subculture becomes more evident.
The middle of the book seemed slow to me, and I would have liked more insight into the personalities or motivations of Brittany and Aaron. The book is mostly told Aretha’s point-of-view. Although a minor technical detail, I think it would have been nice if the book was divided into chapters. The book compares two extreme segments of modern American society in an interesting and original way, and I enjoyed reading it. ( )

I wish that I could rate this higher, but the narration was too meandering to keep my interest. Too much time was spent talking about the characters' pasts without clear links to the interludes that happened on the present. Some comments also didn't make sense. Example: two city-dwelling characters are doing a backdoor transaction with a person in a rural area. When police arrive and they hide, one character comments that any reason could be behind the police being there, such as illegal dancing, because dancing is always illegal outside the city. Obviously country bars exist, so that's not remotely close to reality. No dancing was mentioned during the scene of their transaction. Without further context, this just came off as the author joking about rural America for the sake of making fun of it. I would say "character" instead of "author" here, but the character isn't drenched in sarcasm about ex-urbia elsewhere. If the author was making a deeper point here, I would have loved to learn it -- with more cultural context.

I gave this book a weekend. Ultimately, its disjointed narrative wasn't for me. ( )

This novel, with the wittiest opening paragraph I can recall in ages, turns into an intense experience that compelled me to stay up devouring the pages, and then sending me spiraling into a trough of despair afterwards. Narrator Aretha, a hard-working Black lawyer anticipating a promotion to partner, meets Aaron, a Brooklyn coffee roaster, recovered alcoholic and Superstorm Sandy survivor, and they develop warm, strong feelings for each other, like the globally-sourced coffee beans that Aaron travels to procure, almost immediately. Aaron is the partial owner of a palatial, pre-war Brooklyn brownstone on a comfortable block. Aaron's roommates, however, give Aretha fits and their very cold shoulders. James, a white, publicly denounced journalist-turned-plagarist, provides security for the brownstone-based growing business by stalking the hallways and the roof with guns in hand. Brittany keeps the books and is building a bomb shelter in the yard. Aretha becomes subsumed in the household, especially with Aaron always off on bean buying trips, and especially as she has lost hope of even staying status quo at the law firm when a new white associate receives the attention and acclaim that made Aretha confident of attaining a partnership. She also alienates her BFF Nia, when she finally invites her over to the brownstone and Nia is appalled to see the casual treatment of guns by the housemates. Aretha takes the nihilist path, becomes a "prepper", and assists James with the gun purchases and sales that keep the collective funded. She finds herself loving the nighttime gun deliveries all over metropolitan New York/New Jersey. Aretha's trip off the rails is mysterious and disturbing, although the racist treatment by the law firm gives her a very strong push in a very wrong direction. The ending is a bit comic but the overall impact of the ruin of Aretha's life is not. The writing is at times brilliant and never boring, but the downfall of Aretha is a very painful journey for the reader. ( )

The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley covers a lot of ground — some good and some not so much — as she explores modern issues including how we measure success, social justice, and friendship. Aretha is the typical overworked lawyer obsessed with billable hours and clawing her way to partner until she meets Aaron on a dating app. He seems to have a lot going for him as he owns his own business and the Brooklyn brownstone that he runs it out of, but then he tells Aretha about his survivalists roommates. As Aretha gets more drawn into Aaron’s life, she finds herself questioning everything she knows and finds important. Cauley is very funny and it comes across in Aretha’s constant internal dialogue and her interactions with her best friend, Nia, but at times it feels like the author tries too hard. Some of the secondary characters never get drawn as clearly as I would have liked, which makes some of the plot feel unrealistic…but then I wonder if it is supposed to feel like that? Is it satire? I enjoyed parts of The Survivalists, but parts definitely left me feeling confused. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoyed The Other Black Girl, Hell of a Book, and The Sellout. ( )