Give me a dystopian book, and I will probably enjoy it. Give me a dystopian book centered on women, and the chances increase. Add in queer characters, mental health representation, apocalyptic global warming, and space travel, and there’s potential for it to be one of my favorite books of the year. Yours for the Taking has all these elements and so much more. It’s a book about family, queerness, and survival against all odds. More than anything, though, Yours for the Taking is a striking rebuke against white feminism, corporate power structures, and the generational wealth that upholds and protects both. 

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Synopsis:

The year is 2050. Ava and her girlfriend live in what’s left of Brooklyn, and though they love each other, it’s hard to find happiness while the effects of climate change rapidly eclipse their world. Soon, it won’t be safe outside at all. The only people guaranteed survival are the ones whose applications are accepted to The Inside Project, a series of weather-safe, city-sized structures around the world.

Jacqueline Millender is a reclusive billionaire/women’s rights advocate, and thanks to a generous donation, she’s just become the director of the Inside being built on the bones of Manhattan. Her ideas are unorthodox, yet alluring—she’s built a whole brand around rethinking the very concept of empowerment.

Shelby, a business major from a working-class family, is drawn to Jacqueline’s promises of power and impact. When she lands her dream job as Jacqueline’s personal assistant, she’s instantly swept up into the glamourous world of corporatized feminism. Also drawn into Jacqueline’s orbit is Olympia, who is finishing up medical school when Jacqueline recruits her to run the health department Inside. The more Olympia learns about the project, though, the more she realizes there’s something much larger at play. As Ava, Olympia, and Shelby start to notice the cracks in Jacqueline’s system, Jacqueline tightens her grip, becoming increasingly unhinged and dangerous in what she is willing to do—and who she is willing to sacrifice—to keep her dream alive.

At once a mesmerizing story of queer love, betrayal, and chosen family, and an unflinching indictment of cis, corporate feminism, Yours for the Taking holds a mirror to our own world, in all its beauty and horror.

Review:

Yours for the Taking follows multiple women in a near-future world ravaged by climate change and global warming. Korn has imagined a world where the earth has largely become uninhabitable, the rich have planned an escape to space, and society as we know it has collapsed. “Inside,” an exclusive bunker with mysterious qualifications, becomes the last hope for Americans left alive in 2050. 

The main characters in Yours are Ava, Shelby, and Olympia, though the story adds other point-of-view characters throughout its 20+ year time span. These three women are unconnected, except for their ties to Jacqueline Millender, an aging Millennial billionaire. Jacqueline has long been the face of and wallet behind the newest wave of feminism. She is powerful, connected, and the epitome of what we would call “gaslight, gatekeep, girl boss.” As the world spirals out of control, Jacqueline seizes an opportunity to create a whole new society – a women-only society. Yours for the Taking is the story of all the women Jacqueline steps on and pushes aside to achieve her warped dreams.

I loved the heck out of this story. It was intense and incredibly sad at times, but also genuinely hopeful – even at the end of the world. The relationships in Yours for the Taking are realistic; friends grow apart, couples grow distant and separate, and partners think about old flings in passing. It’s also queer as hell, with point-of-view characters that are sapphic, lesbian, masc, femme, and trans. Not all characters are queer, but many are. 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention all the spectacular mental health representation. There are characters with anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and OCD. Yours for the Taking treats these conditions with care and never stigmatizes them. As someone with OCD, I struggle to find that part of myself represented in books. In Yours, there’s a point-of-view character who struggles with her OCD on page. Though her compulsions differ from mine, this was so nice to read. If I have one criticism here, it’s that I hope Korn’s sequel explores OCD and neurodivergence further, and not just mental health. In my experience, OCD is more than its connection to anxiety. 

Audiobook:

I read Yours for the Taking by audiobook, which I highly recommend. Yellowjackets and Scream actress Jasmin Savoy Brown narrates the audiobook and does an excellent job with each character. I typically prefer multiple narrators for multi-POV books, but Jasmin Savoy Brown tackled this one beautifully. Each character was distinct, and I was never left guessing whose POV chapter I was in. I listened to this one at my typical listening speed. 

Final Thoughts:

Yours for the Taking is a thoroughly enjoyable climate fiction and dystopian novel with notes of Margaret Atwood, Katie M. Flynn, and Emily St. John Mandel. I’m astonished Yours was Korn’s debut full-length fiction work, and I can’t wait for the second book in this world later this year.

Rating: 5+/5 Stars. It’s going on the SFF Infinity Stars shelf. What a way to start February!

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for an audio review copy of Yours for the Taking! All the above thoughts are my own.

Challenges:

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