Crosshairs, Catherine Hernandez
Crosshairs, Catherine Hernandez
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
Club: $12.99

Crosshairs

Author: Catherine Hernandez

Narrator: Catherine Hernandez

Unabridged: 9 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/08/2020


Synopsis

USA TODAY’s 5 Books Not to Miss
Marie Claire’s 2020 Books to Add To Your Reading List

“A beautiful, unapologetic, and unwatered-down...dystopian [novel] that holds a sobering mirror up to our own world” (Marie Lu, New York Times bestselling author) from the author of the acclaimed novel Scarborough.

In the wake of the escalating global battle for economic and social justice, award-winning author Catherine Hernandez has crafted a dystopian tale of love, friendship, and resistance set in a terrifyingly familiar near-future. Crosshairs births an indelible landscape of memory and uncertainty as Kay, the gay son of Filipino and Jamaican immigrants, is on the run from a fascist regime operated by a paramilitary group known as the Boots. Those who fall at the bottom of the Boots’ social stratification are rendered “Other” and subsequently sent to work camps. They suffer violence that pushes them further into this otherness, although the new regime labels these sweeping acts the “Renovation.”

Kay’s account of these events is a silent letter to his lover, Evan, from whom he is separated when the Renovation’s plans fall rapidly into place. When Kay finds himself on the run again, he lands in the front lines of a civilian-led movement called the Resistance. There, he discovers the answer to his question: “I wonder what could possibly happen in my lifetime that would have me running. What would mean enough to me to fight against it?”

Crosshairs grapples with a matrix of oppressive systems perpetuated by environmental disaster and state-sanctioned violence. Amid the flames of hatred and distrust, marginalized communities rise against the repressive structures that see them as anything but human, and with this, a thrilling message of hope is forged.

About Catherine Hernandez

Catherine Hernandez is a proud queer woman of color, radical mother, theater practitioner, award-winning author, and the artistic director of b current Performing Arts and the Sulong Theatre. She is of Filipino, Spanish, Chinese, and Indian heritage, and she is married into the Navajo Nation. She is the author of the plays Singkil and Kilt Pins, the children’s book M Is for Mustache: A Pride ABC Book, and the novels Scarborough and Crosshairs.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bookishrealm on January 13, 2021

Brilliant. A difficult book to read, but also a book that leaves the reader with so much hope. CW: homophobia, specific use of f** as a slur, transphobia, racism, lynching, transphobic slurs, sexual abuse of a minor, emotional abuse, suicidal ideation, deadnaming, death of a child, and gang rape (de......more

Goodreads review by a. a. d. on December 20, 2020

I was thrilled to receive an early reader copy of Crosshairs. I heard great things about Scarborough, Hernandez’s previous work, and had high expectations. I’m a sucker for dystopian stories. Unfortunately, the story fell flat for me. It started off strong, but as it went on, I was sorely disappoint......more

Goodreads review by Shealea on September 30, 2020

I hope to someday write a more eloquent & more thoughtful review, but here are my preliminary thoughts: Set in dystopian Canada, we follow a queer femme drag performer who is Jamaican Filipino. Massive floods brought upon by environmental degradation left the majority of the population homeless, jobl......more

Goodreads review by Sheena on December 21, 2020

Crosshairs is a dystopian novel with elements of social justice that definitely hits close to home due to the worlds current events. The LGBTQ+ community and POC are forced into concentration camps. This future world went through massive floods leading to homelessness and hunger while the rich do no......more


Quotes

"Author Catherine Hernandez narrates her own work, set in a dystopian Canada. As fascism arises, people of color, disabled people, and members of the LGBTQ+ community are sent to labor camps. When Kay loses her gig as a drag queen, she doesn't realize that one day she will use a gun to fight for her freedom. Hernandez uses a strong voice and dramatic pacing to elevate her work. . . . this tense audiobook is timely and relevant—and a reflection of what could happen in a world without diversity."