It’s Not the End of the World

Park-Ramage (Yes, Daddy) offers a bracing if lurid tale of a commune of queer progressives attempting to survive an authoritarian government and the ravages of climate change. As wildfires decimate a near-future Los Angeles, toxic clouds induce violent psychosis, and the government oppresses the LGBTQ+ community. The novel’s first act follows gay couple Mason and Yunho, as they desperately stick to their plans for a lavish baby shower despite their heavy debt and encroaching fires. After the disaster-riddled event, the couple decamps to a commune in Montana along with the child’s surrogate mother, Astrid, and Astrid’s partner, Claudia. There, they face danger from government-backed militias bent on the commune’s destruction. The author peppers the nightmarish narrative with plenty of inspired ideas, such as an apocalypse-themed vacation retreat modeled after Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, and he shines in his depiction of the makeshift family’s love for each other, which is expressed in the increasingly extreme lengths they go to in protecting one another. Unfortunately, the narrative often loses its way in scenes of gratuitous violence and pornographic sex. It’s a mixed bag. (June)