Describing this as “the paperback that swallowed the phone” makes sense because reading this with no comprehension of the current state of existence of being Online for people age 21 to 30 would be like reading the late-night musings of a particularly nihilist alien. Cash manages to satirize the seemingly non-satirical by pinpointing the weirdness of current existence and just rolling with it. Destroying your sister’s leg to give her a better choice at a beauty competition? Yea sounds right. A terrorist org getting an image makeover by advertising that they’re body positive? Sure why not. The other day I saw a tiktok where the ai voices of Biden and Obama were arguing foreign policy while playing Overwatch. Nothing is real!
Earth Angel by Madeline Cash, (List Price: 16.95, CLASH Books, 9781955904698, April 2023)
Reviewed by Ndobe Foletia, Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina