Book: Buzzard by Inez Ray
Reviewed by Halliday in the Books
Rating: 5/5
The year is 2086. Nothing grows anymore. The available food is produced and processed inside facilities. Humans now shelter in small cities, rationing the resources that remain. Governing bodies closely monitor those populations, ensuring they do not grow unexpectedly. However, they are careful to do this through prevention, since abortion is illegal in all territories. The last known abortion provider, Mae Bastet, is in hiding from the governments and other powerful organizations of the world. All of them want her dead.
This is her story, and the story of her world. It’s the story of how she got where she is now, after her arrest seven years ago, when her children were taken from her. Perhaps most horrifying, it’s also the story of how Mae’s world arose from the world that you and I inhabit today.
Buzzard is not an easy read. It is full of characters and ideas meant to challenge the reader. If any of your personal triggers are listed in the content warnings, pay attention. This book does not shy away from any of its dark corners. Instead, it shines an intense light on every dirty detail. It’s certainly the kind of book that requires a good headspace before diving in, but it is absolutely worth it. Yes, it is often brutally painful, but it is also beautiful, insightful, and inspiring.
Through all the hardship the characters face, readers experience a thoroughly captivating examination of what different people are willing to sacrifice when all the options are bad. Some will choose to sacrifice their safety, others choose their morals. Some fail to decide at all, or seek out impossible or once-abhorrent options. It is a heartbreaking portrayal of desperation in its myriad forms. At the same time, it is chock full of examples of what makes it all worth it. Regardless of how harsh the world is, there is always still something worth fighting for, and this is a mesmerizing reminder of that.
It is far too easy to see how our modern society can devolve into what readers witness in Buzzard. That is terrifying, but that’s not where we are now, and our future is not yet set in stone. Buzzard compels readers to examine what they value most, and what they’ll give to defend it. If enough take those lessons to heart, hopefully we can preserve the parts that really matter.