SuitabookMARTians
Blythe Woolston
- Reading
- Reading together or checking in after the opening could help if the abrupt changes to Zoe’s school, work and home life feel stark. Afterwards, compare what the story shows with what it leaves unresolved.
- Themes
- Consumer culture and corporate power: Zoe works for AllMART in a society where shopping and corporate influence shape daily life. The book takes a critical view of this.
- Vignette-led storytelling: The story moves between scenes of Zoe at work, advertising and local news, with the stores’ intentions revealed only gradually. The segmented scenes and delayed revelations create an unsettled, sometimes meandering reading experience.
- Worth knowing
- The story includes a young person left to manage after her mother moves away, bleak housing options and children living in an abandoned shopping centre. Its near-future society is portrayed as socially and economically harsh.