Depart, Depart! by Sim Kern

May 15, 2020 Kyna Byrd rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book is the product of the Gay Agenda your grandmother warned you about. If reading from the perspective of a transdude and his found queer family sounds unpleasant, this might not be the literary experience you are looking for. However, I urge you to try it anyway and fight through your [c]iscomfort. You might learn a thing or two.

Sim Kern's writing immediately pulled me into the character's body and allowed me to explore a world so close to my own. It is stark, it is dark, and it is rivo ...more

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Aug 13, 2020 Silvia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-to-review, sent-for-review, rep-trans, arc, found-family, rep-jewish, cli-fi

I was sent this book as an advance copy by the publisher via NetGalley for reviewing purposes, but all opinions are my own.

I had really high expectations for Depart, Depart! and I'm very happy to say they were fully met.

I'm always a little cautious when reading books involving climate change because after two climate change courses at uni I feel like I can easily be disappointed or see mistakes in the author's research or in their attitude towards what climate change is/does and how we can/s I was sent this book as an advance copy by the publisher via NetGalley for reviewing purposes, but all opinions are my own.

I had really high expectations for Depart, Depart! and I'm very happy to say they were fully met.

I'm always a little cautious when reading books involving climate change because after two climate change courses at uni I feel like I can easily be disappointed or see mistakes in the author's research or in their attitude towards what climate change is/does and how we can/should respond to it. That was not the case here. I think the strength of this novel, from the climate change side of things, lies in how Sim Kern managed to write a cli-fi novella that can't be classified as a dystopia: this is not something far off in the future, it's not an unfamiliar setting with historical events that we haven't witnessed yet. This is our world as we know it, and that's all the more powerful for it. The climate disaster at the beginning of the book (and during the book, depicting a state that's become a limbo between fire and water) is something that could happen next week, next month, next year. It is happening now right in front of our eyes.

Something else this book does wonderfully is showing how your marginalized identities are fully part of your story at any given moment. That is what non-marginalized folks don't get when they talk about diverse books and either complain that they wish the marginalization was just part of the character but not the focus OR say that if someone's identity is only mentioned in passing then it might as well not have been there in the first place. There is no splitting your identity from your story, and Noah's particular circumstances make it so his identities are at the forefront, but they wouldn't have mattered any less or any more, he wouldn't have been any less or any more trans or Jewish if the author had chosen to write, let's say, a more plot-focused book.

Noah's arrival at the arena destined to Houston refugees is characterized by mutual recognition among queer and trans folks, something that more or less happens on a daily basis for us queer folks but is of the utmost importance for sticking together when everyone else is a potential threat to your immediate safety. Cue The Best Of Tropes, queer found family; and yet it's not all smooth, because there's diversity among queer people too, and sometimes sharing an acronym and even other identities doesn't mean that you don't have privilege over others and that you won't use it in a selfish way. Sim Kern and this book gets it.

Noah's story and in particular his days after hurricane Martha are as much influenced by his being trans as by his being Jewish. I'm not Jewish but I think the author did an amazing job at portraying different aspects of such a complex identity and its long history. Noah's emotions about his ancestors, about Abe, finding the intersections between being Jewish and trans, his nightmares and visions about Nazis, the betrayals he suffered at the hands of other Jewish people; they were all palpable.

Kern's writing was engaging and it really resonated with me, and the pacing of the novella was also perfect. By the end I felt as though I'd read a full length novel because Noah and the rest of the characters had started to feel like real people long before, almost as soon as I met them.

So in case it's not clear I absolutely loved this novella and I would highly recommend checking it out. As for myself, I'm going to try to get my hands on whatever next Sim Kern writes.

TWs: misgendering and deadnaming, gender dysphoria, mentions and visions of concentration camps and Nazis, mentions of antisemitism, anti-queerness and slurs, gun violence ...more

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Nov 28, 2020 CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: american, fiction, trans, queer, science-fiction, jewish

This was an interesting little novella that certainly wasn't without its flaws but was ultimately very readable. It's about a 20-something Jewish trans guy who is the sole survivor of his friend group and family from a climate disaster in Houston. He arrives at a makeshift shelter and immediately finds a queer corner consisting of a Latina trans woman, a nonbinary Asian person, plus a couple periphery queers. While there, he starts to see the ghost of his grandfather who survived the Holocaust. ...more

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Aug 31, 2020 Acqua rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, db, contemp-sff-mr, loved-it, contemporary, no-romance, short-fiction, qm, qn, arc

I wish I could not shelve this book as contemporary.
Depart, Depart follows Noah, a Jewish trans man who ends up in a shelter after a hurricane devastates Houston. It's a story about what societal collapse brings out in people - about connection and grief and rage, and about how catastrophe puts even more of a target on marginalized people's backs.

I usually can't read stories about natural disasters, but this one worked for me - I couldn't stop reading it. Maybe it's because it's short, maybe it' I wish I could not shelve this book as contemporary.
Depart, Depart follows Noah, a Jewish trans man who ends up in a shelter after a hurricane devastates Houston. It's a story about what societal collapse brings out in people - about connection and grief and rage, and about how catastrophe puts even more of a target on marginalized people's backs.

I usually can't read stories about natural disasters, but this one worked for me - I couldn't stop reading it. Maybe it's because it's short, maybe it's because it's not as hopeless as it could have been, despite being realistically bleak; maybe it's because reading from the point of view of someone who is also constantly afraid makes it paradoxically less exhausting. (I don't have to feel all of it on my own, I guess?)

The most chilling part of reading Depart, Depart is that it feels exactly like something one could see playing out. Not only because it follows a climate disaster that could actually happen in the present, but because of how real the characters and their dynamics felt. The portrayal of the queer "found family" feels close to reality from the big picture - how queer people quickly group together from the beginning, because there's safety in numbers, but also how the most privileged and rich don't care about the others once they're safe themselves - to the details, like accusations of oppression olympics during tense moments, the non-binary person wondering about vegan options, Mountain Goats mentions… I'm not American but if you've been around US trans twitter for enough time, you know these people. That's why it hurts.

All the while, Noah is being haunted by visions of his great-grandfather, who escaped Nazi Germany as a boy. There are parallels between Noah's situation and Abe's, and this story also follows what it means for Noah to be Jewish and raised in an atheist family - the history that goes with that, and what has been passed down to him in good and bad and all the ways in between.

After all, this felt like a story about how we can't change what was, but we can choose to not repeat someone else's - or our own - mistakes. Noah has left behind people in the past to tragic circumstances, but now he can choose to stay with those he's grown to care about - because something Depart, Depart highlights is the importance of connections between people, how they help us in the most difficult times. ...more

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May 16, 2020 Silas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Depart, Depart! is an unapologetically queer cli-fi touching on the very real potential of our current climate crisis in a this-shit-could-happen-in-the-near-future plot while showcasing the hate and discrimination LGBTQA+ folks deal with even during natural disasters.

Noah Mishner, as far as he knows, has lost everything. His home, his roommates, his family, following a massive flood brought on from Hurricane Martha. He ambles around the bright lights of the Dallas’ Mavericks’ arena, bleary eye Depart, Depart! is an unapologetically queer cli-fi touching on the very real potential of our current climate crisis in a this-shit-could-happen-in-the-near-future plot while showcasing the hate and discrimination LGBTQA+ folks deal with even during natural disasters.

Noah Mishner, as far as he knows, has lost everything. His home, his roommates, his family, following a massive flood brought on from Hurricane Martha. He ambles around the bright lights of the Dallas’ Mavericks’ arena, bleary eyed and concerned for his friends and family. If his great-grandfather’s ghost hadn’t come to him at just the right time, he would’ve been swept up by the rapidly rising waters.

Not only is Noah attempting to fight the aftermath of an ongoing climate crisis, he’s also clutching to his identity despite the discrimination and risks to his safety within the shelter. He finds friendship with other refugees who fall under the LGBTQA+ umbrella, forming their own location within the arena, to protect one another. Noah even befriends an older Jewish man who reminds him of his own father, who he hasn’t spoken to in a year, since he came out.

His complicated relationship with his heritage is reflected in the way he sees the world and himself, layered with visits from his ghostly great-grandfather. The growth of how he views this culminates naturally as the story progresses, coalescing with lingering thoughts of his family.

“What kind of man won’t fight for their lady’s honor?” Carla sneers at him.
“A Jewish one,” he answers. “And they’re not a lady.”
Malone laughs, a little too hard, and lets Noah lead them away. He regrets the joke now. It’s too much like something his dad would’ve said.

His great-grandfather, Abe, comes to him as a young boy, testing his patience and his sanity. Although Abe saved him from the rising waters, their views don’t align, putting Noah in several precarious and sometimes terrifying situations. Noah endures what most cis folks wouldn’t consider or concern themselves with: receiving medical care without being misgendered, finding safe showering facilities while keeping himself safe, and staying alive among hateful people.

Noah’s group within the shelter were fully-fleshed and intriguing, their identities nuanced and alive. I particularly enjoyed Malone and would kill for a story of their own. Their humor lightened the story in the perfect spots.

Malone leans into Noah’s ear, “Nonnnnn-binary octopus doo doo,” they whisper, waving their arms like noodles. Noah laughs, but part of him is annoyed by this reminder of their otherness—how neither of them belong inside the neat constructs of children’s songs.

Thanks, Sim, I had this song stuck in my head for about a day after reading this but now my kids have a new variety of the song that I absolutely love and 100% stan.

This powerful story took me directly into Noah’s world, placing me beneath the glaring lights of the arena, having me experience Noah’s fear, his grief, his dysphoria. For a novella, the story captured the reality, the possibilities, and what we as a society may soon be facing. Rising waters, burning cities, and global collapse due to the very real climate crisis hovering over all of us.

I can’t wait to see what Sim puts out into the world next. ...more

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May 16, 2020 Lane rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I really enjoyed reading this and honestly couldn't put it down until I finished it. Just an absolutely engrossing book, it's so great. ...more

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Jul 31, 2020 Georgia (thefictionfolio) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sent-for-review, arcs-galleys, lgbt, novellas, pixarathon, transathon

*I received an e-arc of this novel from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Depart, Depart! is a deeply moving and political story about gender, queerness, religion, global warming, bigotry, police corruption, gun control, the holocaust and so much more.… We follow Noah, who has just been rescued after a hurricane causes dangerous flooding in Houston, Texas. He's been evacuated to the Dallas Mavericks' basketball arena, which has been repurposed as a shelter. Noah, a gay *I received an e-arc of this novel from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Depart, Depart! is a deeply moving and political story about gender, queerness, religion, global warming, bigotry, police corruption, gun control, the holocaust and so much more.… We follow Noah, who has just been rescued after a hurricane causes dangerous flooding in Houston, Texas. He's been evacuated to the Dallas Mavericks' basketball arena, which has been repurposed as a shelter. Noah, a gay trans man, is completely alone, but soon finds himself gathering with the other LGBT people who have also been sent there. With beds set out in rows, the shelter soon becomes a microcosmic look at neighbourhood dynamics, and tribal politics vs collectivism. It examines the way that queerness is one of the only factors other than race that affects this.

Noah’s also being haunted by his Great-Grandfather Abe’s ghost, or at least a child version of Abe, at the age he would have been when he escaped Nazi Germany and ultimately a concentration camp, by stowing away in a duffle bag. Abe acts as a guide (and sometimes a foil) to Noah throughout the story, often moving him towards certain decisions or leading him to safety. As these interactions with Abe become more tense, Noah is taken by visions that blur Nazi Germany with his current reality. Noah often feels a lot of conflict about receiving help from him, as Abe went on to abandon his family as an adult and was generally hated by the rest of Noah’s family. Abe is in some ways a symbol of individualism, and the narrative doesn’t completely shun him for this, but acts as a trigger for Noah to think about it. It becomes an exploration of whether one must deserve survival, or if that is even possible, and poses the question: should you ever put your own safety above others? or should you ever put your own safety at risk to help others?

Ultimately Depart, Depart! examines, in almost too perfectly and coincidently a timely manner, the way that a mass disaster can often bring out the worst, and most prejudiced side of people. But the transphobia and homophobia and anti-semitism that Noah faces in the novel are no less harmful or damaging because of what is going on in the world around him.
It can hard to fight against your base flight instincts, to look after anyone beside yourself, but this story highlights that we must make the effort to do this. We can only fight mass injustice, and global warming, and mass disasters collectively. They are not completely separate struggles, and also not struggles that we should face separately. ...more

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May 23, 2020 Jacqueline Langille rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I'm a consultant for Stelliform Press, so I got to read this novella when it was first submitted, and I've been excited for this marvelous story to get out into the world for a while now. Read the other 5-star community reviews here on Goodreads for some plot points and insightful commentary. Depart, Depart! is a must-read. ...more

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May 29, 2020 Kristen Shaw rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbtq2ia, cli-fi

"Depart, Depart" is an important and engrossing work of cli-fi unlike anything I have ever read before. Sim Kern packs a lot of social and political commentary into this volume, addressing vital concerns such as the social and institutional oppression of LGBTQ2IA+ and BIPOC communities, police brutality, and generational trauma. The plot is fast-paced and engaging.

One of the strongest components of the novella is Kern's exploration of the challenges of positioning oneself in relation to familia ...more

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May 21, 2020 Erin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A lovely story of a young transgender man battling his demons, literally, and discovering what sort of person he wants to be. Also, there’s a killer flood and a roving band of gun-toting thugs. Exciting, heart-felt, transformative. An important story for queer folk and their allies. And, it includes fantastic Jewish representation, especially for people (some of my family included) who are from non-traditional Jewish backgrounds. A fast read, eye-opening and engaging.

I received a free eARC of th ...more

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May 28, 2020 Kendra rated it it was amazing

I absolutely loved this hopeful, beautiful novel about solidarity, the development of identity, and the strength of community and love and acceptance. Noah is a survivor of a devastating hurricane that destroys Houston. Evacuated to Dallas, he's given shelter in an athletic arena, where neighborhoods of similar folks spring up. There he finds other trans people who are--like him--in need of medical care and emotional support. And to top it all off, Noah is being haunted by his great-grandfather I absolutely loved this hopeful, beautiful novel about solidarity, the development of identity, and the strength of community and love and acceptance. Noah is a survivor of a devastating hurricane that destroys Houston. Evacuated to Dallas, he's given shelter in an athletic arena, where neighborhoods of similar folks spring up. There he finds other trans people who are--like him--in need of medical care and emotional support. And to top it all off, Noah is being haunted by his great-grandfather Abe, whose presence has been both life-saving and disquieting. Over the course of several weeks, Noah and his new friends form tight bonds, face very real and very dangerous transphobia and other forms of bigotry, and begin to make steps towards creating new lives for themselves.

Kern does an absolutely beautiful job of showing the ways in which trans people are treated by those who are ignorant, unaccepting, or think of themselves as allies but haven't truly gotten past deeply ingrained beliefs to the contrary. They illustrate the difficulties that all refugees from minority groups in volatile situations like those that arise in shelters are forced to face, and show how much it can mean to have a few people in authority on your side. They also write with great depth about the struggles in trying to reconcile religion with lived experiences. Noah is a secular Jew, but in researching why Abe is haunting him, he finds religious texts and arguments that are both enormously uplifting and relatable, and others that make him push back from identifying as a Jew. Based on my own reading, I think secular Jews and queer people are going to feel a chill of understanding as they read about Noah's experiences as he thinks about his Jewish heritage and the way its religious texts can offer both comfort and despair.

This is such a real story, and such an important one, that I want this novel to succeed: I want it taught in schools, I want it chosen for book clubs and reading groups, I want it on library displays everywhere. I want everyone to read it, and hope. ...more

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Oct 07, 2020 Kathy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is an in impactful story at the intersection of being trans and Jewish, set during a natural disaster caused by climate change in the heart of Texas.

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Jul 07, 2020 Sapphic Shelves rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2020, own-voices, everyone-is-gay, arc

Thank you to Stelliform Press & Netgalley for an arc for an unbiased review.

Kern tells the story of Noah Mishner who finds shelter after a major hurricane within the walls of the Dallas Mavericks' basketball area. Noah starts seeing visions of his absent grandfather, Abe, who had fled Nazi Germany as a boy. All the while he is just trying to survive in a micro-community full of the same aggressors before the hurricane happened. This tiny novella packs such a punch. There were a few anxiety induc ...more

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Jul 26, 2020 Roxie |The Book Slayer| Voorhees rated it really liked it · review of another edition

"Depart, depart quickly!"

Yes! Finally I have found an LGBT+ story that isn't about romance. I have longed for an interesting story that has a wide range of characters on the queer spectrum without it being about their love interest.

A hurricane destroys Texas (which is happening right now 😬) and Noah is spared only because of a mysterious, ghost-like materialization of his great-grandfather as a child. Abe is a Jewish child that survived the holocaust by being hidden in a duffel bag and boarding ...more

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May 15, 2020 Etienne rated it it was ok

I’m sorry but I really didn’t like this one. The writing was okay, but it’s the narrative and even more the characters that totally turn me off with this book. For the characters this is more of a personal match that didn’t fit, as for the narrative I think there were too many subject trying to be forced I such a short novella and the queer aspect was way too present for me. I have nothing against any kind of genre of sexes preferences or whatever but I always find it weird to put it out up fron ...more

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Sep 25, 2020 Rana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Absolutely nothing more disappointing than to realize that a book you were eager to read is a novella. Novellas are fine, that's not the issue, it's the surprise novella that gets to me. But make no mistake, this isn't about anything but my poor reading skills when it comes to synopses and paying attention to the finer details. Because here's the deal, I WANT MORE OF THIS STORY! I think that Noah was amazing and I loved to hear his inner thoughts. In the Venn diagram of climate fiction, queer re ...more

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May 23, 2020 Maxine Kaplan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Nakedly aching Sim Kern's DEPART, DEPART! beautifully weaves together a ghost story about disaster, ancestry, trauma, found family, and ultimately what it means to survive with a whole soul. I couldn't put it down. ...more

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May 29, 2020 Evelyn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I enjoyed the juxtaposition of current fears (climate catastrophe, fights for gender identity and the imperative to be utterly oneself) with historic ( a Jewish ghost from the time of Nazis. The journey of discovery that Noah takes us on is heartening - in a life of so much chance and circumstance, we get to choose some pretty incredible things, how we act, how we display love to family and friends, and that past choices don't define who we will be in the future.
The writing was strong, the char ...more

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May 15, 2020 Christina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A tightly written, harrowing story I couldn't put down, Depart, Depart! hit both close to home (geographically) and far outside of it (religiously and gender identity-wise).

Part ghost story, part survival story, part bildungsroman, and all too real. Sim Kern manages to pack entire generations into a relatively small space with an ending that is not hopeful so much as determined. I want to go into further detail, but don't want to give anything away. If you're a fan of queer novellas along the l ...more

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Aug 28, 2020 Will rated it it was amazing

You should read Depart, Depart!

It’s about the groups and cultures that we’re a part of – those that we choose, and those that we’re born to and may prefer to leave behind.

It’s about the violence that finds us when we’re at our most vulnerable, and the demons (real and imagined) that force us to make difficult choices - not just of survival, but of who we’re going to be and what remains of us when we’re safe again.

It’s about the people that leave us when we need them most. And it asks what it say ...more

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Aug 10, 2020 Denise Ruttan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This review is also on http://dnruttan.com

I received the novella DEPART, DEPART! by Sim Kern as an e-ARC (Advance Review Copy) several months ago in exchange for an honest review, and I am finally getting around to actually reviewing it. And I have one reaction to sum up my feelings upon finishing this book at last: I am stunned by this book’s force and magic, blown away by its relevance for our times.

I also feel a twinge of regret about this book, because there are those who will miss out on i This review is also on http://dnruttan.com

I received the novella DEPART, DEPART! by Sim Kern as an e-ARC (Advance Review Copy) several months ago in exchange for an honest review, and I am finally getting around to actually reviewing it. And I have one reaction to sum up my feelings upon finishing this book at last: I am stunned by this book’s force and magic, blown away by its relevance for our times.

I also feel a twinge of regret about this book, because there are those who will miss out on its power because they will immediately dismiss it as too “preachy,” too gay, too political, too wrapped up in the politics of identity, too steeped in generational tension, trapped in this uniquely tribal moment in time of Snapchat filters and viral tweets. But those are the very people who need to read this book. We can only heal the divisiveness in our country if we understand each other.

And this book will give you an unflinching, intimate look at what it means to be queer, what it means to be alone in a country that seems against you, in a body and a religion that seems against you, and more than any of that, what it means to be human and to make unbelievable choices for yourself and for your community in the face of a climate crisis that heartbreakingly may still be prevented, or we can at least still try to prevent it.

DEPART, DEPART! is set in Houston, Texas, after a climate-change-fueled hurricane destroys the city. The whole country is simultaneously ravaged by unprecedented climate events. The novella follows the journey of Noah Mishner, a trans Jewish man haunted by the ghost of his great-grandfather, Abe, a Holocaust survivor. Noah follows the whispers of the ghost to safety, first abandoning his friends as he seeks shelter on the roof of his apartment complex as the floodwaters devastate the city below.

Crushed by grief, and layers of grief at that, the story then shifts to Dallas, Texas, where Noah takes shelter in the Dallas Mavericks’ basketball arena. The rest of the story is centered in this setting, where refugees from the storm take shelter, and form a sort of community as they can, with all the trials and tribulations of refugees huddling together and not-so-together. Noah seeks refuge with the queer community there, all three or four of them at first, them against a world torn by hate, division and fear, even in the microcosm of this gym.

This is a story about identity, yes. It is a story about what you would do when crisis threatens everything you love and think you know. It is about the ties that bind. It’s a queer Jewish ghost story told from the view of the generation that has the brightest ideas to tun the tide on climate change. Even though this reads like a dark, dystopian novel, I found hope in it, in the end. Hope that humanity will always find a way, even now. To me, that’s the best cli-fi. The best of cli-fi (I really don’t like that term, I’ll just call it climate fiction) shows you how things could dramatically change for the worse so that we can change for the better.

And we must change, or this is our future. ...more

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Jun 08, 2020 Aaron McQuiston rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have the pleasure of reading and reviewing “Depart, Depart!” by Sim Kern. I phrase it this way because there is so much of this novella that is out of my scope of reality that I feel like it is an honor to be exposed to themes and lives that I know very little about. I mean I have never steered away from LGBTQ+ literature, movies, or the community, but “Depart, Depart!” feels different. This is a story that needs to be told, needs to be shouted, needs to be required.

Noah is in the middle of a I have the pleasure of reading and reviewing “Depart, Depart!” by Sim Kern. I phrase it this way because there is so much of this novella that is out of my scope of reality that I feel like it is an honor to be exposed to themes and lives that I know very little about. I mean I have never steered away from LGBTQ+ literature, movies, or the community, but “Depart, Depart!” feels different. This is a story that needs to be told, needs to be shouted, needs to be required.

Noah is in the middle of a fight for his life. When a hurricane floods Houston, he is bussed to Dallas to stay in a makeshift shelter for the Dallas Mavericks. He only escapes the flood because the young ghost of his great-grandfather Abe tells him that he has to leave and leave now. This premise is one that lured me into the novella, but the writing, characters, and themes are what allowed me to sit and read the entire story in one setting. There are so many things in this novella that can be talked about, can be explored, from LGBTQ+ issues and disrespect, from police arrogance and the way they interact differently with certain groups, from immigrantion and the treatment of refugees (even though in this case they are citizens from a neighboring city), from the fears of the uncertain future, this is a frightening book. There is tension and fear on every page, and this is the scariest kind of horror novella, one that explores how we treat one another.

I loved every page of this, every thread and theme, every statement about humanity and politics. I’m sure that this is not a novella that everyone will enjoy, but nobody can diminish the importance and timeliness of the work. I can also say that I started to follow Sim Kern on Twitter after reading this, and they have the most accurate and thought provoking tweets. I recommend following them. I recommend “Depart, Depart!”, especially for someone like me who does not know as much as he needs to know about the world around him. This is a thought provoking and haunting book. Every praise I can give it pales in the amount of praise it should receive.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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Jun 18, 2020 Shayney Hardcastle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: netgalley

*I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review of the book*

This is quite a short read but you get thrown in to the story from the very first paragraph, making you become immersed straight away. This was actually quite clever as it didn't waste any time building up the world and you learned everything as you were reading. It is also a clever way to ensure that the reader is immediately intrigued and somewhat invested in the story, the events that *I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review of the book*

This is quite a short read but you get thrown in to the story from the very first paragraph, making you become immersed straight away. This was actually quite clever as it didn't waste any time building up the world and you learned everything as you were reading. It is also a clever way to ensure that the reader is immediately intrigued and somewhat invested in the story, the events that are taking place within and also the characters. It uses those pages wisely and instantly got me intrigued and invested, wanting to discover not only what had happened, but what and where the story was going to go.

This story takes place after the events of a natural disaster, an unexpected Hurricane takes place in Dallas, Texas, causing unprecedented damage and death. Among the survivors, we are introduced to Noah, a trans, Jewish man who, not only finds himself worrying about the aftermath of the disaster, whether his friends and family have made it out okay or have had an unthinkable outcome, but on how the rest of the survivors are going to be around him and fellow LGBTQ+ survivors. All of this, while also seeing a the ghost of a young boy, whom he is sure is his grandfather. There is so much packed into such a short read and it left me with so much emotion and thoughts afterwards, that it's actually hard to express.

I don't want to give too much away about this short read, as I went in not knowing too much and left, not only feeling more educated, knowing this was a great read that I was going to not only remember for a long time, but one that I will also be recommending often!! I also read about the author, which is another reason why this book is so special and why I enjoy and encourage people to do so. It brings more meaning to the story and has made me a deeper fan of Sim Kern.

So if you are looking for a short read, a book about LGBTQ+ characters or storyline, books about prejudice or want to read about different cultures (Jewish culture), then I highly recommend this book! - I highly recommend it anyways!!
...more

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May 29, 2020 Mary rated it really liked it

Depart, Depart! followed Noah into a large hurricane shelter after he has lost everything. The hurricane took his friends, his community, his home, his car and his sense of safety.....and his Testosterone pills. Now he is surrounded by a crowd of "all american red-blooded" Texans who have also lost everything and all he has left is his backpack and, under his loose hoody...his binder that keeps his breasts flattened to his chest. As he stands in line to enter the stadium he also discovers that h ...more

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May 29, 2020 Mary rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Emergency Response Planners and disaster workers

Shelves: netgalley-i-love-netgalley

Depart, Depart! followed Noah into a large hurricane shelter after he has lost everything. The hurricane took his friends, his community, his home, his car and his sense of safety.....and his Testosterone pills. Now he is surrounded by a crowd of "all american red-blooded" Texans who have also lost everything and all he has left is his backpack and, under his loose hoody...his binder that keeps his breasts flattened to his chest. As he stands in line to enter the stadium he also discovers that h ...more

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Jan 31, 2021 Jennifer Collins rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction, 9-11, novellas, speculative-fiction, dystopian, climate-science

In a work that sits at intersections of climate justice, prejudice, queerness, and social justice, Kern brings together a number of issues that would seem to be far too much for a slim work like this. Yet, Depart Depart is a powerful and beautifully told story, and as difficult as it is to read, the humor and empathy of the central character, Noah Mishner, make it all but impossible to put down and walk away from. Instead, Noah is a character who will carry readers through the journey told in th ...more

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Dec 08, 2020 Sue rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own-it, fiction, jewish-rep, texas, novella, lgbtqia, read-harder-2020

What I expected: bleak, strident, horrifying.

What I got: humane, realistic, horrifying but somewhat loving

Depart, Depart! is about Noah, a trans man who has evacuated Houston after the Addicks and Barker reservoirs failed and flooded the city during a hurricane. He finds like-minded queer folks in the sports stadium in Dallas where he lives on a cot near the family restroom, and they make their way in the temporary shelter-- Elena, a dark-skinned trans Latina in her 40s, and Malone, a mixed-rac ...more

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Jan 23, 2021 Anna Hepworth rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: on-my-shelves, short-fiction

This is a quick read, but it is not an enjoyable story.

Set in the immediate aftermath of a disaster (storms/flooding) while there is another ongoing disaster (wildfires) this story is a gruelling read. Our viewpoint character is Noah, who might be one of the few people to have reached the shelter from the worst hit part of their city. The shelter is some kind of sports stadium, and Noah finds a small group of people at least a little like them --- poor, queer, and obviously 'other' in the eyes ...more

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Sep 04, 2020 Wyrd Witch rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, queer, transgender

In contrast to the previous book I reviewed, I haven’t seen Depart! Depart! anywhere besides the search function for Netgalley. This time, I really don’t understand why. Sim Kern’s excellent novella manages to be beautifully written, researched, compelling, and prescient in only sixty-eight pages!

I really have to commend them for writing such a chilling tale of climate change and a ghost haunting. The responses in this world to the refugees of the hurricane rings incredibly true. Noah and his ...more

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Jul 08, 2020 Jay rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley.

This book had too much going on for the length it is. As a reader, I felt whipped between plotlines, never able to settle on any one situation, event, thought, or feeling. And while human existence is that chaotic and messy, it doesn't make for a good reading experience. Had this book been longer, with more time to explore each facet of the story, I'd probably feel less like the author was just ticking boxes to say they had represented xyz. A ...more

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