The Shutouts

The Shutouts (publication date December 3, 2024) is Gabrielle Korn’s second novel and a sequel to Yours For the Taking. I loved it, possibly even more than Yours For the Taking! Give me all of the climate fiction with lesbians at the end of the world!

It could possibly work for you as a standalone if you haven’t read Yours For the Taking, but I recommend that you start with the first book, and then go right into The Shutouts.

I loved that there were several timelines and locations, and that we got to see what happened that led to the Inside project from the first book. I loved that we had more time with some of the characters from the first book, and that Orchid and Camilla, minor characters in the first book, were a primary focus of this one. Korn brought in more characters to love (and to hate) while fleshing out the backstories for the characters we knew, and providing different perspectives .

I loved the nonbinary representation and that most all of the characters were queer. I loved the second chance romance, more than twenty years later. I loved that Kelly’s chapters from 2041 were in letter format, and they served as the bridge from a world we recognize as similar to today to the one set about 25 years later at the end of Yours For the Taking.

I loved how Korn connected everything and left nothing uncertain at the end, and left us with hope that humanity, with science and feminism, will survive, despite screwing up the world.

I loved that although there were not any explicitly fat characters, there was no anti-fat bias as well, so it was weight-neutral. I cannot wait to read whatever Gabrielle Korn can dream up next!