This novel is in the form of a teenaged girl's journal, with entries between 2024 and 2027. Lauren Olamina lives in an unsettling world where food and water are scarce, and safety is never taken for granted, with robbers and arsonists often causing havoc. Her family lives in a walled and gated enclave within the Los Angeles area. Leaving the compound is risky, with bodies frequently found outside the walls. Not everyone has a job where they can work from home, plus they need to leave to get supplies periodically, so the families unite to provide resources including safety patrols. Climate change and drug use has caused some of society's troubles, and the privatization of some cities has led to exploitation of people, where some people opt to work and live in somewhat safer areas, not for money, but for company script (and not much of it).
Lauren has a condition called hyperempathy, where she feels pain that she sees others experiencing. Part of how she deals with life is by developing a religion she calls Earthseed, where she recognizes not a personal god, but a god which is Change.
Little by little, the security of Lauren's neighborhood feels less sure, until all at once, the neighborhood is compromised and the people must flee for their lives. In a place where resources are few and danger is high, watching how those who flee attempt to survive is scary and fascinating.
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