Covenant City Reviewed

Happy to share this thoughtful and quite insightful discussion of my new novel Covenant City by Topher's Library. (At bottom, see link to reviewer's immersive YouTube page.)

Capsule review on Instagram

Here's the comprehensive review Topher posted on the Fable books website:

I’m not sure I can fully put into words what it was like to read Covenant City by Tony Gentry. On one hand, this is a fast-paced, immersive, and highly accessible novel told from the perspective of a 19-year-old. On the other, the subject matter feels so unfortunately plausible that there were moments when I found myself bordering on nausea. This is a dystopian, coming-of-age-esque novel set in Richmond, Virginia, and because I live in the area, the setting made the story especially immersive. I could picture many of the places being described, which made the world of the book feel that much closer and more unsettling. Because the story is told from the perspective of a 19-year-old, it occasionally reads like YA, but I think that is intentional. It does not diminish the impact of what Gentry is doing. If anything, it makes the book incredibly easy to enter and difficult to put down. What the novel captures particularly well is how quickly a society can slide into groupthink and accept ideas that once would have seemed unthinkable. By the time people finally stop and ask, “How did we ever get here?” the machinery is already in motion. The book explores fascism, racism, racial purity, and what can happen when certain beliefs about identity, power, and belonging are carried to their logical extremes. Some of what unfolds may initially feel far-fetched, but history has shown repeatedly that societies are capable of normalizing things that once seemed impossible. That awareness is part of what makes the novel so uncomfortable. I imagine some readers on one side of the political spectrum will immediately bristle, dismiss the book as unfair, or insist that we could never arrive at a place like this. I would challenge those readers to stay with it and allow the novel to become part of a broader conversation with people who see the world differently. Readers on the other side may find the book so plausible that it only deepens their fear and anxiety about the present moment. To them, I would offer a similar challenge. Let the book open a conversation rather than simply confirm your worst assumptions. That is one of the reasons I think Covenant City could be an excellent book club selection, particularly for a group made up of people with different beliefs, ideologies, and political perspectives. With clear boundaries and a willingness to listen, this could lead to an incredibly rich discussion. My biggest critique is actually the length. Even with the heaviness of the subject matter, I wanted more. There were moments in Gentry’s writing that felt almost Stephen King-esque, and I wanted the world, the characters, and the themes to expand further. The premise could easily support a Robert McCammon or Stephen King-style chonker that completely immerses the reader and allows every idea to land with even greater weight. That is largely personal preference, though. With literacy rates continuing to decline, there is also something valuable about a shorter, accessible book that tackles difficult subjects without becoming overwhelming. Its length may ultimately make it easier for more people to read, discuss, and recommend. This is a book I would encourage almost anyone to pick up. Whether you love it, dislike it, agree with it, or push back against it, I have a hard time imagining that it will leave you with nothing to say.”

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