An afrofuturist dystopian ghost story: my review of Womb City

There are some moderately clever ideas in here to untangle, though the delivery is somewhat scattered and awkward. Womb City is about a woman living in a futuristic surveillance state as she encounters sexism, racism, ableism, classicism, homophobia, transphobia, and probably other forms of hate and intolerance. The novel is perhaps trying to tackle too many things at once, while simultaneously raising questions about crime, politics, religion, infertility, family, trauma, mind control, time, and human consciouness.

Also there are people who pay to upload their minds into new bodies. Also there are vengeful ghosts. Also there is more than one simulation of reality that people can enter. Also there's an AI that steals data.

All these seemingly unrelated things turn out to be related in the most convoluted way possible, and there's a ton of clunky exposition to explain it all. When science doesn't work to explain something, the book veers unexpectedly into fantasy, which feels a bit lazy. Everything is perhaps a little too ambitious.

I am aware that there are some unifying political theories that might explain how all of the book's varied themes might be connected (materialism or intersectionality, for example), but Womb City isn't really interested in going down that route, at least not in as much depth as I'd have liked. It makes a few decent (if heavy-handed) points about colonialism, but it's otherwise much more focused on the protagonist and her relationship to her family and her past. She's a bit whiny as a character, but I actually think she deserves to be. Her husband is, after all, a manipulative jerk, and all she really has the power to do about it is complain and make poor but understandable decisions in order to find love, freedom, and happiness. All things considered, as annoying as she is, she's still compelling. The reading experience might not be pleasant, but from a distance, there's a lot to appreciate about her personality and psychology. I also think the prose is incredibly strong.