Radicalized is a compilation of 4 dystopian short stories.

Each story touches on serious humanitarian issues facing Americans today, Unauthorized Bread deals with poverty and the injustices faced by refugees, Model Minority deals with police brutality and the inequitable violence black Americans face compared to other people, Radicalized deals with the horrific reality of American health insurance and the toll it has on peoples lives and The Masque of the Red Death deals with the fallout after civilization collapses.

While I found each story to be unique with an interesting concept, none of them really blew me away. They were each just okay for me. While I can appreciate the importance of the content of each of these stories and how they shine a light on the problems with humanity today, I don’t understand why this is a Canada Reads finalist. I love Canada reads because finally, we get to see Canadian perspectives. Get to read stories based in our country which I find doesn’t happen often with popular literature because it is all based in America. And while yes the author is Canadian, each of these stories took place in America. I just feel like if a book is a Canada Reads finalist, it should have something Canadian as a main component of the book.

Unauthorized Bread - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Model Minority - ⭐️⭐️
Radicalized - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Masque of Red Death - ⭐️⭐️⭐️