The dystopian City in which this novel is based is very well thought-out, and feels well developed, which is no mean feat. The structure that the inhabitants of this City live under, and have to adhere to, is presented clearly, and the reader can get quite a good grasp of it from quite early on. I particularly appreciate this, as some dystopian novels take a while to fully explain the situation, and it can cause a loss of interest.
We are almost immediately introduced to the Man, the dictator of the City, and immediately get a sense of the gruesome, gritty nature of the novel as we learn about his added appendages and his habit of collecting the eyes of his subordinates.
I enjoy the motif of the unreliable narrator. As the majority of the novel is presented through Graham’s perspective and he himself does not have an understanding of what is happening to him, we have to learn the truth along with him and experience his sense of confusion and potential psychosis.
Elements of the novel feel slightly child-like - some of the writing is a bit clumsy in places, and the repetition of the way Graham experiences colour, while essential to the plot, could have benefitted from a more subtle presentation. But on the whole the novel is well-developed, and is a really interesting and unique take on the dystopian genre.

I think that the idea behind this book could have been so interesting. But I found that everything was so underdeveloped. 300 pages just wasn't long enough to get into everything the book mentions. I know that it's the first in a series so some things will be in more detail in the next one but, when I felt that everything was underdeveloped, I don't see how they could expand on it all.

I really disliked the way that women were portrayed in this book. They were either sex objects for the main character to fantasise over, they were to fantasise over him, or they were simply there to be sacrificed (by men) so that Graham (another man) could advance. The way that Graham fell 'in love' with Marlena after only commenting on her looks and then getting a bit too excited when she tries to stop him choking (again only there to assist a man) really annoys me. I love reading books that contain a relationship but they need to actually be developed and not just put in for story advancement. It is quite clear that Goldberg needed a reason for Graham to fight against the higher powers (despite saying many times that he had nothing to live for and there being no mention of him actually caring for Marlena until it became relevant) so why not just shove another sexualised women into the role? I doubt that it will come by any surprise that not one of the roles that have any power are female.

I also found that the book just didn't make sense. It was very choppy, which in part was due to ideas suddenly being dropped in that hadn't been introduced at all and then moving onto something else very quickly, but I also feel like there were quite a few mistakes. When Graham is having his standoff with the Man, the Man seems shocked that Mind told Graham everything he knew, obviously implying that the Man didn't know how much Graham had been told. Yet about 2 pages later the Man says that he saw the entire conversation so he would have known everything from the start. Also after Graham kills the Man, he can somehow see his face in enough detail from 100 stories up to see his expression. The sodas in the book are also so inconsistent. Sometimes Graham is really badly affected by them, sometimes he seems completely fine. It almost made me feel that the book hasn't been edited.

Overall, I really wasn't a fan of this book. I was really interested from the blurb but I feel that I was let down. The representation of women alone was enough to make it a long read for me even though it was pretty short.

As a fan of dystopias, as soon as I saw the cover and synopsis of this book, I knew I had to read it, and what a good decision I made.

Control, surveillance, suppression and censored freedoms. You are going to be entertained.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2022 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2022/01/readers-advisory-announce-2022-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

i really enjoyed reading this book, it was a great scifi novel. It made me excited to read the sequel when it comes out.

Not quite believable enough for me. I love a good science fiction story but this one did not grab me at all.

Thanks to NetGalley for the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Orange City was a strange book. The plot was confusing and felt misstructured and all over the place. The characters were predictable and not very likeable, I found myself not caring for any of them so naturally I was not invested in the storyline and what was happening to them. I think this is one of those "the premise looked way more interesting" cases. I had higher expectations for this but unfortunately I was met with disappointment.

Sci-fi thriller, set in a dystopian future on an island ran by a mysterious multi-armed individual known only as "The Man". What more could we want?

The island is mainly composed of those who have done crimes in the "Other-World" - i.e., all life outside the city island state. The Man sends his scouts to take them in after making them sign a contract to avoid years to sometimes life in prison.

More in the book...

Read it :)

Gave up. Confusing plot line and just didn’t hold my interest for long. Have read and enjoyed his previous works, but this one wasn’t worth the time.

Graham's life has not been easy. His parents died when he was young, then Graham was placed with an abusive foster parent. Now, Graham has found himself in jail.  However, he has been offered a deal to live in The City, hidden away from the outside world, given a job and a home, but bound forever to The City.  The City is ruled by The Man, a monstrous figure with many robotic arms.  The Man wants Graham to have a job in advertising and eventually becomes a tester for the new Pow! sodas.  With one sip of the orange Pow! soda Graham feels intense emotion and addiction.  With each new flavor he tries, Graham's emotional world is opened up as well as the reality of The City and the lives of the people imprisoned there. 

Orange City is an emotional journey through a dystopian future.  The City itself drew me in and is created as a grim reminder of how humanity could end up- constantly monitored, fearing an unseen leader and enslaved by consumerism and drugs. I had so many questions about The City, The Man and the Grand Plan.  Graham's story was intriguing as he discovered that he was not just another cog in the wheel. The idea of the Pow! sodas controlling emotions was fascinating as Graham was led down a rabbit hole of emotion and color with each corresponding flavor.  The flavors and colors almost seemed to go along with the sins; however, it is only through these sins that Graham realizes the truth behind The City.  Orange City ended a little abruptly and a little too easily; however, with Graham's discovery it seems that the power of POW! isn't going to stop at The City.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Frankly put, this work is as addictive as a bottle of soda! I bet everyone's gonna crave more (of the writing & the soda) as this is only the first installment of the series! An excellent cover picture, aptly depicting the plot & the basic idea, is so eye-catchy. One glance at the blurb & you get this dystopian touch. Any further reasons required to start the unusual plot-driven novel?!

Like the orange soda that leaves a tingling sensation on one's palate, this dystopian futuristic story has that precise identical feel once finished reading it. I loved the author's work amidst various colors to explain the varying moods in different situations. Ain't it valid in our present world as well; we use diverse hues in our everyday activities to emulate our emotions.

The narrative was developed very strongly up to the climax & suddenly, the actual finale saddened me a bit. I presumed a lot more to befall, but it got cut off rather abruptly. Still, I relished the author's novel-writing technique & the captivating storyline, which will have the readers' nose immersed into this book. Lee's works are invariably a joy to read & I am so happy I could get an opportunity to read this one.

I got an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley, Author Lee Matthew Goldberg & Publishers Atmosphere Press.

I was granted complimentary access to Orange City via NetGalley and also as part of my participation in the blog tour for this title with Silver Dagger Book Tours. Thank you to all involved in granting me this opportunity. My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

So, you know how when you get a group of people with varying political leanings to talk about criminal punishment someone eventually suggests an isolated city to put all the criminals and undesirables and leave them to their own devices? This is that city. It's a gritty, dark urban landscape run by sociopaths at the top and drug-addicted victims at the bottom.

Graham is one of those victims. A meek man suffering from intense untreated PTSD, Graham is plucked up by his boss as the soda company to serve as taste tester for their new line. What Graham isn't told as he's sent home with hundreds of cans of colourful fizzy drinks is that he's about to become hopelessly addicted to a new drug that quite literally colours his world.

The way prosthetics work in this world, being almost indistinguishable from the live limbs and other body parts they replace, is fascinating. I kind of wish Graham had observed these more while sober because he's always questioning what he sees and I want to know what was and wasn't true about this technology. (I suppose you could say Graham is a classic "unreliable narrator" in his sections.)

Goldberg writes broken and respectable people extremely well, and this is both what I loved about this book and what I didn't. Obviously based on the concept presented in the synopsis I wasn't expecting angels but I was not prepared for how much I would hate these people. We're supposed to, most of them are not written to be sympathetic or redeamble, but wow! I'm so glad that Graham at least was pitiable or I might not have may have been tempted to put these characters down and not pick them back up again. I know that sounds rather negative, but I want to emphasize that this is exactly how the characters are supposed to be because that's what this city was built on. I underestimated my ability to hang out in those heads for 300 pages given the tight timeframe I left myself to get this tour read done in between other tour reads. I think I would have had a better time with these characters if this were one of my in between reads books that I pick my way through in between other things, taking in the characters and plot in small doses.

This is a very dark, very fresh Sci-Fi dystopian that is absolutely not for kids. I recommend this to adult fans of the genre who are prepared to spend a lot of time with a cast of characters who, for the most part, deserve all the worst possible outcomes of their actions and more.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was one of the strangest books I think I've ever read. I don't think I ever got a firm grasp on what was going on the whole time I was reading it. I didn't like any of the characters, they all were terrible, and I usually like to have at least one that I can root for. This didn't feel "dystopian" to me either. It was more of a weird experiment. It takes place mostly in one city where people want are invited to live and then after they can't go back to the outside world. If it was explained why, I never understood it or my eyes managed to skip right over it. I spent the majority of this book either annoyed with the characters or confused, and mostly a combination of the two. For a book that sounded fantastic and unique, it definitely fell short for me.

Dystopia never tasted so good.

As far as management goes, the man, is pretty high up. To match his height, he is also a Grade A Sociopath.

Trying to run a Statuesque city, he toys with its citizens as the whim passes over him.

He got his kicks drugging and amputating at free will.

His greatest feet, hadn't even been released and there was massive demand for it. What was it? Simplicity, soda pop.

Different flavours, different moods, always thirsty for them.

One man's journey, against tyranny.

Status: Completed

Rating: 4.2/5.0

Orange City is a dystopian read that has an interesting premise. There is a secret world where criminals get a second chance. They are also at the mercy of the Man, who is trying to replicate the vison of Stalin. He rules over the world and controls everything that goes on. Graham has been working tirelessly for the Man for many years. Suddenly, he finds himself at the forefront of the Man's game. He has developed a new drink that alters moods based on the color of the drink. The more Graham consumes the more he wants to destroy the Man.

I did think this book was a little slow to start, but it picked up midway through. I can't wait to see what happens in book 2.

Thank you to Blackthorn Book Tours, Atmosphere Press, and NetGalley for the #gifted copy of the book.

Many thanks to the publisher for giving me a free copy of this to review!

If you've ever played the game We Happy Few (for the record, I love We Happy Few), this book is the closest thing I've encountered to that in terms of mood and world-building.

I actually was drawn to it because of its bright orange cover and what I thought was an image of a superhero/supervillain standing on top of a building, buuuut there are no superheroes or supervillains in this book. It's actually a dystopian sci-fi novel about prison rehab program hell. Allow me to explain!

The main character, Graham, has been arrested for committing a minor crime, and as a result, he gets sent to this city whose inhabitants are all former criminals and/or people with no other options, desperate for a second chance in exchange for the work they'll presumably put in to help the city expand and flourish. Just like most cities, this one is divided into different sections, with the wealthy, successful finance/businesspeople living uptown in nice new apartments, and the entry-level arrivals and those who have not managed to accomplish much in the name of the city being relegated to ugly, cramped living quarters.

Then there are the Zones, where you get sent for insubordination or for not contributing enough (you'll see how they decide this as you go along). The entire place is ruled over by this many-armed entity known as The Man. The Man has built something here and has no interest in letting anyone fuck it up, so people are encouraged to work work work, then spend their hard-earned stipends in the raunchy Downtown area, and meanwhile, all kinds of drugs and other addicting substances are steadily funneled through the city to keep everyone "happy"/under control.

Like I said, I love this premise. The world-building? *Chef's kiss!* That uneasy feeling I got while reading? Well-done! My main complaint with this book was that [MINOR SPOILERS] Goldberg did such a good job building up to the climax, and then....... it didn't live up to my expectations? I didn't like how rushed the final 10% felt. Why do both of the female characters keep offering themselves up to Graham? Is Graham really in love with this girl he barely knows? I understand it's a dystopia and asking for true love might be pushing it, but I was very confused by this. I am hoping that all of my complaints will be addressed in the sequel, which, yes, I am actually very excited for. This world is compelling, and Goldberg must have done SOMETHING right, 'cause I kept craving soda and wanting to wear orange while reading this (you'll get what I mean when you read it. And you SHOULD read it).

Where to begin with Orange City? I'm not entirely sure. It's a book that took me by surprise more than once, a story where I thought I knew what it was going to be about, where I thought I knew what was going to happen next; yet it kept surprising me with more twists and turns than I was expecting. It ended up being a book that really intrigued me, one that I found hard to put down.

The story begins before our lead character has even been introduced, as we meet E, an agent of The City. E is not a very nice man. We learn that from the start. In fact, we learn that most of the people in Orange City aren't going to be nice people. We're introduced to The City, a huge, advanced place hidden away from the outside world where criminals and castaways are given a second chance at life. At the centre of the city lies the Eye Tower, a monolithic structure that houses The Man, the being who made all of this a reality.

E works for The Man, and it's his job to head back to the outside world, an America still reeling from the War To End All Wars, where he finds those selected by The Man and offers them a chance to come and join The City. It's on one of these assignments that we meet our hero for the book, Graham. Graham is a young man who's had a really rough life, his parents killed when he was a child, brutally beaten by his foster parent every day, and now facing a prison sentence. So when E turns up offering him a fresh start, a way out, Graham grabs it with both hands.

Skipping forward a decade we find Graham as an over worked and under appreciated advertising executive for one of the biggest PR firms in The City. He puts in his work, even at weekends, doesn't go out to bars or parties, and lives the same dull routine day after day. However, he's broken out of his rut when his boss, E, gives him a new assignment, testing out the upcoming flavours for their new client Pow! soda. Thus begins a series of events that will push Graham to breaking point.

The book is described as being a dystopia, a word that gets thrown around a lot in publishing, so I was expecting to see a story with some of the familiar trappings of the genre, but was pleasantly surprised at just how dark and twisted this book was. The City is an absolutely horrific place to live. This isn't one of those dystopia books where a small group of people are raging against an establishment that benefits a certain group, this is a place where everyone suffers, everyone is a pawn, and it's all for the enjoyment of one individual, The Man.

Very quickly into the narrative we see that The City might be held up as a second chance, a place where people can build a new life for themselves and find meaning, but it's really not. Nothing that happens in the city is free. People are constantly watched by The Man and his millions of cameras. Every conversation is listened to. And anyone who doesn't do what they're told, who doesn't act a certain way or says the right things is banished to awful slums, where the inhabitants are fed a cocktail of drugs to keep them quiet and compliant, and they're used for horrific experimentation.

The City isn't a saviour from prison and the horrors of the outside world, it's a prison with a shiny exterior. It's a living hell for most of the people that live there. Now, there could be some arguments that most of the people there deserve to suffer, the majority of them are criminals and killers, but you soon come to care about what happens to these people, even the ones you know aren't good people, because of the greater evil of The Man.

I'm not going to talk about the greater mysteries at play, or what happens in the plot beyond what's outlined in the blurb, as going into the book without any further knowledge really is the best way to experience this. When you don't know whether to expect a mystery, action, or even romance, every part of this story comes as a surprise because it will change from time to time, take your expectations and subvert them in delightful ways. Just be careful though, because much like Graham and his new soda's, you could end up hooked.

Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “Orange City” by Lee Matthew Goldberg, Atmosphere Press, March 16, 2021, On Tour With Suzy Approved Book Tours

Lee Matthew Goldberg, the author of “Orange City” has written a unique and powerful novel about a dystopian world. (shown within a city) The genres are Science Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, and Fiction. Many people who have committed crimes in the outside world are sent to this unusual city. They get a job, a place to live, but they can’t leave. The author describes his characters as quirky, strange, complex, and complicated. If anyone distrusts the leader, known as “The Man” they can be ousted to Empty Zones.

Graham Weatherend is given a special job to promote a new client. This client has canned beverages and calls them Pow Sodas. Graham first tastes the orange flavor, and his world is a “passion” of orange. Graham notices strange things and people. Graham is soon to start on other flavors. There seems to be a mystery of what the ingredients are. Each colored flavored drink causes Graham to become extremely moody and filled with questions. He realizes that he is trapped in a prison of sorts. Does he want to escape? Can he escape? This is an edgy and thought-provoking novel, which is the first in the series. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy unusual stories.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to this book for review.
In orange city, we get to follow the perspective of Graham as he is offered to love in The City, where people get a second chance to live and their past doesn't matter. The City is ruled by The Man who has various arms. I liked this book. The character of "The Man" was really interesting. I somewhat liked the character of Graham and E, but there were some things that didn't go well for me. The pacing was a little weird for my liking. I get that it was dystopian world, but the way females were viewed, it sometimes took me out of the story. Will definitely continue on with the series.

Orange City is the perfect reentry to dystopian for me. I haven’t enjoyed this genre since middle grade and the previous book i read was a dystopian and i ended up giving it a 1 star, but this book really cracked something in my fantasy only brain.

The book itself is set in a futuristic America and in a hidden city flourishing with corporate and business entities, but cogently manipulated and controlled by one singular person. The city itself is a “second chance” for criminals to erase their past sins, but ofcourse the reality isn’t that simple. We follow Graham as he learns what he truly joined up to.

The beginning itself, with its eerie writing style intrigued me. This was followed by the amazing introduction to the Man, that encompassed the intricate yell alluring sci-fi aspect. Modified limbs, detailed mechanisms all splintered with amazing, scintillating characters, truly was a delightful surprise. And yet, the 22% mark with that chapter ending was what converted me to absolutely getting invested in this book!

While the plot didn’t pick up way later in the book,, nor was the basic premise anything new or unique, but what lured me was the world building. ITS SO UNIQUE and so well defined. The POW!s, a brilliant idea. We also got a lot of world building in terms of the factions, locations and politics and combined with the descriptive writing style, the orange City kept me at the edge of my seat from beginning till end.

Now with the things I didn’t like. The character work, was something I personally did not enjoy, but at the same time I wouldn’t say its bad, just I wasn’t invested in the mc. Don’t get me wrong there is a lot of depth involved with him, i just didn’t connect with the mc. The side characters, especially (apart from one other) felt one dimensional and the lack of having been invested in them, didn’t make me care about the specific events around the end of the book, which felt like the author meant them to mean something but the delivery didn’t impact me at all.

On top of this the book felt well how do i put it, very white and male centered. Almost all the women (yep from the very few women in the book) are sexually or romantically connected to the mc. This paired with the insta love trope really lost me as a reader around the 70% mark. There’s also this sense that anything this main character did was brushed off when it came to the romantic interest and this was written in the male pov while there are scenes of abuse and other questionable scenes that again was addressed as “okay” which again goes back to this being very male centered. Then again almost the entire cast, are criminals so this could be the way gray morality was represented, it just doesn’t mean i have to like it, and i don’t.

Yep thats my two cents on the book, the world building is still a very cool aspect and I definitely would ask people to pick this up if they like dystopian!

Thank you to Atmosphere Press for granting me with an ARC in exchange of an honest review via NetGalley