{"id":2733,"date":"2025-05-02T14:20:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T14:20:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=2733"},"modified":"2025-05-02T14:20:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T14:20:40","slug":"make-sure-you-die-screaming-by-zee-carlstrom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=2733","title":{"rendered":"Make Sure You Die Screaming by Zee Carlstrom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zee Carlstrom\u2019s debut novel, Make Sure You Die Screaming<\/em>, is a blistering, unfiltered fever dream of queerness, grief, and rebellion. Reading it feels like getting into a stolen car with a stranger who smells like regret and gasoline\u2014and then realizing halfway through the ride that they might be your only shot at truth. Equal parts mystery, satire, and social manifesto, this novel defies easy genre classification, but its voice is unmistakably urgent.<\/p>\n

In the vein of books like Detransition, Baby<\/em> and Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl<\/em>, Carlstrom dismantles expectations around identity<\/a>, family, and the American ideal. But where those novels simmer with introspection, Make Sure You Die Screaming<\/em> explodes. Loud, messy, brilliant\u2014this is not a story that whispers. It howls.<\/p>\n

Story Summary: Finding a Father, Losing Your Mind<\/h2>\n

The novel opens on the cracked edge of a mental and emotional collapse. Our narrator\u2014recently untethered from gender, career, sobriety, and sanity\u2014is running from Chicago to Arkansas in a stolen BMW to find their vanished father. The father, a right-wing conspiracy theorist, has gone missing, and the narrator\u2019s mother is desperate. But this isn\u2019t a detective story\u2014it\u2019s a self-interrogation wrapped in motel sheets, littered with Q pills, and haunted by the ghost of a best friend named Jenny.<\/p>\n

Along for the ride is Yivi, a tall, terrifying, magnetic goth on the run from a shadowy figure known as Big Gravy. The two form an uneasy alliance\u2014equal parts friendship, trauma bond, and mutual self-destruction\u2014as they traverse America\u2019s heartland. What they find is less about the missing father and more about everything that got lost before he even disappeared.<\/p>\n

Character Deep Dive: An Unnamed Narrator on the Edge<\/h2>\n

Carlstrom\u2019s choice to keep the narrator unnamed post-gender collapse is powerful\u2014it strips identity down to voice and experience. This narrator is sharp-tongued, deeply wounded, and painfully self-aware. They are:<\/p>\n

Blisteringly intelligent<\/strong>, yet incapable of self-preservation.
\nHilarious<\/strong>, even while unraveling.
\nDangerous<\/strong>, both to themselves and others.<\/p>\n

The tension between their radical honesty and compulsive self-destruction creates a character you want to protect\u2014even when they seem intent on burning everything down. Their vulnerability, especially in moments of memory with Jenny or encounters with their MAGA father, hits like a punch to the chest.<\/p>\n

Yivi, on the other hand, is a whirlwind. Dressed like a cartoon villain and wielding a hunting knife with a wink, she\u2019s comic relief with a tragic past. Yet she\u2019s also the novel\u2019s emotional center\u2014a reminder that friendship, however dysfunctional, might still save you.<\/p>\n

Thematic Exploration: What the Screaming\u2019s Really About<\/h2>\n

1. Queer Rage and the Death of Politeness<\/h3>\n

Carlstrom doesn\u2019t sand down the narrator\u2019s anger. Instead, they present it in full: gender dysphoria, familial betrayal, and societal gaslighting<\/a> simmering in every page. The refusal to conform isn\u2019t just personal\u2014it\u2019s political.<\/p>\n

2. Addiction as Escape and Punishment<\/h3>\n

The narrator\u2019s substance abuse isn\u2019t glamorized. It\u2019s survival. Their self-medication with warm beer, stolen liquor, and mystery pills reads less like indulgence and more like anesthesia for a bleeding mind.<\/p>\n

3. Capitalism\u2019s Emotional Toll<\/h3>\n

A former corporate climber, the narrator reflects on the soul-rot of productivity culture and wealth worship. The novel suggests that burnout isn\u2019t a symptom\u2014it\u2019s the system functioning as designed.<\/p>\n

4. Family as Fallout<\/h3>\n

The central mystery\u2014what happened to the narrator\u2019s father\u2014is less a whodunit and more a meditation on intergenerational trauma. What if the people who raised you were never well to begin with? And what if you inherited all their worst tendencies?<\/p>\n

5. The End of the World, Personally<\/h3>\n

In one sense, this is a post-apocalyptic story. Not in the global sense, but in the personal. The narrator\u2019s life has already ended. What remains is just motion\u2014forward, always forward\u2014toward something they don\u2019t fully believe exists: redemption.<\/p>\n

Carlstrom\u2019s Style: Part Monologue, Part Manifesto<\/h2>\n

The prose of Make Sure You Die Screaming<\/em> is a living thing\u2014angry, exhausted, and weirdly elegant. Zee Carlstrom writes like someone with nothing left to lose. The voice is a blend of:<\/p>\n

Poetic nihilism<\/strong>: \u201cThe truth will not set you free. It will bash your skull in with a baseball bat, then set you free.\u201d<\/em>
\nDark comedy<\/strong>: The dialogue crackles with gallows humor. Every page feels like someone is laughing through a panic attack.
\nCultural excavation<\/strong>: Carlstrom slips in critiques of consumerism, political delusion, and gender performance with a scalpel.<\/p>\n

While the style is daring and effective, it may be challenging for some readers. The narrator\u2019s unfiltered stream of consciousness occasionally overpowers the story\u2019s forward momentum, especially during the denser monologues.<\/p>\n

Highlights Worth Screaming About<\/h2>\n

A uniquely queer anti-hero<\/strong>: Unlike anything in recent fiction, this narrator is unforgettable.
\nSharp social commentary<\/strong>: The novel spares no institution\u2014capitalism, patriarchy, tech culture, or the nuclear family.
\nYivi<\/strong>: A standout character whose blend of chaos and care adds vital texture.
\nMoments of piercing clarity<\/strong>: Amid the chaos, Carlstrom delivers gut-wrenching emotional truths\u2014often when you least expect them.<\/p>\n

Points That Falter<\/h2>\n

Structural looseness<\/strong>: At times, the plot drifts, particularly in the middle third. The lack of narrative anchor may frustrate some readers looking for resolution.
\nIntensity overload<\/strong>: The relentless pacing, trauma stacking, and philosophical tangents can exhaust more casual readers.
\nEmotional withholding<\/strong>: Key emotional reveals come late, and some characters (like Jenny) feel underexplored, despite their importance.<\/p>\n

Literary Kin and Context<\/h2>\n

Zee Carlstrom\u2019s debut sits comfortably among recent experimental queer fiction. Readers who admired:<\/p>\n

Detransition, Baby<\/em> by Torrey Peters
\nPaul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl<\/em> by Andrea Lawlor
\nThe Sluts<\/em> by Dennis Cooper<\/p>\n

\u2026will find thematic resonance here, though Carlstrom\u2019s work is notably more acidic and politically volatile.<\/p>\n

This novel also echoes the outsider rage of Fight Club<\/em>, albeit queer and post-capitalist, and carries the interpersonal devastation of A Little Life<\/em><\/a> but told through a cracked windshield and haze of Miller Lite.<\/p>\n

Carlstrom has not published previous books, but if this debut is any indication, they are a force to watch.<\/p>\n

Verdict: Screaming Is the Point<\/h2>\n

Make Sure You Die Screaming<\/em> isn\u2019t just a title\u2014it\u2019s a thesis. Carlstrom writes a world where people who live outside the binary, outside the norms, outside the system are expected to suffer quietly. This book rejects that silence. It screams, not for sympathy, but for visibility.<\/p>\n

The narrator doesn\u2019t come out of their journey clean or whole or even safe. But maybe survival, in its messiest, most unapologetic form, is the only resolution that matters.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zee Carlstrom\u2019s debut novel, Make Sure You Die Screaming, is a blistering, unfiltered fever dream of queerness, grief, and rebellion. Reading it feels like getting into a stolen car with a stranger who smells like regret and gasoline\u2014and then realizing halfway through the ride that they might be your only shot at truth. Equal parts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2733"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2733\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}