Young WorldReview posted July 7, 2026.
Random House, 2026. 474 pages.
Review written June 11, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review
This novel is bonkers, chaotic, and far-fetched - but the truth is, I loved the wild ride.
The premise is that a 17-year-old named Benton Young, to impress an earnest girl, made a video that went viral and won the US presidency as a write-in. Okay, he didn't get 270 electoral votes, and then there's that little detail about it being unconstitutional - but politics got him actually in the White House. You see, his election started a global movement - a Young Revolution - and across the globe young people got put into positions of power. (The politicians were afraid of the movement and put the right pressure on the Supreme Court to say his election is okay. They're planning to impeach him soon anyway.)
But being elected isn't the same as wielding the power of the presidency. The powers that be don't even want to let him appoint his own Cabinet - until he strikes a deal and gets his two best friends in.
But then the stakes move to a G-8 summit in Sweden. And it's all about an island found in the Arctic among the melting ice caps that is claimed to be the ticket to great wealth for the country that claims it. But rumor has it, there's a giant volcano under that island that could wipe out the planet.
So this is what's being discussed when one of the leaders at the summit is murdered and the whole world thinks Benton did it. So for the rest of the book, he's on the run across the globe and different powers are after him and trying to make deals with him and he can't tell whom to trust or what to do. And that's where it gets pretty chaotic at the end. I couldn't completely picture what was happening in the big climactic scene.
But there's lots and lots of action, along with plenty of thoughts about power and about what's important. Benton comes to power because he sees the world as divided not by Red and Blue but by the Spend-Its and the Save-Its - the Save-Its being the young people who want to live in a world that's going to last until they're old. This book leaves you with lots to think about while you're enjoying the wild ride.