After the first few pages, I thought I was in for a buttered popcorn, "KPop Demon Hunters" snack of a novel. High in calories, low in nutrition. Well, I was right … and wrong. AMIL’s "The Forest Called You" is a highly addictive and engaging read about a K-pop idol and a high school outcast that masks an undercurrent of deeper social themes. The story is set in 23rd-century Korea, where climate change has devastated Earth. There is no more winter, half of Earth’s species are gone and humanity is left surviving in a Dune-like, dystopian environment. There are dust storms, and the specter of the “Akanta virus” (presumably similar to COVID-19) looms large. Seoul has become a cesspool of filthy, destitute and virus-ridden lowlifes, and as a result, a severe class divide has emerged. The wealthy can afford to eat real food and interact almost entirely in a highly immersive virtual world, all within the safety of their disinfected homes. Conversely, the poor subsist on artificial meal substitutes and have no choice but to go out in the dirty and harsh physical world, interacting di