Book Review: Zero O’Clock by C.J. Farley

Zero O’Clock by C.J. Farley is the story of Geth, a perceptive and thoughtful teenager, living through the early months of the pandemic. It is through her point of view that I witness once more, the unfolding of a world in chaos. It is traumatic to return to 2020, but reading Zero O’Clock is, in a way, a healing experience. It feels as though Geth and I walk through the experience together. She is ARMY, besides.

So, a lot of BTS’s songs are mentioned and the group’s presence in the book is very much a part of the novel’s emotional grammar. They accompany Geth through fear, isolation, and uncertainty, offering steadiness rather than easy consolation.

Zero O’Clock is not a story about resetting. It is a narrative of courage and resilience, of moving forward while carrying loss and grief. Because, in the end, Geth runs bearing the shifts and changes of the times. And she is beautiful!

#bookreview #BTSreadinglist2026 #ARMYofBangtanBookClub #booksBeatsBTS