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zalouis's review
Traumatic birth scene right up front.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
shrektien's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.75
i loved this book - the characters, the plot, the descriptions and settings will pull you in. I just love women and it is clear that an actual woman wrote these characters and wrote how accurately women and men would react to this apocalypse. There is only one negative thing I have to say which is that at times the dialogue feels forced and doesn’t feel like things real people would say, like it sounds robotic and written as opposed to being spoken by the character if that makes sense.
the ending is devastating with ford dying - my heart just broke for Mercury and then Stella feeling like she can’t trust herself is all just so sad. I also started crying harder at the beautiful moment when Imani tells Mercury that her loss doesn’t take away hers. I am so excited to read into the dust!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexism, and Blood
Minor: Racism, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry
rebar351's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
3.0
This was my book clubs January pick something out of our comfort zone!!
First, all the trigger warnings! That beginning of the book destroyed me and almost made me DNF! We’re talking traumatic birth, stillbirth and loss of a child!! None of us knew this going in and I don’t want other readers to be blindsided! Once you get past the incredibly difficult first chapters it’s an interesting concept! A green gas gets dropped and it kills all men but seems to enhance women and gives them special abilities!
First, all the trigger warnings! That beginning of the book destroyed me and almost made me DNF! We’re talking traumatic birth, stillbirth and loss of a child!! None of us knew this going in and I don’t want other readers to be blindsided! Once you get past the incredibly difficult first chapters it’s an interesting concept! A green gas gets dropped and it kills all men but seems to enhance women and gives them special abilities!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and War
dani_reviews's review against another edition
I couldn’t bring myself to like or care about any of these characters, plus it doesn’t feel very feminist to refer to other women as “too heavy” or immediately kill off a pregnant woman .
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Blood, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fatphobia and Vomit
rachaelarsenault's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
What I Liked
-There's a scene where Mercury is jealous of other women flirting with Ford, and Stella is about to say that she doesn't need to worry because Ford is only interested in her. However, Ford interrupts by calling over Mercury, unknowingly finishing Stella's sentence for her. It's a subtle, cute little moment.
-Stella covers a dead body with a Confederate flag and Mercury says that's the best use she's seen for it.
What I Didn't Like
-EMPs don't work like that.
-The main characters encounter 700 people over the course of the story, living and dead, and yet somehow not a single person is trans, nonbinary, or intersex. Given that gender is central to the plot, this reeks of erasure and cisnormativity.
-3/4 queer characters die, all in minor roles, two never even appearing in text. The only on-page queer death literally involves a man tripping and dying.
-4/5 POC die, all in minor roles, two never appearing in the text. The most central character of colour, Imani, doesn't have much of a role in the book except to be a mother and be black. She is entirely excluded from large sections of the book.
-Ableism, fat shaming, sex shaming, and a 45-year-old high school teacher genuinely considering having sex with a teenager
-The treatment of Karen by the other characters is atrocious, especially Mercury and Stella. For all Mercury insists in her narration that Karen is a narrow-minded bigot, none of her claims are ever backed up in-text.
-The entire plot is railroaded by Stella's intuition.
-Somehow, despite Stella's intuition, they still find themselves in an incredibly dangerous situation that ends in someone dying. No part of this scene makes any sense, from build-up to execution. It literally comes out of nowhere and serves no purpose except to kill off a character.
-Excruciatingly slow pace.
-Way too many excessively long sentences.
-Writing that doesn't fit the tone, sounds way too immature for the middle-aged characters, or otherwise feels like an early draft.
More detailed review: https://medium.com/@rachaellawrites/not-good-feminist-fiction-not-good-apocalypse-fiction-an-in-depth-review-of-into-the-mist-3300900a3e28
Reading vlog: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sq_aFBPYgE0&t=212s
-There's a scene where Mercury is jealous of other women flirting with Ford, and Stella is about to say that she doesn't need to worry because Ford is only interested in her. However, Ford interrupts by calling over Mercury, unknowingly finishing Stella's sentence for her. It's a subtle, cute little moment.
-Stella covers a dead body with a Confederate flag and Mercury says that's the best use she's seen for it.
What I Didn't Like
-EMPs don't work like that.
-The main characters encounter 700 people over the course of the story, living and dead, and yet somehow not a single person is trans, nonbinary, or intersex. Given that gender is central to the plot, this reeks of erasure and cisnormativity.
-3/4 queer characters die, all in minor roles, two never even appearing in text. The only on-page queer death literally involves a man tripping and dying.
-4/5 POC die, all in minor roles, two never appearing in the text. The most central character of colour, Imani, doesn't have much of a role in the book except to be a mother and be black. She is entirely excluded from large sections of the book.
-Ableism, fat shaming, sex shaming, and a 45-year-old high school teacher genuinely considering having sex with a teenager
-The treatment of Karen by the other characters is atrocious, especially Mercury and Stella. For all Mercury insists in her narration that Karen is a narrow-minded bigot, none of her claims are ever backed up in-text.
-The entire plot is railroaded by Stella's intuition.
-Somehow, despite Stella's intuition, they still find themselves in an incredibly dangerous situation that ends in someone dying. No part of this scene makes any sense, from build-up to execution. It literally comes out of nowhere and serves no purpose except to kill off a character.
-Excruciatingly slow pace.
-Way too many excessively long sentences.
-Writing that doesn't fit the tone, sounds way too immature for the middle-aged characters, or otherwise feels like an early draft.
More detailed review: https://medium.com/@rachaellawrites/not-good-feminist-fiction-not-good-apocalypse-fiction-an-in-depth-review-of-into-the-mist-3300900a3e28
Reading vlog: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sq_aFBPYgE0&t=212s
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Body shaming, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism and Adult/minor relationship
Adult/minor relationship tag is used because a 45-year old character talks about genuinely wanting to have sex with a teenager. Several grown women also bully another grown woman into drinking wine when she declines their offer of alcohol. They also allow and encourage a minor to drink and smoke.avery_lj's review
Hard to read this incredibly binary book as a trans non-binary person. Also, I could be wrong but I don't think there are scenic turn-offs on 26 west of government camp.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Miscarriage, and Blood
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Sexism
kelseygall19's review
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Good book. I struggled to put it down. The characters lovable and the story was wild and unique. Definitely worth the read!
But i will say a few things. Some of the dialogue was hard to handle. Its very much has the vibe of “this is what young people talk like” but it was definitely cringy at times. There were also some issues with gender/ sexuality/ and general shaming people that i wasnt a fan off. Certain situations could have been written better
But i will say a few things. Some of the dialogue was hard to handle. Its very much has the vibe of “this is what young people talk like” but it was definitely cringy at times. There were also some issues with gender/ sexuality/ and general shaming people that i wasnt a fan off. Certain situations could have been written better
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexism, Blood, Vomit, and Grief
elizabeth_delozier's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.0
Into the Mist markets itself as a feminist post-apocalypse sci-fi/fantasy. And...the word feminist seems to be misused here. It is not. 🚩
A group of teachers coming home from an education conference are banded together when a biological warfare agent (a green mist) is released in the US, causing mass destruction, death, and plunging the country into a post-apocalyptic state where men are dying rapidly (as the mist seems to be targeting men) and women are developing "powers" (but not everyone, which remains confusing). The story attempts to highlight that women are strong and capable, while men are smarmy abusers of power. The story also touches on the use of religious authority in the time of crises to abuse power.
Aside from the issue of marketing this as feminist, which we will return to, the story itself had its ups and downs. The pacing was off, feeling rushed over all while also having minor plot points that were drawn out to the point of wanting to skip to the next chapter. This is also the first book in a series (it is unclear how long the series will be), meaning that the entire first book is setting the stage for the rest of the series and we don't learn anything hinting at where the mist comes from until the very last second. Not for me. I also will not forgive the author for a particular character death. However, I was rather intrigued by the "powers" that are developed and how they seem to enhance one's pre-existing qualities. These powers were really what kept me invested, I really wanted to learn more about how they manifested and worked, which I did not - though that might be coming in later books.
Now.
For a "feminist" story, there sure does seem to be a large gap in representation for trans women 🚩. Additionally, there is no LGBT representation at all, even among side characters 🚩. So, this biological agent is targeting men and the author makes no attempt to discuss sex vs gender or the biological and psychological impact of this agent for trans or non-binary individuals? 🚩 Why? Oh, because the author isn't actually writing a feminist story. Being a feminist means being inclusive of ALL women. It also means more than just killing off all the men and seeing if women can rule the country better. This story either didn't have enough (or diverse enough) beta readers to correct this or the author simply didn't care. Either way...
I will not be returning to this series for future books and would not recommend this book.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Lorelei King, via NetGalley. An advanced reader's copy of this audiobook was provided to me via NetGalley by Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.
A group of teachers coming home from an education conference are banded together when a biological warfare agent (a green mist) is released in the US, causing mass destruction, death, and plunging the country into a post-apocalyptic state where men are dying rapidly (as the mist seems to be targeting men) and women are developing "powers" (but not everyone, which remains confusing). The story attempts to highlight that women are strong and capable, while men are smarmy abusers of power. The story also touches on the use of religious authority in the time of crises to abuse power.
Aside from the issue of marketing this as feminist, which we will return to, the story itself had its ups and downs. The pacing was off, feeling rushed over all while also having minor plot points that were drawn out to the point of wanting to skip to the next chapter. This is also the first book in a series (it is unclear how long the series will be), meaning that the entire first book is setting the stage for the rest of the series and we don't learn anything hinting at where the mist comes from until the very last second. Not for me. I also will not forgive the author for a particular character death. However, I was rather intrigued by the "powers" that are developed and how they seem to enhance one's pre-existing qualities. These powers were really what kept me invested, I really wanted to learn more about how they manifested and worked, which I did not - though that might be coming in later books.
Now.
For a "feminist" story, there sure does seem to be a large gap in representation for trans women 🚩. Additionally, there is no LGBT representation at all, even among side characters 🚩. So, this biological agent is targeting men and the author makes no attempt to discuss sex vs gender or the biological and psychological impact of this agent for trans or non-binary individuals? 🚩 Why? Oh, because the author isn't actually writing a feminist story. Being a feminist means being inclusive of ALL women. It also means more than just killing off all the men and seeing if women can rule the country better. This story either didn't have enough (or diverse enough) beta readers to correct this or the author simply didn't care. Either way...
I will not be returning to this series for future books and would not recommend this book.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Lorelei King, via NetGalley. An advanced reader's copy of this audiobook was provided to me via NetGalley by Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Transphobia
carolibrary's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Blood, Vomit, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Pregnancy
jsumner1125's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
If you are looking for a dystopian book with Kick Ass female empowerment this books is for you.
This books has a lot of familiar tropes, bad guys and witchy powers but it is interesting how this world is being put together. I love the camaraderie between the main chacters and the love they have for each other. Karen is actually my favorite character as you aren't sure where she is but I am there for her.
Thr story has twists that I am not sure what is going to happen which makes me very much looking forward to the next in the series.
(I recieved a free ARC in exchange for an honest review)
This books has a lot of familiar tropes, bad guys and witchy powers but it is interesting how this world is being put together. I love the camaraderie between the main chacters and the love they have for each other. Karen is actually my favorite character as you aren't sure where she is but I am there for her.
Thr story has twists that I am not sure what is going to happen which makes me very much looking forward to the next in the series.
(I recieved a free ARC in exchange for an honest review)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Sexism, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment