Reviews tagging 'Violence'

I Am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson

24 reviews

_forestofpages's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It's usually difficult for me to enjoy a classic, but this one was right on the money. I enjoyed the slow build, the internal monologues of our main character. Robert Neville, the regular guy who just so happens to be the last human on earth surrounded by blood sucking fiends. 

It was painful and lonely and twisted reading this book. And I honestly enjoyed every minute. 

It was always fascinating even when nothing was happening. I don't think this book is for everyone, it's slow and deliberately so. It's also very heavily focused on one man constantly wishing he was dead or that he could find other people, which may be boring to some. 

But the real themes about loneliness at the end of the world, being faced with insurmountable odds and horrors most people could not imagine and the ways a person can change even when faced with such adversity, was incredible. And that last line hit me like a truck. 

/

The fact there were no real vampires was a bit of a disappointment, but I really enjoyed the explanations and the science Neville discovered.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Self harm

plantainicus's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Racial slurs

inapril's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Robert Neville really said "Yeah I'd rape her if she weren't a vampire." I read this for a class so I don't know too much about Matheson, but hopefully he wrote that as commentary and not a reflection of his own views but idk

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Racism and Sexual content

Minor: Rape

revonue's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Violence

authorannafaundez's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Weird book. Interesting ending.

Sometimes the book was sexual in a creepy, very uncomfortable way. The MC thinks about/considers sexual assault way too many times. The book treats sex as if it's entirely necessary for human male survival and that an adult has difficulty controlling himself, which . . . 1954 writing, I guess. It's not a good look. Didn't age well.

The science aspect is super far-fetched, which is sometimes OK. Suspension of belief is necessary for sci-fi and fantasy. But how fast Neville learns the science terminology is unbelievable with how specific the book gets. And that extreme specificity is where the problem is. Knowing words and general info is one thing, but true comprehension, study and experimentation is another. Either more mistakes needed to be made or more uncertainty about his theories would help that, I think. A simple time skip with a basic overview of what happened would have also been beneficial.

And then, when there finally was a time skip, it glossed over every single advancement/mistake/learning opportunity and ran straight for the plot, abandoning character growth.

Side note: I hope the movie I Am Legend (2007) said it was "inspired by" and not "based on" the 1954 novel. Because this book and that movie are different at their cores and by plotline.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Violence

Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, and Rape

refrejarator's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The science still holds up at some points which is pretty cool. Interesting take on vampires, but uncomfortably dated (views of the 50s in regards to women and POCs).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

POCs referred to as 'Negroes' and not named, only occurs in one chapter. Followers of Islam are referred to as Mohammedans. Jews and Judaism are also mentioned, but no derogatory comments made. Main character is tempted to SA/rape women, including comatose/sleeping/undead women. This is mentioned several times.

tinferno's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

carolinebl's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Powerful. The exploration of the cause was an interesting angle

and both the dog and Ruth’s appearance and exit shocked me. The ending too… so much loss.

A quick and engaging read; I look forward to the film.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Animal death, Death, Sexual assault, Violence, and Grief

cheyannejeanette's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Alcohol

Robert's mental dialog processing being the last human on earth and the depression and suicidal ideation that comes with it was too dark and uncomfortable for me to read. Not to mention the descriptions of his sexual desires surrounding the vampires and the constant murder was just not my cup of tea.

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic