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blacksphinx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I have officially lost all my "pretentious" "artsy" cred because I found it excruciatingly slow. You spend the entire time in the mind of someone on the verge of having a panic attack and who dwells on things for a long time. I actually found myself wishing something would happen. I like slow-paced stories! I don't need to feel "connected" or like the characters are "relatable" to enjoy something! But I could not get into this, I was just begging for it to be over... which is hilarious considering it's a novella.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pedophilia and Medical content
mar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Death, Gore, Vomit, Medical content, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Pedophilia
crownoflaurel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Pedophilia
talonsontypewriters's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Parasitic infection.podanotherjessi's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
The setting was by far the best thing about it, and I was so interested to know more about the world. The writing style would be a very close second though, with so many banger lines. And the parasite/disease element was so fascinating and made for the most interesting parts of the book.
One thing to note is that this feels YA (or maybe new adult). Not in a disparaging way. But the main character is a young woman (I don't think her age is specified, but she's still in school/just left school, and there are comments about her being just about old enough to think about getting married), and one of the main conflicts of the series (expectations)
Graphic: Chronic illness
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Pedophilia
sheeky's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
And that's what I mean when I say this novella is "emotional--" not that it will necessarily make you cry (though I did,) but that it fully captures the complexity of a "simple decision." It understands what leaving truly means when you're in community, the tension between the individual and the together and how and where those lines blur. It understands rings of family and left-behind mothers and growing pains and not knowing what you want. It also understands anger, the rage of being handed the remains of a world someone else failed to save. In Reid and Henryk and the rest of the town, Mohamed has written a very clear picture of what we might look like once the climate apocalypse has truly ravaged us, privileged bubbles and all.
The body horror bits of this book are also very good. I won't say too much for fear of spoiling, but: very, very good.
I tend not to buy books until after I've read them; this is 100% something I want on my shelf!
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Ableism and Pedophilia
btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Violence, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Pedophilia, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Genetic disease, dystopian world