nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- 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? Yes
2.0
why
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Confinement, Death, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Blood, Cancer, Gun violence, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
mariagarnett's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
pelargonia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
the_evergrowing_library's review against another edition
3.0
This probably says a lot about me, but I thought this would be darker. A book where almost every man on the planet is dead, making them a hot commodity…..yeah I was expecting some bad things.
As it stands, we have a pretty decent mother and son chase thriller. Good pacing, immersive and inventive in its use of story.
Cole and Miles had a pretty solid relationship that felt real to me and it made for a decent amount of back and forth between them.
I did feel that there was some definite liberties taken on the part of the ‘chase’ element, with regards to lining things up though: it definitely felt like people would get to where they needed to be, when they needed to, and damn the geographical complications.
As it stands, we have a pretty decent mother and son chase thriller. Good pacing, immersive and inventive in its use of story.
Cole and Miles had a pretty solid relationship that felt real to me and it made for a decent amount of back and forth between them.
I did feel that there was some definite liberties taken on the part of the ‘chase’ element, with regards to lining things up though: it definitely felt like people would get to where they needed to be, when they needed to, and damn the geographical complications.
tnanz's review against another edition
5.0
Ohhhh so good. Beautifully written and interesting characters, a nicely paced plot, and a consistent devastating world. The time frame Beukes chose for most of the book, a couple years post apocalyptic is such a fascinating and challenging time. You don’t have the drama of the dawning apocalypse or the true dead hopelessness of the end stage apocalypse, but a kind of groaning chaos that Beukes captured beautifully. This was a very weird but excellent book to read in a pandemic.
kelsea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Post-pandemic book that was written just before COVID. I was interested in the conceit and thought it was well-thought out, but did not personally enjoy reading what is essentially a pandemic novel (personal preference, not a fault of the book). I thought the second half of the book really dragged - too much .
Spoiler
evangelical christian bus travel and psychotic cross-country chasing when I was hoping for more details of what society was like, and finding out what happened after they escaped the US
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Kidnapping, Trafficking, and Drug use
Minor: Infertility, Pregnancy, and Cancer
livrad's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book. The promise of "Children of Men meets The Handmaid's Tale" and the premise of the pandemic sounds like you should be in for an interesting read. The delivery fell short, though.
It was gritty in the same vein as Children of Men, but it felt like the focus of the plot was on a different part of the story than where I would want it to be. All of the draw of the premise is in parts that happen before the story is set. I wish there had been more focus on the reactions to the pandemic and the emotional processessing of losing so many loved ones, wondering if your son was next.
It was like watching The Walking Dead but starting at Season 8 and wondering how zombies came to be a thing. We do occasionally see brief flashbacks, but the story doesn't just fail to live up to its promises, for me it was almost repulsive in spots.
The draw of a pandemic plot took a real backseat to the poor life choices of the main character's sister and the thugs-for-hire she falls in with and their laundry list of disgusting acquired wounds. To stomach getting to the end, I had to skim in a few places. While I did finish it, I wish I hadn't picked it up to begin with.
It was gritty in the same vein as Children of Men, but it felt like the focus of the plot was on a different part of the story than where I would want it to be. All of the draw of the premise is in parts that happen before the story is set. I wish there had been more focus on the reactions to the pandemic and the emotional processessing of losing so many loved ones, wondering if your son was next.
It was like watching The Walking Dead but starting at Season 8 and wondering how zombies came to be a thing. We do occasionally see brief flashbacks, but the story doesn't just fail to live up to its promises, for me it was almost repulsive in spots.
The draw of a pandemic plot took a real backseat to the poor life choices of the main character's sister and the thugs-for-hire she falls in with and their laundry list of disgusting acquired wounds. To stomach getting to the end, I had to skim in a few places. While I did finish it, I wish I hadn't picked it up to begin with.
hizashinori's review against another edition
1.0
ripping this apart in my utopia class. characters felt flat with no development. the world building confused the hell out of me. all the men are gone but miles is posting on his snapchat story?? 400 pages to a boring ending that tried to be philosophical.
philosophiec's review against another edition
Didn’t grab me, not really interested in finishing it