katreadsalot's review against another edition
4.0
What an interesting moment to read a book about a pandemic! This book was a solid 3.5 stars. I enjoyed the story once I was into it (about 100 pages in), but found reading this book to be a little bit difficult because of the aphasia. While it slowed me down, but I think it was the perfect choice for the story.
uhtceara's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
esher14's review against another edition
3.0
I decided on a three star rating by the time I reached the half-way point of the book, but the last few chapters were almost enough to make me bump it to four stars. I enjoyed it, but I know I would enjoy it even more if I took the time to reread it: eventually!
puzzlegirl30's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
edo_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
kittykornerlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
This was so dark, and so well-written I couldn't stop reading it. The best sci-fi is the kind where you could easily imagine the future created by the author unfolding... and this fits the bill. It is much more disturbing than what I usually like, and even though I had to put it down a couple of times, I had to keep going back. Fascinating concept, thought-provoking and well-written.
dllh's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the book but had hoped it'd be a little more highbrow than it turned out to be. It sits for me in the same tier of literary accomplishment that a lot of Stephenson and Powers sit, in that it takes an interesting idea and deals with it in a way that's more sophisticated in a literary sense than the way in which a Dan Brown or a Michael Chrichton deals with it but that falls short stylistically of other authors I admire and is accordingly sort of disappointing.
tramuntana's review against another edition
Die Prämisse gefällt mir, aber der Schreibstil nicht. Frau Graedon ist sehr detailverliebt in Nebensächlichkeiten, wodurch sich die Handlung in selbigen verliert, und sie schreibt auch gewollt hochgestochen, wodurch man beim Lesen mit dem Text fremdelt.
jesssika's review against another edition
3.0
This is a mostly believable tale that the author abused a thesaurus on. I found the horrendous info dump of the first 2 chapters to be very difficult to get past. However, once the story begins roughly 30% into it, it becomes good. The characters are believable and make realistic mistakes. The over use of words that the author clearly feels is being forgotten amongst the general populace is preachy. It was a too long book with excessive use of words and footnotes for what is at its base a fiction read.
darbar's review
I gave this 25% and the plot had yet to get moving. Also, the authors whole rant was our dependency on digital devices and a "word flu" where people are forgetting normal words, but then the author goes out of her way to use overly complicated and obscure words. I had to use my distionary at least 20 times in that 25% (and I consider myself relatively intelligent with an English degree and over 100 books per year read, usually.), While enduring the mockery of the author for having to use the dictionary. Not for me.