Reviews with content warning for Pandemic/Epidemic - Gwiazdozbiór psa

Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

Gwiazdozbiór psa by Peter Heller

8 reviews

btaylorb's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

I'm glad I listened to the audio edition, because I think I would have been frustrated by the choppy prose and disjointed narrative style. The narrator really succeeded at capturing the multi-layered emotional and tonal shifts that I think would have come across as removed and clinical from simply reading the text. Hearing his voice break at a certain inciting incident while reading had me choking up and reminiscing about my own experiences with that particular kind of grief.

There are some truly gorgeous descriptions of nature that serve well as contrast for the grittier, more violent scenes. However, the final section of the book features some sexual content that felt out of place, tonally speaking. I think the ecstatic feelings of the emotional and physical connection between the characters could have been better served with a more coy approach rather than something I would expect from a raunchy rom-com.

I think the synopses I saw of this book do not set up the correct expectations for what this book is; i almost expected a cozy post-apocalyptic “Travels with Charley” situation, and while this book is definitely not cozy, it’s compelling and for the most part beautifully written.

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msbarnesela's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

The author has an MFA, and you can definitely tell in the style, if you know what I mean by that. (Not a bad thing—it’s just a distinct style.)

The post-apocalyptic setting is well-developed. I wanted to know more about the ending of civilization; I’m always curious about specifics.

The book starts really slow. Nothing much happens until about 30% through the book. The really compelling action starts around 50%. The last half of the book goes a lot quicker.

<The dog dies. It’s not a bad death—quiet, in his sleep, old age, next to his human. But it’s still really sad. It’s the inciting incident that gets the MC to go out and explore the world, and the grief comes up a lot.>

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cyndakeel's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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scipio_africanus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Peter Heller clearly knows and loves nature and poetry. This book is pretty much a nature novel about fishing, hunting, and survival with brutal post-apocalyptic violence interspersed throughout. This book was so good that it could easily go into my top 10 favorite novels.

Was surprised by all the bad reviews for this book. I just dont get it. People saying it's slow or boring. I wasn't bored once. There was plenty of violence, even a good bit of quality humor, and I enjoyed the more peaceful sections of the story as well. I listened to the audiobook, which may have been a different experience to reading it.

Can't recommend it enough.

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