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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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Sexual content
brookebatesratesbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Animal death
scipio_africanus's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, and Grief
mtnest's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Gun violence, Sexual content, Vomit, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy
rmoon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Really strong ending...some of the beginning wasn't for me as much. Very solid post-apocalyptic novel. If you're into flying, dogs, fishing, or military, this is a good one for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Child death and Sexual content
atamano's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pregnancy
bookmaven17's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Sexual content, and Violence
threepigeons's review against another edition
adventurous
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
3.75
As someone who grew up loving poetry and flying in a Cessna, this book is easily more accurate to the feeling of flying in an old four seater propeller plane than anything I've ever read. I didn’t have to read up on the author to know that he was a pilot. This might be the very best book that I would hesitat to recommend to others - the pacing is slow, and it takes an explicitly sexual turn in the second half of the book. Still, it's deeply beautiful, and the narrator's voice, while taking some getting used to, is just so awesome.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
Minor: Rape, Vomit, and Pregnancy
omnombailey's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-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
I love bleak post-apocalypse stories and I came into this wanting exactly that. For the most part, it delivered, but I couldn't bring myself to say I actually liked this book. There were some enjoyable parts, but it wasn't enough for me to ignore the abysmal writing style and random narrative.
I didn't care for any of the characters, especially Bangley. There's a sad attempt at making him sympathetic, but it boils down to, "Cool story, you're still an asshole." I also had a hard time believingthat Cima was the first woman Hig had seen in NINE YEARS. At least that's what he makes it seem like. That whole side plot with Cima was painful to read and came across as creepy than it ever did as romantic. No sex scene should ever be described as a school of fish or whatever that line was.
The summary of the book makes it sound like the communication from the plane's radio is a huge central thing and... it's not. It gets mentioned at about 15% into the book and maybe brought up again once or twice and then Hig wants to fly out there andgets distracted by PRETTY LADY for legit 30% of the book and then he eventually gets there and it's like... what the hell did you expect? I wish it was made more of a deal or at least make it sound as important as the book summary does. It felt like an afterthought.
The writing got in the way more often than not. Sometimes I liked style, but most of the time it made it difficult to tell what was going on and who was saying what. I get what it was trying to do, but it didn't made for a fun or interesting read.
But there were some moments where it was interesting, like any of the flashbacks or imagery in the forest or even the last 15% was pretty solid and I couldn't put it down. But you can't stitch all those sort of good moments to make up a story. Overall, I didn't hate reading this, but I also wouldn't call it a good book or ever recommend it to anyone I know.
I didn't care for any of the characters, especially Bangley. There's a sad attempt at making him sympathetic, but it boils down to, "Cool story, you're still an asshole." I also had a hard time believing
The summary of the book makes it sound like the communication from the plane's radio is a huge central thing and... it's not. It gets mentioned at about 15% into the book and maybe brought up again once or twice and then Hig wants to fly out there and
The writing got in the way more often than not. Sometimes I liked style, but most of the time it made it difficult to tell what was going on and who was saying what. I get what it was trying to do, but it didn't made for a fun or interesting read.
But there were some moments where it was interesting, like any of the flashbacks or imagery in the forest or even the last 15% was pretty solid and I couldn't put it down. But you can't stitch all those sort of good moments to make up a story. Overall, I didn't hate reading this, but I also wouldn't call it a good book or ever recommend it to anyone I know.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, and Sexism
General gritty survival themeskelseak96's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
It wasn't my thing, but that doesn't make it a bad book. It happened to have lots of things I dislike in books -- airplanes, dogs, occasional references to sexual violence, not a ton of backstory, long descriptions of nature, the list goes on, but while I was pretty bummed out while reading the book, I can say that it was objectively pretty decent. Extra star for taking place in my favorite state.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Grief
Moderate: Chronic illness, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Sexual violence