aparker89's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Abandonment, Biphobia, Bullying, Death of parent, Body shaming, Confinement, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, and Slavery
grojas7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Genocide, Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, and Murder
aely's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Ableism, Blood, Hate crime, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Grief, Body horror, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Gore
Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Sexism, and Vomit
Minor: Torture, Sexual assault, Racism, Rape, War, Misogyny, Abandonment, and Medical content
icarusandthesun's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
a story that keeps you on your toes. reading this for the second time made me realize quite a few details that i hadn't noticed before.
the characters were great - diverse without feeling like some sort of caricature. i loved red and her attitude, loved the dynamic between her and adam (their conversations and banter were so painfully real for siblings) and her whole personality in general. her family was nice, and the two kids, too.
henry is just so good at writing children. they seem almost lovable when she writes them.
and i liked the story. sometimes the inevitable encounters with soldiers and so forth felt a little forced and unrealistic, maybe even a bit repetitive (but that might also just be because of my already having read the book once).
one of the major plot twists (
Spoiler
these slug parasite monster thingies(
Spoiler
i mean, these thingies were introduced in the middle of the book and then it wasn't even resolved in the slightest. just i know this book is about a deadly virus, but by the way, some government lab also created an otherworldly weird science-fiction ass, human-eating monster that nests in people's stomachs. like whuuutbut whatever, it's fine. great book, great characters, great story.
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, and Gore
Moderate: Medical content and Violence
Minor: Hate crime, Grief, Racism, Vomit, and Gun violence