Reviews

Utterly beautiful. I can't think of any other way to describe it. This is the type of book I'd go back to and reread over and over again until the binding broke. I loved it.

internationalkris's review against another edition

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4.0

Dog Stars by Peter Heller was another book that I had seen on spring lists but been hesitant about. It’s a post-apocalyptic story and after reading The Road I felt that I had already explored that vision pretty thoroughly. After hearing Heller speak at ALA though, I jumped right in line to get a free signed copy of his book (librarians do get some nice benefits on occasion). Dog Stars is the story of a man who loses everything – wife, home, society – after a plague kills most of the world population. He survives along with a half-crazy companion at an abandoned airfield where he pilots a Cessna and keeps track of the possible invaders of his perimeter. He has his dog, his memories and maintains his humanity despite many attacks but at a turning point in the book he goes off in search of more. Dog Stars was thoughtful, poetic, intriguing and not without hope. Heller began his career as an adventure-sport writer and his love of the natural world comes though clearly. During his talk he shared with us that he felt the need to research the possibility of a pandemic that could kill 90% of the world’s population. He says he first asked a friend at the CDC about it who answered, “No it’s not possible. Even the worst have only killed a fraction of the population.” Unsatisfied, he called a contact who worked for the government, who replied, “You mean like a genetically altered virus? Yes, I’d say that’s a possibility.” Heller said he then froze, clearly understanding that it had already been made and was simply sitting in a incubator … waiting.

breadandmushrooms's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.0

nakedsushi's review against another edition

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2.0

2.5 stars

I was not impressed with this post-apocalyptic book. I know it gets great reviews and ratings, but I just couldn't get into it. The choppy stream of consciousness writing distracted me instead of bringing me into the story. I was really interested in the backstories of Bangley and Pops, but when they were told, it seemed rush in a "Oh shit, I gotta end the book soon" kind of way.

I guess it's bad when I don't like the main character, Hig, very much. He just seemed like such a drifter. I also thought the boy-girl pairing was unnecessary and didn't add much to the plot or the characters. In fact, it brought my opinion of both the characters lower.

The best part of this book was Jasper and we all know how that went.

ksteinbauer47's review against another edition

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4.0

The writing style took me a bit to get used to, but once I got used to it the internal monologue of Higs was incredibly engaging and interesting.

curatedsymposium's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

ajohannessen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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