demetrius_bennett's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Death, Addiction, Violence, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Gun violence
Minor: Child death and Sexual harassment
sassmistress's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Violence, Gun violence, and Misogyny
Moderate: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Cursing, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Animal death, and Confinement
Minor: Death of parent, Child death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, and Self harm
- Very graphic depiction of alcoholism and heavy alcohol use, from the mind of the user. We're constantly watching strong drinks spill, smell, burn going down, numb emotion, etc.- POV is regularly on the verge of a mental breakdown.
- Memories of his wife wasting away and dying, then having to dispose of her body. The grief is graphic. His child dies, too, though this is less prominent.
- Dog content:
Spoiler
He feeds the feral/traumatized dog and slowly befriends it. During this process, the dog is infected. He brings the dog inside, hoping to cure it before it passes, and it panics extensively. He calms it down, the dog licks him, he cries, and then says the dog died a week later.- He is an atheist, but prays twice out of desperation. Religion is otherwise depicted as frenzied madness.
- Lots of lustful gaze and objectification. This is viewed as the inevitable result of a man's "deprivation" / isolation. One passionate embrace/kiss.
- Blood, obviously, and some violent "vampire" deaths, but most of it is kept at a moderate emotional distance. Most deaths are the MC bleeding out the sleeping "vampires", not described too graphically, but a few are more violent.
- Brief mention of rape, and a few suicidal thoughts.
katrinarose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Body horror, and Medical content
Moderate: Child death and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual content
singalana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Child death, Death, Alcohol, Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Addiction, and Violence
Minor: Violence, Sexism, Rape, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content
scytheria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism and Gun violence
Minor: Suicide, Animal death, and Rape
mconroy9137's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Alcoholism, Violence, Misogyny, Alcohol, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Grief, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Body horror, and Kidnapping
Minor: Vomit, Child death, and Medical content
ruthypoo2's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The first half of the story puts the reader in the mindset of Neville, going through his daily activities to find sustenance, supplies, and maintain his home. In addition, he also goes out into the community finding the slumbering vampires to kill them and throw their bodies into a fire pit, which has been determined as the only way to ensure they cannot return walk the earth. For much of the first half of the book, Neville struggles with loneliness and carnal desire, and facing a gradual mental unraveling. The story does an excellent job of portraying the monotony of day-to-day life as Neville tries to stay sane and find a potential cure for the vampire plague. His time has some peaks but is mostly about how he adheres to a strict schedule in order to survive.
In the second half of the book, as time has progressed, emotions and actions increase when Neville encounters another human being and dares to imagine there could be a future less bleak than the life he's been living for a number of years. However, being a survivalist, Neville questions if the solitary existence he's come to accept is worth risking if he decides to take a chance on the possibility of human companionship.
The author, Richard Matheson, does a stellar job creating the turmoil and fractured mindset of someone who may be the last living human alive. Though it's very small, the world building in the story is stark and desperate and easy to imagine as the outcome after a plague will have decimated the earth's population of living creatures. Matheson conveys multiple layers to Neville's personality, which is understandably a little off kilter but still exudes a will to survive in spite of the struggles he experiences. The book has a really good story arc that's engrossing as and gives the reader someone to root for from beginning to end.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator, Robertson Dean, did a fantastic job embodying the mind and soul of Robert Neville. Mr. Dean was just the right voice for this character and managed to exactly characterize the various mental avenues Neville goes down in his valiant effort to stay alive and stay sane... one day at a time.
Moderate: Violence, Chronic illness, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal death and Death
iinasomnia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, and Animal death
rogackia's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Addiction, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts
sofipitch's review against another edition
2.5
Graphic: Blood and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Animal death
Minor: Racism and Misogyny