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mionnechan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Medical content
Moderate: Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, and Medical trauma
brynalexa's review
- 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? No
2.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Deportation
liesthemoontells's review
- 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
3.25
I was also disappointed at how straight the book was - the one lesbian character who doesn't enter into a relationship with a woman out of necessity is an arrogant sociopath, and the stories of women who fall in love with women after most men have died out are kept at a distance from the reader through news articles and interviews. None of our first person characters enter into a WLW relationship other than the aforementioned sociopath.
It also isn't until 354 pages into a 403 page book that the author spends a moment considering what traumatic impact the Plague would have had on the trans community, treating them like the afterthought that the sole trans character in the book ironically calls out the medical establishment for doing.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic friendship
leannanecdote's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, and Classism
Minor: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Trafficking, and Suicide attempt
cheye13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
It's pitched as a feminist dystopia, but only mentions women taking over positions of power in the briefest asides. The real focus is the fallout of losing half the population. All of the recovery is focused on repopulation: protecting surviving men, birthing healthy boys, rationing sperm. Despite the female POVs, all the attention is once more on the men. Counterintuitively, it felt like the story coddled men while women buckled down to helm survival.
The most cohesive and developed theme was not women in positions of power, but fertility.
The specific careers (genetics, anthropology, government intelligence) spread the content of the novel too thin. With such intricate professions, there wasn't enough research to provide more than a superficial involvement in the novel's entire premise.
The identity diversity also felt like a hamfisted afterthought rather than a significant facet of the characters that would affect their approach to events. I appreciated the acknowledgement of the trans experience, but it felt extremely shoehorned, and again, not explored in any meaningful way. Sexuality and racial diversity wasn't handled any better, and there was nearly no class diversity.
The writing style was exceedinly readable, and the narrative was generally engaging. But ultimately, I sat down for a dissection of gender in the modern world, and instead got an exceedingly heteronormative narrative that in no way challenged the status quo, skirted gender essentialism, and was also kinda depressing.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, and Abandonment
Minor: Cancer, Misogyny, Suicide, Transphobia, Alcohol, and War
the transphobia I mention isn't just that inherent in the premise; a trans character mentions how much more difficult life has been for trans people after "the plague," including an increase in general transphobia and transphobic violenceholliejoy'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
5.0
Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
kayamckergow's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Gun violence
shelbsleanne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Child death and Death of parent
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Violence