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carojust's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Each chapter is dedicated to the POV of a different woman, all deeply affected by "the plague." By the middle, I was getting frustrated with figuring out who was who; everyone is written with the same personality and inner voice. To the author's credit, at least this format helped illustrate different motivations, tragedy and marriages. The character I appreciated the most was Helen, the only story that depicted a more realistic, pessimistic outcome of a scared, selfish husband leaving his family for freedom.
For the most part, the author was creative and thorough in imagining the aftermath of women-led nations, and the race to find a vaccine. It's heavily inspired by wartime, Rosie the Rivetor-era solutions. The problem of reproduction is an obvious focus, but executed kind of flippantly. I think more could have been explored about crime and sexism, societal infrastructures being more upturned than depicted in this book.
You'll like this if you're into dystopian-ish stories, lots of characters, explorations on grief and recovery.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
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
bloodmaarked's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.5
✧ full review on my tumblr ✧
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Grief, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Transphobia, Trafficking, and War
jishwathebig's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic
emmaura's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Infertility
Minor: Suicide
nanirump's review
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Sexism, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Pregnancy, and War
marshiereads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I didn’t like most of the characters you saw a decent amount of (Lisa and Katherine in particular), but found other people much more fascinating yet they were talked about for only a moment (the Russian woman and Rosamie). Amanda and Dawn were probably my favorite perspectives, with the southern standford researcher being the most forgettable.
I think, if you’re going to do that large of a cast of characters, don’t make most of them from the UK or working in the UK, it’s literally most of them and they’re mostly sad and grieving which makes sense but doesn’t add to the overall narrative that a multi-perspective story generally does.
It’s worth a read but only just.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
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
cady_sass's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol