Scan barcode
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
mccleark'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment
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
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 violencelpdx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Child death, Death, Medical content, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and War