Reviews

A Beginning at the End: A Novel of Hope and Recovery After Pandemic by Mike Chen

_lazyreader_90's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

swirls's review against another edition

3.0

Eh. The first third interested me as the author beautifully illustrated a quietly tense, fragile, post-pandemic world built up after a societal collapse, but then the novel disintegrated into a sort of dull action movie/family drama feel. Ended with me feeling mildly disappointed. Strong writing and great world-building - with a plot worthy of the Hallmark Channel.

dannycakez8808's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this story. Going through a pandemic now myself may make this read more relatable. It also was impactful since I live in the SF Bay Area. It was a realistic forward of what the world could like after experiencing the trauma of a pandemic. The characters were relatable and just trying trying move forward with life. I really enjoyed the characters and their unique back stories.

vsrkive's review against another edition

this sounds so cool

clarisreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

joxertd's review against another edition

emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

3.0

schmidnj's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

3.75

kifkathleen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

dianefw's review against another edition

emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.5

pennym_'s review against another edition

made it more than a quarter of the way through and its just not hooking me. however, in the aftermath of covid, it is hilarious to read about how people are "too afraid to gather" in this