chandlery's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Child death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Grief, Blood, Classism, and Vomit
Minor: Suicide and Animal death
katjacatbeans'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
5.0
There are certainly some grotesque descriptions of illness, but it's not overwrought and is balanced between portraying the reality of the character's experience & sparing the reader.
The text lives up to its title. It's bleak, and sad. The direness is broken up by having 2 storyline ( 1 in each century) and by Finch's comic relief. Finch is so important because this book is prescient; having just lived through COVID, it's absolutely wild to read that an author in 1992 would so accurately project a lot of the attitudes and difficulties of 2020. Human behavior doesn't really change that much, i guess. All she had to do was look back at the 1918 epidemic & update it a bit for modern elements (like faster turnaround on vaccines). Even the brief mention of "the Canadian Goose Flu of 2010" in the book is utterly wild because there WAS an outbreak of avian flu from December 2010-May 2011. Surely that was just happenstance but with everything else she got right, it's eerie.
I really, really appreciate how well the medical stuff is researched (I've listened to a LOT of This Podcast Will Kill You and can verify that the book text lines up with the info in the episodes on cholera, typhoid, etc) and how determined the characters are to help care for each other. It's one of the few hopeful bright spots.
All in all, even though this is a 26hr audiobook, I'm sad to be finished with it. I wish it was longer; an epilogue would do my heart a lot of good.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Sexual assault, Child death, Medical content, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death and Grief
philosopher_kj's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Child death, Body horror, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Grief, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, and Rape
dark_lyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Child death, Terminal illness, and Vomit
Minor: Animal death
Spoiler
Graphic description of plague symptoms and deaths. Epidemic outbreak and reflection on a past pandemic.iris_garden's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Gore, Terminal illness, Blood, Child death, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Classism, Grief, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Abandonment, Antisemitism, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, and Alcohol
speasyspice's review
- 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? No
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Vomit, Death, and Terminal illness
autisticmisabel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Vomit
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Classism, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Infidelity
kittyfan9hh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Animal death, Child death, Vomit, Blood, Grief, Medical content, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Infidelity, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Suicide
rorikae's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
When Kivrin heads back to the Middle Ages using Oxford's time travel technology, she is in for a bit of a shock. Despite studying the time period and getting her necessary injections, the Middle Ages are far different than she expected. As she learns more about where she has landed and gets close to a family in the local town, her professors back in near future Oxford are dealing with their own issues that may effect their ability to retrieve Kivrin from the past.
Willis continues to impress with her stories. She injects just enough technology into the real world to heighten interest, builds a thought provoking and engaging plot out of these elements, and then sets a full cast of characters into this world. One of the strong points of this novel is the dual timelines. Hundreds of years apart but deeply connected, we follow both Kivrin and her professor Mr. Dunworthy as they deal with their own set of problems. Since these problems directly impact the ability for Kivrin to return home to nearfuture Oxford, the timelines are intimately connected and as tension ramps up in one, it impacts your view of the other timeline as well.
The other really standout point of this novel are the characters. Kivrin's blend of frustration and fascination as she visits the Middle Ages and connects with the children of the family who take her in, make her well-rounded and easily relatable. Mr. Dunworthy's deep care for Kivrin and focus on getting her home safe no matter what, makes him a great central character for the near future Oxford timeline. Paired with the supporting characters that fluctuate between frustrating, caring, and obtuse, Willis creates a world that feels fully inhabited.
I will continue to seek more of Willis' work. If you are looking for a great time travel story with engaging tension and empathetic characters, you need to read 'Doomsday Book.'
Graphic: Vomit, Child death, Blood, Medical trauma, Animal death, Grief, Terminal illness, and Death
mirificmoxie's review
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical trauma, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Vomit, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Blood