Scan barcode
emilyandthewhippet's review against another edition
slow-paced
3.0
Though it's one of the classic sci-fi books, it was written in the 50s, and therefore needs to be considered as such.
In short, everyone in a village falls asleep mysteriously and the army is called in to stand around looking confused. When they awake, all the women are pregnant. Lots of assumption that it's female hysteria, before they go 'oh actually seems a bit odd it's happened to ALL these women at once. Eh, I guess it's another species then that's infected them but best not tell any of them because some of them are suicidal and wouldn't it be cool to see what happens when they give birth to a monster'.
I started this book on kindle and my goodness did I struggle. The premise was interesting, no issues there, but there was an awful lot of waffling from dull male characters that was difficult to get through. I finished it on audiobook and at about 3 hours and much easier to get through. Until I started on audiobook, I had no idea what the book was about beyond the village being mysteriously asleep but felt the story and ending was very predictable. Perhaps this is from other books I've read which have followed this original idea or maybe I've read it in the past and not remembered it. Perhaps it was just super obvious. It was a tidy ending.
I didn't find it creepy in the slightest. For the most part, the kids don't do much and we don't see them much on account of lots of dialogue between a couple of main characters about them.
My main issue is the way that the women were described at points and how the book was pretty entirely men talking. For a book that centres around all women becoming mysteriously pregnant, it would have been really interesting to explore more on how they experienced it all. It was clear that the author had no interest in this.
It's odd, I want to rate it higher but I also want to rate it much lower.
In short, everyone in a village falls asleep mysteriously and the army is called in to stand around looking confused. When they awake, all the women are pregnant. Lots of assumption that it's female hysteria, before they go 'oh actually seems a bit odd it's happened to ALL these women at once. Eh, I guess it's another species then that's infected them but best not tell any of them because some of them are suicidal and wouldn't it be cool to see what happens when they give birth to a monster'.
I started this book on kindle and my goodness did I struggle. The premise was interesting, no issues there, but there was an awful lot of waffling from dull male characters that was difficult to get through. I finished it on audiobook and at about 3 hours and much easier to get through. Until I started on audiobook, I had no idea what the book was about beyond the village being mysteriously asleep but felt the story and ending was very predictable. Perhaps this is from other books I've read which have followed this original idea or maybe I've read it in the past and not remembered it. Perhaps it was just super obvious. It was a tidy ending.
I didn't find it creepy in the slightest. For the most part, the kids don't do much and we don't see them much on account of lots of dialogue between a couple of main characters about them.
My main issue is the way that the women were described at points and how the book was pretty entirely men talking. For a book that centres around all women becoming mysteriously pregnant, it would have been really interesting to explore more on how they experienced it all. It was clear that the author had no interest in this.
It's odd, I want to rate it higher but I also want to rate it much lower.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
mjmiller_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Minor: Gun violence, Physical abuse, and War
booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
reflective
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, and Pregnancy
Minor: Infidelity, Racial slurs, Self harm, Terminal illness, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
More...