Reviews with content warning for Body horror - All That's Left in the World

This was more of a 3.5-star listen and I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook as I found it fun to listen to whilst doing something else as well as it being easy to keep track of and while I didn't love every single aspect of this book, I really enjoyed seeing Andrew and Jamison's relationship progress throughout and seeing Jamison become more comfortable with his growing romantic relationship with Andrew as well as coming to terms with his sexuality was really interesting to see with the backdrop of the post-apocalypse world.

It was entertaining to listen to the post-apocalypse aspects of the book with the pursuit of survival in comparison with the queer representation with Jamison and Andrew as both aren't really found in books, especially together, as there isn't often a whole lot of bisexual representation in media and to have queer representation in a post-apocalyptic book was nice to see and while I do think that some bits of dialogue surrounding either aspect could have been handled better, both the post-apocalypse and queer aspects were my favourite parts of the book. I hope to see them expanded upon in the next book.

I do wish that the communities and other survivors parts of the apocalypse could have been handled better as while I did like the side-plot of Henry taking in Andrew and Jamison as well as their later mission to find her daughter, I found that the other communities and survivors that we came across throughout the book weren't all that interesting and even the ones that we spent a lot of time with weren't always interesting and so I hope that the next book expands on the characters, outside of Andrew and Jamison, that we have already seen as well as introducing new characters that are just as interesting. I'm hoping to start the next book in the series soon as I found that even though I wouldn't rate this book majorly high, I still really liked being able to just have it on in the background and hopefully the next book will be the same.

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jbt1234's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense 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

4.25

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scrunklyguy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful sad fast-paced

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

3.75

This was a really cute book. I stayed awake til 5am to read it.

I only wished it could have been more fleshed out? Like, I felt like each event was meant to be a part of its own but it sort of felt rushed and/or confusing and unnecessary?

But, anyway, if it was worth reading?
I'd say yes.

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raccoonteeth's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring tense 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? No

3.75

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davidbythebay's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

I was skeptical, to say the least. I worried that I couldn't handle a dystopian world post-pandemic from an incredibly deadly flu. I waited to read this until I was able to better handle that because I was unsure how I would react to a post-pandemic dystopia. To be honest, I never once thought of COVID-19 as I tore through this book like a hot knife through butter.

I was kept guessing from page 1 about what was going to happen next. Some things did happen as I hoped/predicted, even if not in the way I originally thought. Other things came out of nowhere. No matter what, it was intense in all the best ways. I legitimately YELLED at the book at one point - no spoilers! - and pleaded with the author as though I was Annie Wilkes in Misery. Had things not gone to my satisfaction, I don't know if I wouldn't have gone full Wilkes. Thankfully, things worked out better than I could have hoped.

The pacing of the book made me hesitant a good amount of the time. It flew by to the point where what I thought the ending was going to be would have occurred only 50% of the way through the book. Yup. I was convinced that the story arch was one particular thing and that it was being resolved at 50%. I was pleased to see that there was some legs to the second half of the book - and I do mean a nice set of legs. It was almost like this was two books combined into one in that there were almost two different plots that were seamlessly and masterfully stitched together. Brown's book doesn't feel like two books smashed together. At the 50% mark I started wondering where we were going to go next. The second half naturally came out of the first half and transitioned smoothly.

Brown skillfully maintained the tension and begged the reader to turn the page. There was not a stray word nor a stray moment in this piece. I have to say, this was a masterful M-M Romance. Hope and the discovery of what love and what makes a home is the center of this novel. I have discovered a new book that I have fallen in love with. I hope that this author, whom I now adore immensely, will write again in the future. Whether it be in this universe or another, I want to see more from Erik J. Brown!

WARNINGS: Be of the mindset that you can handle discussions of a deadly super flu, detailed descriptions of illness and deaths, violence, some gore, death of family and loved ones, homophobia, and medical discussions.

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captainoliimar's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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booksbutmakeitgay's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

5.0

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kshertz's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Interesting apocalypse book of two men that happen upon each other. They end up teaming up and going to search for others and right their wrongs. They fall in love but refuse to just tell each other. It’s adorable and deeply unrealistic 😂. But I suspended belief at some point and it really sucked me in especially towards the end. An enjoyable read, especially for dystopia and an apocalypse.

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