ardentvampire's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
deathofastrwbry's review against another edition
3.0
Awesome book, no conclusion. When I started this I had no clue there was a second book, now I’m just…annoyed. I absolutely loved this book until the final chapter and now I feel left just, meh. I don’t see how this can have another entire story. 5/5 stars to the first 98% of the book. Not sure I’ll bother to read the second.
marcia_94's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
It was just ok, didn't like the protagonist very much. Too much violence for my taste.
cashleykate's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed this story and while I understand why it is listed as a 'zombie' novel, I really can't see it that way. The change in people in this novel reminds me more of narratives like Birdbox-- but there is no 'undead' quality to the characters that are deemed 'Haters.' While I was disappointed with that aspect, the plot overall is interesting and I liked the way it was set up to include a first person narrator as well as outside third person accounts of the world the story is set in.
roksyreads's review against another edition
2.0
I wouldn't say I enjoyed this book - 'enjoyed' isn't the right word - but it certainly was interesting. It's a different take on the viral apocalypse story which has become a favourite in recent years. Rather than people being infected, a percentage of the population is genetically predisposed to becoming a 'Hater'. Haters are paranoid, violent, and virtually remorseless - they recognise others like them and kill those who are 'unchanged', feeling like they have no other option.
Through Danny, the narrator, Moody gives us a unique insight into the mind of a Hater following his change in the latter half of the book. This is a particularly frightening scenario because, unlike with zombies, Danny and the other Haters retain their faculties - they think and feel and react accordingly, making them very dangerous. The violence in the story reflects this; interspersed throughout are short third person POV narratives documenting the sudden change of a person to a Hater and the attacks and deaths that follow. Some of these effectively generated suspense, others merely demonstrated what I found to be an odd obsession with the mutilation of male genitalia - I suspect some of these were meant to add a shock factor, and that they're designed particularly to unsettle a primarily male target audience.
I'm not sure if I'll read the other two books in the trilogy at this stage. When it comes to apocalyptic stories, I'm most interested in the discovery and explanation of the trigger and the survival stories that follow, and I don't think following Danny as a Hater is going to give me satisfactory versions of those.
Through Danny, the narrator, Moody gives us a unique insight into the mind of a Hater following his change in the latter half of the book. This is a particularly frightening scenario because, unlike with zombies, Danny and the other Haters retain their faculties - they think and feel and react accordingly, making them very dangerous. The violence in the story reflects this; interspersed throughout are short third person POV narratives documenting the sudden change of a person to a Hater and the attacks and deaths that follow. Some of these effectively generated suspense, others merely demonstrated what I found to be an odd obsession with the mutilation of male genitalia - I suspect some of these were meant to add a shock factor, and that they're designed particularly to unsettle a primarily male target audience.
I'm not sure if I'll read the other two books in the trilogy at this stage. When it comes to apocalyptic stories, I'm most interested in the discovery and explanation of the trigger and the survival stories that follow, and I don't think following Danny as a Hater is going to give me satisfactory versions of those.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Torture
jrobles76's review against another edition
5.0
This is an amazing book that I don't want to say too much about because I don't want to give away anything. I know the movie rights have been picked up my Del Torro and the guy who directed Orphanage, and if there were ever two people I would trust with making this a good movie, it's them.
Moody does a great job of slowly building the tension in this book. The first person narrative enhances your feeling of dread and fear as things get progressively worse. At first I must admit I had a hard time sympathizing with the main character, but the monologue never felt fake. I felt like I was really hearing from a person who was kind of upset with his life, and then the world falls apart around him.
It reminds me of the movies The Crazies and The Signal (definitely like the Signal but without the same cause), but more emotionally compelling.
As soon as I have some money I'm buying the second book, and look forward to reading more of his work in the future.
Moody does a great job of slowly building the tension in this book. The first person narrative enhances your feeling of dread and fear as things get progressively worse. At first I must admit I had a hard time sympathizing with the main character, but the monologue never felt fake. I felt like I was really hearing from a person who was kind of upset with his life, and then the world falls apart around him.
It reminds me of the movies The Crazies and The Signal (definitely like the Signal but without the same cause), but more emotionally compelling.
As soon as I have some money I'm buying the second book, and look forward to reading more of his work in the future.
linbee83's review against another edition
3.0
A fast paced, easy read. Full of action and great description. At first, the term Hater threw me off, I kept thinking of unhappy skaters. But, the name was explained a bit, and seemed to fit after awhile. I will be awaiting the sequel.
isabellesbooks's review against another edition
I guess you could say I “hated” the main character. That was honestly my biggest problem with this book, and one of the contributing factors as to why this was a DNF for me. There barely seemed to be any plot beyond him complaining about his life, complaining some more, telling his kids to shut up, complaining, getting upset with his wife, complaining, then someone getting murdered for shock value, and when you think the story will finally progress past this, he complains some more. So the process repeats. The book itself and the main character are very repetitive and took away a lot of potential I felt the plot had. Beyond the repetitiveness, I have no idea if I would have enjoyed this book more if it weren’t for an absolutely unbearable narrator.
blakemp's review against another edition
4.0
Dark, brutal, and entertaining. It has the trappings of a zombie story with a totally different kind of threat.