Reviews tagging 'Body horror'
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
19 reviews
therealratking's review against another edition
dark
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
"Most people don't believe something can happen until it already has. That's not stupidity or weakness, that's just human nature."
Whats the book about?
World War Z is comprised of multiple short stories from many diverse people across the globe. The book is set out in an interview type format and follows the rise and fall of the zombie war as perceived from different types of people.
Whats my opinion?
This is an excellent book for those who like alternate histories. The individual stories feel realistic and the low-simmer ever present horror of the undead adds an overarching tension that worms its way deep into your brain. Another element i loved about this book is its commentary on human nature and how society may react when faced with a seemingly invincible enemy.
I highly recommend this book to fans of zombies, history, science and realism.
One criticism is that their were very few female charcters and their personalities felt stereotypically shallow.
Whats the book about?
World War Z is comprised of multiple short stories from many diverse people across the globe. The book is set out in an interview type format and follows the rise and fall of the zombie war as perceived from different types of people.
Whats my opinion?
This is an excellent book for those who like alternate histories. The individual stories feel realistic and the low-simmer ever present horror of the undead adds an overarching tension that worms its way deep into your brain. Another element i loved about this book is its commentary on human nature and how society may react when faced with a seemingly invincible enemy.
I highly recommend this book to fans of zombies, history, science and realism.
One criticism is that their were very few female charcters and their personalities felt stereotypically shallow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, and War
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Animal death, Body horror, and Cannibalism
bebidocrimes's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
4.0
I really enjoy seeing the human side of wars, even fictional ones. The short interview style lent itself to exploring so many perspectives and things I never would have considered to think about. (The people left on the ISS!!) I was just disappointed at the ratio of interviews that were from men as opposed to women, the balance was really off. Like 1/10 might have been women. Probably less.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Suicide, Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Body horror, Confinement, and Violence
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Abandonment, Self harm, Cursing, Alcohol, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Suicide attempt
silver_blue's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, War, Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, and Violence
mirandyli's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Fun premise. The audiobook has a good cast. Interesting take on how different countries would handle a zombie outbreak.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Body horror, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
clarabooksit's review against another edition
The representation in this is super offensive. Nearly every character is a stereotype, they all spout offhand bigoted comments that often have no bearing on the narrative, and the racism and xenophobia go way beyond the in-story narrative elements that mirror real world responses to crises and pandemics. Not to mention the overt sexism and poorly written women. All this adds up to a big old “Nope” from me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Religious bigotry, War, Child death, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Classism, Ableism, Racism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Sexism, Death, Body horror, Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Abandonment
Moderate: Grief, Fatphobia, and Medical trauma
bri__'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
The writing is exceptional and the post-war documentary format is different to any other book that I've read. The inconsistency of the characters (apart from the narrator), provided a more broad perspective of 'World War Z' and also helped to make the experiences of each character feel more individual and unique. The book itself is well thought-out and it is evident that Max Brooks has done his research. While some stories I found boring and confusing, there were others that I found thrilling and overall captivating. That is the beauty of this type of format with a variety of different stories, there are bound to be ones that are favoured over the others and that makes the experience all the more personal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Death, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, War, Abandonment, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, and Gun violence
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Racial slurs, Ableism, Classism, Confinement, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual assault
percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Almost a year ago I picked up Max Brooks' book, Devolution. I hadn't even realized it was a horror book, nor that it was by the same author who wrote the New York Times Bestseller World War Z. Since, finishing Devolution in all its gory, terrifying glory, I decided I had to check out his previous, most famous work.
Despite being written 14 years prior to Devolution, I didn't see much change in style and prose. It's not unusual to feel like an author's previous books are less well-written than their latest, many authors grow into their craft like any other author. However, World War Z was just as well written as the later book, which I really have to commend him for. This is not to say the books aren't different.
While World War Z took a more global perspective on the events within it, Devolution was much smaller and more personal. This heavily affected the horror in both books. The latter book was much more terrifying for its close perspective and heavy circumstances. The former, however, had a bit of a lighter tone at times, as there were so many victories to weigh out the losses in the war on Zombies. I would say that while Devolution is more frightening and makes for a better horror book, World War Z makes for a great introspection into humanity and has a bit more hope in it, which I actually preferred. I have to note that I actually rated Devolution lower because it was so heavy at times that I had to take mental breaks, which made the experience not as much fun.
I really liked the retrospective I had while reading this book post-COVID and many other important events that have happened between now and 2006 when the book was first published. I think it's amazing how Brooks actually captured certain pandemic ideologies that cropped up during COVID, and the way the government didn't do as much until trouble was beyond the doorstep and into the house, so to speak. So many plague/apocalyptic books failed to accurately predict what pandemic life was actually like, but Brooks got fairly close. I also really enjoyed the meta aspect as well and all the worldbuilding.
I think my only gripe was that I had an issue remembering all the new names for countries, as well as the names and places where the "author" was interviewing various characters. I had known that several of them repeated eventually, but I was only able to follow a few. I think perhaps a character list and map would've really helped this book.
Otherwise, I had a great time reading this and could picture myself rereading it in the future. I definitely want to check out the movie that was made and see how that is.
Despite being written 14 years prior to Devolution, I didn't see much change in style and prose. It's not unusual to feel like an author's previous books are less well-written than their latest, many authors grow into their craft like any other author. However, World War Z was just as well written as the later book, which I really have to commend him for. This is not to say the books aren't different.
While World War Z took a more global perspective on the events within it, Devolution was much smaller and more personal. This heavily affected the horror in both books. The latter book was much more terrifying for its close perspective and heavy circumstances. The former, however, had a bit of a lighter tone at times, as there were so many victories to weigh out the losses in the war on Zombies. I would say that while Devolution is more frightening and makes for a better horror book, World War Z makes for a great introspection into humanity and has a bit more hope in it, which I actually preferred. I have to note that I actually rated Devolution lower because it was so heavy at times that I had to take mental breaks, which made the experience not as much fun.
I really liked the retrospective I had while reading this book post-COVID and many other important events that have happened between now and 2006 when the book was first published. I think it's amazing how Brooks actually captured certain pandemic ideologies that cropped up during COVID, and the way the government didn't do as much until trouble was beyond the doorstep and into the house, so to speak. So many plague/apocalyptic books failed to accurately predict what pandemic life was actually like, but Brooks got fairly close. I also really enjoyed the meta aspect as well and all the worldbuilding.
I think my only gripe was that I had an issue remembering all the new names for countries, as well as the names and places where the "author" was interviewing various characters. I had known that several of them repeated eventually, but I was only able to follow a few. I think perhaps a character list and map would've really helped this book.
Otherwise, I had a great time reading this and could picture myself rereading it in the future. I definitely want to check out the movie that was made and see how that is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, War, Confinement, Gun violence, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Blood, Death, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Cannibalism, Child death, and Drug use
Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Islamophobia, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Antisemitism
asipofcozy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0
Usually, most people pick up a cozy Christmas read or romance book during the winter. I am definitely not one of those people.
I have seen the World War Z movie multiple times and while not the best zombie movie out there it was really good and gave a new perspective to the zombie apocalypse. So finally, after many years, I decided to pick up the book. Please be aware the book is nothing like the movie as the book is told in a documentary/interview style and the movie follows one character...who isn't even in the book.
I really enjoyed the style of writing. It brought us closer to the situation and gave us many perspectives on the zombie war and what happened in those beginning days of the spread.
Brooks really touched on the basic human instinct of survival, fear, and what would you do to survive. What many of these characters went through and what they had to do to survive was quite appalling at times. Brooks also touched on how society reacts to a global pandemic and war. While this book was written in 2006 it's like Brooks foreshadowed our own pandemic and how we as a real society would react...it's sad and upsetting to think about.
There were so many times where I underlined a part of the book because it reminded me of our own situation and pandemic. And while I get this was a piece of science-fiction, it really highlighted on humans' basic instinct and survival. In the end we are just like any animal doing what it takes to survive in a vicious world.
I have seen the World War Z movie multiple times and while not the best zombie movie out there it was really good and gave a new perspective to the zombie apocalypse. So finally, after many years, I decided to pick up the book. Please be aware the book is nothing like the movie as the book is told in a documentary/interview style and the movie follows one character...who isn't even in the book.
I really enjoyed the style of writing. It brought us closer to the situation and gave us many perspectives on the zombie war and what happened in those beginning days of the spread.
Brooks really touched on the basic human instinct of survival, fear, and what would you do to survive. What many of these characters went through and what they had to do to survive was quite appalling at times. Brooks also touched on how society reacts to a global pandemic and war. While this book was written in 2006 it's like Brooks foreshadowed our own pandemic and how we as a real society would react...it's sad and upsetting to think about.
There were so many times where I underlined a part of the book because it reminded me of our own situation and pandemic. And while I get this was a piece of science-fiction, it really highlighted on humans' basic instinct and survival. In the end we are just like any animal doing what it takes to survive in a vicious world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Cannibalism, Child death, War, Animal death, Cursing, Rape, Genocide, and Suicidal thoughts
rynstagram's review against another edition
4.5
This book was a pleasant surprise. I didn't think it was gonna be bad by any means, but it really surpassed all expectations. The narrative is so wide-reaching and exhaustive, discussing things about a zombie war/infestation that I never would have thought of--religious repercussions both personal and community-wide, people who take advantage of disaster situations for personal gain, feral children and animals, new mental illnesses, etc. The "interviewer" goes all over the world to interview people who were involved in the war in all sorts of different places--not just different countries and regions, but different climates, under the sea, in isolation in the wilderness, even at the International Space Station. If this were real, I would be impressed by the interviewer's thoroughness.
I think the main thing that was missing was more exploration of more indigenous communities. There's not a dearth of indigenous characters, but the communities' responses to the zombie plague isn't really explored.
I like how self-aware this book is. There's bigotry, but only on the part of the characters. The author seems to include bigotry or fanaticism or general assholery to give a more comprehensive view of humanity dealing with a crisis. Without this, I wouldn't believe the story, even if it's not fun to read that part.
The biggest problem I have with this book is that characters' POVs are rarely repeated. Only a couple have more than one interview section throughout the book until the last chapter called "Good-Byes". I ended up forgetting names easily because of this, and when they showed up in other people's stories or as interviewees, I had to do a lot of flipping back. In order to get the full experience, I think I would need to reread this book at least once more.
All the interviewees sounded like real people, and sounded different from each other, which is hard to do just with a couple POVs, let alone dozens. And I am a big fan of the whole meta-media thing where creators pretend that their fiction is a real thing, hence the "oral history" part of the title and the "Introduction" describing the circumstances of the collection of these interviews. I love a good footnote, and the organization of interviews into related sections made the narrative more cohesive.
Damn, who knew a zombie book could be so cool? (Not me, that's for sure!)
I think the main thing that was missing was more exploration of more indigenous communities. There's not a dearth of indigenous characters, but the communities' responses to the zombie plague isn't really explored.
I like how self-aware this book is. There's bigotry, but only on the part of the characters. The author seems to include bigotry or fanaticism or general assholery to give a more comprehensive view of humanity dealing with a crisis. Without this, I wouldn't believe the story, even if it's not fun to read that part.
The biggest problem I have with this book is that characters' POVs are rarely repeated. Only a couple have more than one interview section throughout the book until the last chapter called "Good-Byes". I ended up forgetting names easily because of this, and when they showed up in other people's stories or as interviewees, I had to do a lot of flipping back. In order to get the full experience, I think I would need to reread this book at least once more.
All the interviewees sounded like real people, and sounded different from each other, which is hard to do just with a couple POVs, let alone dozens. And I am a big fan of the whole meta-media thing where creators pretend that their fiction is a real thing, hence the "oral history" part of the title and the "Introduction" describing the circumstances of the collection of these interviews. I love a good footnote, and the organization of interviews into related sections made the narrative more cohesive.
Damn, who knew a zombie book could be so cool? (Not me, that's for sure!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Abandonment, Suicide, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Medical trauma, War, and Body horror
Minor: Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Alcohol, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, and Classism
klor's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I've been recommended the audio version of this book over the physical copy and the (apparently innacurate) movie version and boy, did I enjoy it. Brooks took a lot from historical instances of how different countries and people will respond to a zombie apocalypse, I also enjoyed a lot of the interviewee voices and the stories that created a much well-rounded story of what happened in the zombie war. I think for topics like this, focusing on people is one of the things that brings a heart to the story. I think it also looked at different solutions like This is one piece of media that I'd probably enjoy seeing as a miniseries but the whole situation might also feel a bit too early, given that similar incidents happened during the COVID pandemic.
Spoiler
the ocean (it's terrifying to think of zombies underwater and RIP whales, and in some instances, how the world hasn't recovered fully yet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Gun violence, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Death