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kevinwal's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Wow… What a wild read from start to finish. I can confidently say I’ve never read a book like this one before.
I’ll start with the stuff I didn’t like. The writing, at times, can be over-written and a bit pretentious. A large use of confusing metaphors and references i didn’t know, led otherwise very clear sentences to become annoying and confusing to decipher the meaning of.
The use of an omniscient narrator, while at times can help, often I found reduced the tension of otherwise tense scenes, but this is a minor criticism.
I don’t think the author used their space particularly well at times either, I feel like the book could be reduced by multiple pages and lose nothing, possibly making it even more readable, but I digress.
One final thing is that the author was very, very brash out of nowhere, and that will definitely put some people off. It definitely took me out of the read at first, but by the end of just accepted it as part of the style.
Now onto the good! The story itself is wonderfully told. A story that is so so so unique! It’s hard for me to even explain my feelings on it even just having finished it!
I found most of the characters dislikable at first glance, but in how deep we peer into their thoughts, it becomes almost impossible to truly dislike them. It would feel almost wrong with just how quintessentially human they were. There thoughts are often fleeting and contrary to their actions. Often, we don’t, or can’t know ourselves truly until the time comes to act.
I had to put the book down sometimes with just how eerie it made me feel. The way the author is able to really make us feel the conflict the characters have.I felt almost the same as the characters. The juxtaposition between fearing the outside world and the desire of knowledge and familiarity.
The story itself, I cannot stress enough, is extremely unique. I honestly thinks it’s worth a read just on that alone.
While I did criticize the somewhat overdrawn pages earlier, one thing it lends itself well to is just how believable the relationship between the Washington’s and Amanda’s family forms. From complete distrust at the start, to immense empathy by the end, I never once doubted the sincerity or possibility of how they felt.
The ending was amazing! Ok, I can see why the lack of any clear resolution might annoy some people. But I thought it was perfect for the story. We are only given a glimpse into these people’s lives and their futures remain uncertain. Most will die, that much is pretty much spelled out for Archie (I’m still shivering from his teeth falling out…), but it is not an ending of pessimism as much of the book might trick you into believing. Rose is shown to be a survivor, a hope for a future where humanity may yet live on.
I’m probably forgetting a bunch of stuff, but I’m still reeling from that ending in all honesty, so this is it for now lol. I might add to it if I think of anything else.
I’ll start with the stuff I didn’t like. The writing, at times, can be over-written and a bit pretentious. A large use of confusing metaphors and references i didn’t know, led otherwise very clear sentences to become annoying and confusing to decipher the meaning of.
The use of an omniscient narrator, while at times can help, often I found reduced the tension of otherwise tense scenes, but this is a minor criticism.
I don’t think the author used their space particularly well at times either, I feel like the book could be reduced by multiple pages and lose nothing, possibly making it even more readable, but I digress.
One final thing is that the author was very, very brash out of nowhere, and that will definitely put some people off. It definitely took me out of the read at first, but by the end of just accepted it as part of the style.
Now onto the good! The story itself is wonderfully told. A story that is so so so unique! It’s hard for me to even explain my feelings on it even just having finished it!
I found most of the characters dislikable at first glance, but in how deep we peer into their thoughts, it becomes almost impossible to truly dislike them. It would feel almost wrong with just how quintessentially human they were. There thoughts are often fleeting and contrary to their actions. Often, we don’t, or can’t know ourselves truly until the time comes to act.
I had to put the book down sometimes with just how eerie it made me feel. The way the author is able to really make us feel the conflict the characters have.
The story itself, I cannot stress enough, is extremely unique. I honestly thinks it’s worth a read just on that alone.
I’m probably forgetting a bunch of stuff, but I’m still reeling from that ending in all honesty, so this is it for now lol. I might add to it if I think of anything else.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Sexual content
bloodmaarked's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
3* and maybe i’m being a bit generous here. i stopped looking forward to reading leave the world behind after watching the netflix film adaptation (which i also gave 3* over on letterboxd and which, unfortunately, was a pretty faithful adaptation), and then even more so when i spotted the mediocre 3.16* rating on goodreads. however, the randomiser (how i make my most important decisions) gave me this book to read from my tbr, and i spotted that it was thankfully under 300 pages, and so read it i did. and to summarise, it was not disappointing but only because my expectations had already been brought down to a reasonable level.
✧ full review on my tumblr ✧
✧ full review on my tumblr ✧
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Racism, Excrement, and Death of parent
starglitters's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Tense and unnerving. While the ending does leave a lot to be desired, I certainly respect the artistic intention for ending it the way it does.
What the author would like to convey, I believe, is this: If they didn’t know how it would end—with night, with more terrible noise from the top of Olympus, with bombs, with disease, with blood, with happiness, with deer or something else watching them from the darkened woods—well, wasn’t that true of every day?.
Maybe there would be better execution to the concept and the message that the author would like to deliver, but for now this book deliver it in its own strange and compelling way.
What the author would like to convey, I believe, is this: If they didn’t know how it would end—with night, with more terrible noise from the top of Olympus, with bombs, with disease, with blood, with happiness, with deer or something else watching them from the darkened woods—well, wasn’t that true of every day?.
Maybe there would be better execution to the concept and the message that the author would like to deliver, but for now this book deliver it in its own strange and compelling way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, and Vomit
Moderate: Death and Racism
thatsssorachael's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Vomit
Moderate: Body horror and Sexual content
Minor: Child death, Excrement, and War
kaywhiteley's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
I think I can maybe see what the author was trying to do with this but it was just kind of… bad. There was no real cohesive narrative other than them running around, eating, and drinking. Maybe that was the point, but I need a little story to keep me going. It was just so boring. And that is not what a suspense novel should ever be.
Also, the kids were written so insanely strangely I could not get into it at all. I don’t think the author has interacted with a teenager since he was one.
The plot was boring, the changing POVs was confusing and prevented any real characterization, and it overall felt like the author had a half baked idea that he never actually finalized.
Also, the kids were written so insanely strangely I could not get into it at all. I don’t think the author has interacted with a teenager since he was one.
The plot was boring, the changing POVs was confusing and prevented any real characterization, and it overall felt like the author had a half baked idea that he never actually finalized.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Gore
phantomgecko's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
An interesting character study. I didn't like any of the characters. But their actions and thoughts were interesting to see.
Defos living lives that I cannot relate with.
idk, obvs the point of the book is the people and not what is happening to them, and their personalities are fleshed out and believable. I'd rather have read about what happened than these particular unlikeable character tho.
Defos living lives that I cannot relate with.
idk, obvs the point of the book is the people and not what is happening to them, and their personalities are fleshed out and believable. I'd rather have read about what happened than these particular unlikeable character tho.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Racism, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Classism
bhoomika26's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, and Excrement
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Incest
ddclarke's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
3.25
A literary novel written to sound like a literary novel. Really love the concept and it was pulled off, but without anything that really stood out to me.
Likely hurt by having watched the movie first, which was very faithful and left me little to discover in the pages.
Likely hurt by having watched the movie first, which was very faithful and left me little to discover in the pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Death, Racism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, War, and Classism
franklola's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Blood, Medical trauma, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Chronic illness, Racism, and Alcohol
Minor: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
spicierleaf's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Abrupt ending that leaves the reader hanging in mild unease, but was a very interesting book. I enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Body horror, Blood, and Vomit