Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Olen legenda by Richard Matheson

12 reviews

_forestofpages's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

It's usually difficult for me to enjoy a classic, but this one was right on the money. I enjoyed the slow build, the internal monologues of our main character. Robert Neville, the regular guy who just so happens to be the last human on earth surrounded by blood sucking fiends. 

It was painful and lonely and twisted reading this book. And I honestly enjoyed every minute. 

It was always fascinating even when nothing was happening. I don't think this book is for everyone, it's slow and deliberately so. It's also very heavily focused on one man constantly wishing he was dead or that he could find other people, which may be boring to some. 

But the real themes about loneliness at the end of the world, being faced with insurmountable odds and horrors most people could not imagine and the ways a person can change even when faced with such adversity, was incredible. And that last line hit me like a truck. 

/

The fact there were no real vampires was a bit of a disappointment, but I really enjoyed the explanations and the science Neville discovered.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Self harm

plantainicus's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Racial slurs

hellsjerome's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Finally get to feel superior for having read the book. A great vampire read that has aged fairly well considering it was released in the 50s, and an ending that really sticks with you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexism, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child death and Sexual violence

mjones14's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.5

I much preferred the second half of this book and actually the ending is better than the film. That being said, this book is unfortunately a victim of its age. It's views on women are misogynistic at best, and doesn't have the best grammar. Gave a high rating due to the end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cannibalism

Minor: War

authorannafaundez's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Weird book. Interesting ending.

Sometimes the book was sexual in a creepy, very uncomfortable way. The MC thinks about/considers sexual assault way too many times. The book treats sex as if it's entirely necessary for human male survival and that an adult has difficulty controlling himself, which . . . 1954 writing, I guess. It's not a good look. Didn't age well.

The science aspect is super far-fetched, which is sometimes OK. Suspension of belief is necessary for sci-fi and fantasy. But how fast Neville learns the science terminology is unbelievable with how specific the book gets. And that extreme specificity is where the problem is. Knowing words and general info is one thing, but true comprehension, study and experimentation is another. Either more mistakes needed to be made or more uncertainty about his theories would help that, I think. A simple time skip with a basic overview of what happened would have also been beneficial.

And then, when there finally was a time skip, it glossed over every single advancement/mistake/learning opportunity and ran straight for the plot, abandoning character growth.

Side note: I hope the movie I Am Legend (2007) said it was "inspired by" and not "based on" the 1954 novel. Because this book and that movie are different at their cores and by plotline.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Violence

Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, and Rape

refrejarator's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

The science still holds up at some points which is pretty cool. Interesting take on vampires, but uncomfortably dated (views of the 50s in regards to women and POCs).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

POCs referred to as 'Negroes' and not named, only occurs in one chapter. Followers of Islam are referred to as Mohammedans. Jews and Judaism are also mentioned, but no derogatory comments made. Main character is tempted to SA/rape women, including comatose/sleeping/undead women. This is mentioned several times.

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

bearystarry's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

I didn't realize this was half I Am Legend and half short stories when I bought it. I Am Legend was way too bleak for me. Some of the short stories had really interesting premises but weak execution, or I would have liked to be expanded. My favourite part of the whole book was The Funeral;

just a fun little monster story!

I thought it was cute, tbh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Torture, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, and Car accident

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

katrinarose's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

For such a short book it sure packs a punch. I loved the ending and the grim reality that we see of Neville’s life. Despite the monotony of most of his days, this book flew by for me. And even now after seeing hundreds of versions of a vampire and/or pandemic story, I still find this one original and compelling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child death and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content

mconroy9137's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Kidnapping, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Vomit, and Medical content