piperashley21's review against another edition
5.0
This book has been on my radar for a while, but I was hesitant to pick it up because of the pandemic setting. I’m delighted to report that this book is a masterpiece!
The author weaves together the characters plots in lyrical way that creates a beautiful and somber final work of art. I love how the darkness was balanced out by the appreciation for life as we currently live it.
I highly recommend this book for any fans of apocalypse/post-apocalypse settings, philosophical readers who like to think about the value of art/religion in society, or any reader who wants a short but captivating escape! 5 stars
The author weaves together the characters plots in lyrical way that creates a beautiful and somber final work of art. I love how the darkness was balanced out by the appreciation for life as we currently live it.
I highly recommend this book for any fans of apocalypse/post-apocalypse settings, philosophical readers who like to think about the value of art/religion in society, or any reader who wants a short but captivating escape! 5 stars
chadkoh's review against another edition
5.0
4.5
A really enjoyable read. I am not into hardcore apocalypse porn, so I like how she glossed over a lot of terrible and potentially gory details. This isn't SciFi, it is a fictional account about people, the choices they make, and the consequences that they have to live with. It just happens to be set at the end of civilization.
A really enjoyable read. I am not into hardcore apocalypse porn, so I like how she glossed over a lot of terrible and potentially gory details. This isn't SciFi, it is a fictional account about people, the choices they make, and the consequences that they have to live with. It just happens to be set at the end of civilization.
katscove's review against another edition
5.0
Not the wisest to read this in the midst of a global pandemic, but the book is so beautiful and so well done and it really does remind me how small and connected this world is- and how there is always hope and resilience even at the lowest points.
trulybooked's review against another edition
5.0
I feel like this book is the antidote to the apocalypse fatigue that I've been feeling lately. There are no zombies, not outside monster that we can point to and say "this is evil. This is the cause of our problems." There isn't a grand society that that rose out of the ashes with a powerful upper class like you'd see in the Hunger Games or The Handmaid's Tale.
Instead, there is chaos and the eventual return to agrarian roots as the dust settled. There are powerful people who prey on those who are weaker and there are groups of people I like the world that Emily St. John Mandel has realized even though I'm 100% sure that I wouldn't survive in it.
Instead, there is chaos and the eventual return to agrarian roots as the dust settled. There are powerful people who prey on those who are weaker and there are groups of people I like the world that Emily St. John Mandel has realized even though I'm 100% sure that I wouldn't survive in it.
bleary's review against another edition
5.0
The post-apocalyptic genre should be exhausted by now but Mandel breathes new life into it with a deconstructed story that jumps around between life before and after the plague causes the collapse of civilisation.
juliwi's review against another edition
4.0
Has it ever happened to you that you read a book, love it, talk about it and then forget to review it? Yeah, same. That happened with Station Eleven and I'm beyond embarrassed since I was actually there when it won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Fiction novel! But now that I've realized my tremendous error I am here to fix it! Thanks to Pan MacMillan and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
As I said above, I actually loved this book and hence it's ridiculous that I managed to forget to write a review for it. Perhaps one of the reasons was the enormous buzz that Mandel's book created for a while. You could see Station Eleven everywhere and seemingly everyone either had read it or was in the process of doing so. Hyped books are always at danger of being either made out to be better than they are (everyone is looking at you, Fifty Shades and Twilight) or getting ignored by many. When a book becomes too much of a hype people start not reading it simply for that very fact that it's already all around them. I was almost in the latter camp until a friend of mine convinced me to just give it a try. The fact that Shakespeare is in there as well is only a massive bonus, since who doesn't love Shakespeare?
Station Eleven is the book that changed my mind, and many others, about the post-apocalyptic genre. Mandel offers something new and interesting and does it masterly. I'd recommend this to fans of post-apocalyptic and non-linear novels. It may not be for everyone but it's a rewarding book!
For full review: http://universeinwords.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/review-station-eleven-by-emily-st-john.html
As I said above, I actually loved this book and hence it's ridiculous that I managed to forget to write a review for it. Perhaps one of the reasons was the enormous buzz that Mandel's book created for a while. You could see Station Eleven everywhere and seemingly everyone either had read it or was in the process of doing so. Hyped books are always at danger of being either made out to be better than they are (everyone is looking at you, Fifty Shades and Twilight) or getting ignored by many. When a book becomes too much of a hype people start not reading it simply for that very fact that it's already all around them. I was almost in the latter camp until a friend of mine convinced me to just give it a try. The fact that Shakespeare is in there as well is only a massive bonus, since who doesn't love Shakespeare?
Station Eleven is the book that changed my mind, and many others, about the post-apocalyptic genre. Mandel offers something new and interesting and does it masterly. I'd recommend this to fans of post-apocalyptic and non-linear novels. It may not be for everyone but it's a rewarding book!
For full review: http://universeinwords.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/review-station-eleven-by-emily-st-john.html
lilliangretsinger's review against another edition
4.0
Kinda creepy given the current state of things.
Well written and fast paced. It kind of trailed off at the end though.
Well written and fast paced. It kind of trailed off at the end though.
essrich's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars.
+ I love her writing. Good character development, great idea for a book. Didn’t want to stop reading because I wanted know how it ended. A story that will stay with me for a while.
- Maybe it was exhaustion from a recent home remodel or maybe it’s my old, menopausal brain, but I really struggle at times with books that jump around in time and POV too much. I also felt like there was loads of symbolism and deeper meanings that I am not in the current mindset to understand (maybe never will be?). Also, was impatient to get to the ending vs couldn’t put it down.
+ I love her writing. Good character development, great idea for a book. Didn’t want to stop reading because I wanted know how it ended. A story that will stay with me for a while.
- Maybe it was exhaustion from a recent home remodel or maybe it’s my old, menopausal brain, but I really struggle at times with books that jump around in time and POV too much. I also felt like there was loads of symbolism and deeper meanings that I am not in the current mindset to understand (maybe never will be?). Also, was impatient to get to the ending vs couldn’t put it down.
christyrunsdc's review against another edition
2.0
I really didn't like this book. With no main character, and a seemingly endless number of characters who continued to be introduced even into the last pages, this book had so much potential but fell flat. There were too many timely references that I see this book being irrelevant in another 5-10 years (iPhones, Lady Gaga, etc.). The story tried too hard to shock and awe by creating interwoven plot lines, but none of them really were all that shocking. I felt like the book was set up to be a trilogy, or even have a sequel, but even if there is more to the story, I'm not at all drawn to read it.