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othersociologist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Mental illness and Dementia
jesticulate's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Blood
I found the beginning of this book excellent and really compelling. In the middle, I was deeply upset because there are no trigger warnings and I ended up hearing (audiobook version) a very graphic rape scene before I was able to turn off the audio. And the end of the book went on too long. Definitely not Chucks best work. But i still really liked the beginning…amandaklap's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
Graphic: Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
yruss972's review
- 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? Yes
2.0
12 monkeys meets The Walking Dead meets The 100
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
narzibenoucdel's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
cassie7e's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
However the politics and desire to seem progressive are stark, and come up in places that just don't flow naturally with the story, like the author needed to jam them in even when they weren't really relevant to the story. Especially when things like climate change are thrown into lines of exposition, all tell and no show, no inherent link to the plot beyond "the world is already doooomed!!" which is just not compelling on its own. This to say that this book is not escapist, and may annoy you even if you agree with its values like I do. If I'd known how despicably polictical the arc would be I might not have picked this up, or at least been better prepared when things got darker fast.
This book also hits closer to home because it describes so so well how people reacted to COVID, before it even happened. In retrospect this isn't surprising; the COVID reactions and White Mask reactions stem from movements and ideologies already stoked in years leading up. But this may make it extra real for readers sensitive to pandemic stories.
Surprise aro/ace mention right at the start! Love seeing this exist in more books. But it doesn't really come up again, and the one other time it's referenced it doesn't really seem to be an accurate understanding of what asexuality is.
One of my least favorite audio narrators, makes every character sound aloof and cocky and judgy or hesitant and whiney.
Graphic: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Pedophilia, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, and Pregnancy
valjeanval's review against another edition
- 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? No
5.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Medical content, Dementia, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
halestorm802's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Rape and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Racial slurs, and Racism
buck50's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
BUT: there’s an entire hackneyed subplot about a pastor and his family, and a violent militia and its leader and its just… awful. The story grinds to a halt every time Matthew and Ozark are the subject. They really don’t add anything and Mathew the character is a cliche, his story arc is a cliche and he’s just 100% unlikeable. Ozark is supposedly a racist Hoosier drug dealer but clearly the author has never been to Indiana. His dialogue is also cliche, his violence utterly gratuitous- do we really need
The ending is… meh. Because it’s been over complicated with a huge racist militia subplot the ending is just overly complicated and over wrought.
We suddenly learn things at the very end of the book that were mentioned in passing very early in the book, and we are meant to feel like this is exposition that changes everything.
A good editor could have cut this in half and turned it into one really good medical horror story and one cliche preacher and evil story. But instead what you get is an imitation of Steven king without the charm.
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, War, and Injury/Injury detail
bidufta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Addiction, Terminal illness, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail