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dave_ex_machina's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
This book is glacially slow, with an extremely driest of humor and is extremely easy to put down. Well I understand is it a true sci-fi classic it was extremely difficult to get through I also did not expect it to be quite as depressing as it is. This may be partially because it has not aged well due to the pandemic (well time travel is involved this book is truly a pandemic book)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
This book was much bleaker that I expected, was technically not grim dark it's pretty dang close!deyanira's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
The progress can feel slow at times, but the story kept me intrigued enough to want to keep going and going. The warnings I added are purely in a historical context.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Religious bigotry, and Pandemic/Epidemic
sby's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Misogyny and Grief
ava15's review against another edition
4.25
I loved so many things about this book: the dark academia vibes, the medieval setting, the surprisingly poignant ending; however, I also had some problems with it. For one thing, it could have been much shorter, and there were parts that dragged unnecessarily. For another, the lighthearted tone in the first half did not prepare me at all for how utterly devastating, and at times disturbing, the last quarter of the book was. It was a beautiful story, but the first and second halves felt like completely different books to me. I also had trouble getting into it bc of the perspective switching, but that’s more of a me problem
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Blood, and Vomit
zophiebrown's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
An eerily prophetic look at the modern response to a pandemic. Thought-provoking take on both history and current events, told through lovable characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, and Blood
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Sexual harassment
Eerily reminiscent of the Covid-19 pandemic.chrisscorkscrew's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Wow! A searing and heart-rending masterpiece. Very powerful and perhaps rendered all the more so by the pandemic we experienced at the start of 2020.
This is not an easy rate, but it is worth the emotional journey,
This is not an easy rate, but it is worth the emotional journey,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Suicide, Blood, and Death of parent
chandlery's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Animal death and Suicide
katjacatbeans's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The story craft of this book is impeccable. It's a real masterclass in plot building & character development. The prose & dialog are equally good - though I'm pretty sure that '"Yes," said Dunworthy' appears at least 100 times (it fits his character) - and it's heart-rending in all the right places.
There are certainly some grotesque descriptions of illness, but it's not overwrought and is balanced between portraying the reality of the character's experience & sparing the reader.
The text lives up to its title. It's bleak, and sad. The direness is broken up by having 2 storyline ( 1 in each century) and by Finch's comic relief. Finch is so important because this book is prescient; having just lived through COVID, it's absolutely wild to read that an author in 1992 would so accurately project a lot of the attitudes and difficulties of 2020. Human behavior doesn't really change that much, i guess. All she had to do was look back at the 1918 epidemic & update it a bit for modern elements (like faster turnaround on vaccines). Even the brief mention of "the Canadian Goose Flu of 2010" in the book is utterly wild because there WAS an outbreak of avian flu from December 2010-May 2011. Surely that was just happenstance but with everything else she got right, it's eerie.
I really, really appreciate how well the medical stuff is researched (I've listened to a LOT of This Podcast Will Kill You and can verify that the book text lines up with the info in the episodes on cholera, typhoid, etc) and how determined the characters are to help care for each other. It's one of the few hopeful bright spots.
All in all, even though this is a 26hr audiobook, I'm sad to be finished with it. I wish it was longer; an epilogue would do my heart a lot of good.
There are certainly some grotesque descriptions of illness, but it's not overwrought and is balanced between portraying the reality of the character's experience & sparing the reader.
The text lives up to its title. It's bleak, and sad. The direness is broken up by having 2 storyline ( 1 in each century) and by Finch's comic relief. Finch is so important because this book is prescient; having just lived through COVID, it's absolutely wild to read that an author in 1992 would so accurately project a lot of the attitudes and difficulties of 2020. Human behavior doesn't really change that much, i guess. All she had to do was look back at the 1918 epidemic & update it a bit for modern elements (like faster turnaround on vaccines). Even the brief mention of "the Canadian Goose Flu of 2010" in the book is utterly wild because there WAS an outbreak of avian flu from December 2010-May 2011. Surely that was just happenstance but with everything else she got right, it's eerie.
I really, really appreciate how well the medical stuff is researched (I've listened to a LOT of This Podcast Will Kill You and can verify that the book text lines up with the info in the episodes on cholera, typhoid, etc) and how determined the characters are to help care for each other. It's one of the few hopeful bright spots.
All in all, even though this is a 26hr audiobook, I'm sad to be finished with it. I wish it was longer; an epilogue would do my heart a lot of good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Animal death and Grief
achilliad's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
5.0
Doomsday might have been the most fun I've had reading since I was a child. I have some friends who found some plot points unnecessarily drawn out, but I was having so much fun with the characters that it didn't matter. This book does swap perspectives between characters every few chapters, which is not something I usually enjoy. I didn't enjoy it here either, persay, but considering how much trouble it usually causes me (not able to get invested in the new POV, frustration when my fav POV switches over) I felt it was fairly well done here. I think the primary reason it bothered me less is that Willis is good at emphasizing the tension between characters and their goals. While there were some chapters/sections that were less exciting or interesting than others, Willis is usually pretty good at creating the kind of tension that sucks you in.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death