Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

3 reviews

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.

---

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

iris_garden's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Antisemitism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring 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? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Excrement, Car accident, Murder, and Pregnancy