Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

24 reviews

mari_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I made the mistake of/ had the fortune to read this book while on a 24hr travel day in 2023 - just three years after our world was changed totally by the pandemic. I had chills for the whole read while on the plane. It’s incredible to read so much of how I’ve felt about the past few years on a page. It was like historical fiction of our present challenges, though obviously COVID didn’t take our society as close to the edge as in the book. I highly recommend for anyone who wants a poetic, challenging reading of society in decay. Lots of trigger warnings for  many dark themes. At the end I was left feeling a deep sense of gratitude for how our world met our pandemic moment despite how deeply flawed, and the miracles of our modern technology. This is not for people who don’t like Shakespeare, this was probably maximum Shakespeare for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Blood, Kidnapping, Slavery, Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and War

oriana095's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Infidelity and Death

Minor: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Child death, Rape, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

annaofjesup's review against another edition

adventurous reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Car accident, Cursing, Child death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Confinement, Pregnancy, and Rape

laarr's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A dystopian novel that follows stories of lives throughout and after a deadly plague strikes the world. I was intrigued by the way the different characters and storylines tie into each other as the book progresses - that sold it for me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Grief, and Kidnapping

bookswithbethx's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Mental illness, Gun violence, Medical content, Pedophilia, Animal death, Blood, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Murder, Sexism, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Medical content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Car accident, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

mlovesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• 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

I'm in love with Emily St. John Mandel's writing. This is my second book by her that I've read and I plan to get through the rest of her published works this year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Death, and Blood

Minor: Rape and Pregnancy

indigosl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious medium-paced

3.75

The post-pandemic context was exciting and the world building was interesting. I thought it brought up some fascinating ideas of cultism, community, and the arts. However, key observations of the implications of this new-world and the associated themes seemed to, at times, fall flat. Nonetheless an enjoyable read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Death, and Murder

Minor: Gun violence, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

hflh's review

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

If you are looking for a post-apocalyptic adventure, this might not be for you. The present day setting follows characters navigating a post-apocalyptic Great Lakes after several years after a devastating pandemic. The post-pandemic and during-pandemic world is incredibly compelling, but most of the book bounces between the lives of a few characters pre-pandemic.  

A lot of the past sections focus on things related to not being happy with where your life is going/has gone. I would not recommend reading this book if you’re in a stage like that in your life. With the way St. John Mandel writes, it can feel quite heavy and depressing sitting in those feelings. 

 

If you are thinking about reading this after watching the show, I highly recommend reading. The show changes quite a few things and the book is a similar but much different and worthwhile experience. The book also handles

Spoiler

Frank’s death

in a less ableist way and I thought the show does Jeevan and Miranda’s characters a bit dirty.

 
St. John Mandel writes in a way that I haven’t experienced before. Partially through using 3rd person omniscient, she does an incredibly good job of capturing a really melancholic, distant feeling that was intense to sit with but also so engaging. I also absolutely loved the non-chronological skips in and out of different characters’ lives.   

 

The present day characters aren’t particularly developed as the present day is more about the collective experience of a post-pandemic world which I didn’t mind. This is where I’d recommend readers watch the show because it was cool seeing a different take on the story with more focus on present day.

 

My biggest issue was the ending. I liked it as a concept but it was really rushed and read more like a brief summary of events which made for an unsatisfying conclusion after the slower build. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Murder

Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, Suicide, and Death of parent

kelly_e's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

Title: Station Eleven
Author: Emily St. John Mandel
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: September 9, 2014

T H R E E • W O R D S

Evocative • Ambitious • Eerie

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.

Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Despite hearing (and reading) so many glowing reviews from my bookish community for Station Eleven, I had no plan to pick it up... until it landed on the 2023 Canada Reads shortlist. Since 2021, I've made a point of reading as many books from the longlist as possible, with a particular focus on the five shortlisted titles. And so, despite knowing this wasn't likely to be my cup of tea, I borrowed a digital copy from my library.

I'll start by saying, I truly appreciated the dystopian Canadian content. Emily St. John Mandel has carefully constructed a realistic (eerily so) and reflective tale of post-apocalyptic survival. And of course, it's incredibly well written. While I know the ambiguous ending has been a point of contention between readers, for me it actually seemed the most fitting.

Despite that, I just wasn't a fan of the story or the structure. It's told in three different timelines from several points of view, and I definitely liked certain section a lot more than others. At times, I found myself disappointed to reach the end of a chapter only to find out I'd be ripped from what was happening in that storyline. Additionally, the plot just held very little interest for me. I'll admit coming out of a pandemic was probably not the right time to read this book, and it's quite possible the past three years impacted my reading experience.

I completely understand why so many readers love Emily St. John Mandel's descriptive and poetic writing style, yet Station Eleven was not a book for me. I don't think it's surprising it landed on this years Canada Reads list, as it definitely stimulates thought and discussion. I am looking forward to seeing how it'll fair on the panel, but in my opinion it doesn't necessarily fit the theme of shifting one's perspective.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Emily St. John Mandel enthusiasts
• readers looking for pandemic fiction

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"What I mean to say is, the more you remember, the more you've lost." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Violence, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Murder, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Infidelity, Blood, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Ableism, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Child abuse