lpogo16's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The story could have been edited down. There’s a lot that happens for the shock value or to make comments about other characters.
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Cannibalism, Confinement, Violence, Medical content, and Murder
Minor: Gun violence, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping
Spores, Mushrooms, Fungusblackberryjambaby's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Gore, Violence, Abandonment, Child death, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Ableism, Animal cruelty, and Body horror
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Torture, Stalking, Vomit, Abortion, Terminal illness, and Suicide
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, and War
tixhna_mxrie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Child death, Child abuse, Cursing, Body horror, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Gun violence
prufrockpreptooth's review against another edition
- 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
Spoiler
Et presque, Caldwell a fini par être le personnage qui j'ai préféré (et aussi, détesté, faut pas se leurrer) le plus !Graphic: Child death, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Gun violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Alcohol, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: War, Grief, and Genocide
etmetmetm's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
- Incredibly tense and sad scenes
- Good pacing and build up that doesn't feel anticlimactic or too regular
- World building spoilers:
Spoiler
The best take on a zombie apocalypse I've engaged with- Characters are both likeable and unlikeable because of their flaws
- What it alludes to at the end is a bit confusing, but it doesn't change much and was still sarisfying
Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Terminal illness, Violence, Gun violence, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Suicide
unboxedjack's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Death, Violence, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Animal death, Medical content, Murder, Cannibalism, Child death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness
bookmark3brodi's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Medical content, Murder, and War
ghostlyprince's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Sexual harassment
A character throughout most of the book is slowly dying from blood poisoning and I'm not sure if that'd fall under the 'terminal illness' tag or not, A character steals a grenade so that if he's in a fatal situation he can go out on his own terms, a character later in the book does something similarshieldbearer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Ultimately, a few small things did knock this book down by a star for me. For one, I would have
Spoiler
at least switched the fates of Parks and Gallagher, though I also think you could make an argument for Gallagher's survival being more interesting than his death given the detailed backstory and internal conflict he's given. His interaction with the status quo at the end of the story would have been extremely interesting IMOFor another, I feel as though
Spoiler
the Hungry children were too easy to corral at the end.Finally, and most glaring IMO,
Spoiler
I feel like Sparks would have encoutnered pregnant hungries if they are able to sexually reproduce. I just have a hard time believing this aspect without a little extra narrative support - especially given how often fatal pregnancy is, and how the fungus wrecks so much of the body and shuts down a lot of its systems. Even mentioning a pregnant hungry in the crowd would have helped. I also can't say I'm a fan of the whole "sex is a human instinct" theme. I expected there to be adult hungries like Melanie that showed up later, if they specified that only the kids were the unique ones earlier I somehow missed it.Either way, I definitely recommend this even if I feel some elements could have been treated with a bit more care- which is about what I would say about his work on the X-Men, as well.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Gaslighting, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Gun violence, Grief, Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Pregnancy, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Car accident