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A review by literarybitch
Contagion by Erin Bowman
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This is just about exactly what you'd expect from the cover & description. Distress signal, unprepared rescue team, desolate planet, everyone dead, horrible illness, ominous warnings, one survivor. It's a hook I'll gladly jump on every single time.
Just gonna say it, I straight up did not like the romance(?) subplot. I get that enemies-to-lovers is popular, but this just seemed lazy and forced. They weren't even enemies, they were just sarcastic and rude for no reason. I don't know; there has to be a better way to do that. Teenagers wryly sniping at each other gets tiresome quickly and it is overdone to death, so you better hope the jokes you write are exceptionally funny.
Overall, the mystery stretches plausibility but, well, it's in a distant star system and they have FTL travel, so if they want to have this weirdly specific kind of disease, go off.
I will say that the ending is bold, in a way I kind of respect, but it certainly will piss some readers off. As far as I know, this is standalone with no sequel, so if you're the kind of person who will scream "But what happened next???" at a cliffhanger, you might as well steer clear.
Just gonna say it, I straight up did not like the romance(?) subplot. I get that enemies-to-lovers is popular, but this just seemed lazy and forced. They weren't even enemies, they were just sarcastic and rude for no reason. I don't know; there has to be a better way to do that. Teenagers wryly sniping at each other gets tiresome quickly and it is overdone to death, so you better hope the jokes you write are exceptionally funny.
Overall, the mystery stretches plausibility but, well, it's in a distant star system and they have FTL travel, so if they want to have this weirdly specific kind of disease, go off.
I will say that the ending is bold, in a way I kind of respect, but it certainly will piss some readers off. As far as I know, this is standalone with no sequel, so if you're the kind of person who will scream "But what happened next???" at a cliffhanger, you might as well steer clear.
6/10