Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The End We Start from by Megan Hunter

10 reviews

poppyskills's review

challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death, Infertility, Death of parent, Excrement, and Miscarriage

romeri's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

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

4.0

“We are in the after. It is tangible, like a smell or a constant background hum.” (104)

A beautifully constructed novella about an apocalypse. Lyrical, experimental prose. Poetic writing with unexpected, original metaphors. Almost reminiscent of a Monet painting. This book is dystopian but also extremely relevant to today’s world characterised by separation and disasters. Good for anyone who’s looking for a quick, literary read. 

Before reading this I read a similar book called It Lasts Forever And Then It’s Over. Since they’re both literary novellas about an apocalypse, I can’t help but compare the two, and I have to say I like that one better. A solid four. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death

Minor: Miscarriage and Sexual violence

kurumipanda's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pregnancy

claireltravers's review

fast-paced

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

1.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Gore, Death of parent, and Infertility

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted sad fast-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

3.75

Very nice and like poetry apocalyptic core

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Death, Grief, and Pregnancy

carlytenille's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infertility, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Death, and Death of parent

kate3721's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy

Moderate: Grief, Police brutality, Miscarriage, Medical content, War, Infertility, Violence, and Death of parent

nialiversuch's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, and Death

Minor: Violence and War

pacifickat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

The audio narration was seamless and lyrical, almost meditative. The plot in prose interwove cohesively with sections of poetry, short bursts of stream of consciousness, and quotations from various flood narratives. I admired the way the author juxtaposed the shock of a sudden, apocalyptic flood and struggle to survive in its immediate aftermath, with descriptions of new motherhood and the wonder of a baby growing from infancy amidst an impossible landscape. Humans can hold so many truths at the same time, birth and death, fear and hope, grief and joy, light and dark. 

I think one of my favorite elements of this story is that the narrator is a geriatric mother, a woman who is no longer in her youth and has known something of life. She is able to make her own decisions, to weather the events of the story with an heir of maturity. She does not come across as helpless or desperate, but rather reasoned and resourceful. I'm glad the story was told from her perspective.

In the end, it was interesting to compare her survival story with the baby to the horror her male partner and father of the child experienced alone in the flood's aftermath. The baby seems to have given her something to focus on besides ugliness and loss, a reason to survive and hold on to hope. I liked the idea that mother's have a way of holding the world together in disasters, war zones, and the long haul of rebuilding because of the hope they hold for their children.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Infertility, Death, Excrement, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Miscarriage

Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

selimhannah's review

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Excrement, Grief, Violence, Miscarriage, Infertility, and Pregnancy

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Abandonment, Death, Police brutality, War, and Vomit