Reviews

Involución by Max Brooks

hgatfield's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.0

Really fun & interesting format and topic for a horror novel. Would love more books live this.

osborne2read's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

4.25

noragrace89's review against another edition

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Dnf at 50%
The main actress in the audiobook ruined the whole thing, I can’t listen to another whiny word

rereader33's review against another edition

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5.0

Okay, this was incredible. Incredibly difficult to read but incredibly rewarding.

I someone were to ask me to summarize this novel, I would say, "humans are stupid, they've always been stupid, and they will continue to be stupid because that's how we've evolved".

No joke, the sheer amount of stupidity and denial on showcase as this tragedy unfolds is horrifying but completely realistic. But it's because humans have become so coddled and entitled that they think they can keep taking and doing whatever they please, and when nature bitch slaps them back to reality, only THEN do they think to act. And by that point, it's often too late.

The characters living at Greenloop may seem perfectly casted for this story, but despite how unrealistic it may seem that you vegans, an arrogant intellectual, and a literal war survivor, each is integral to pushing Brooks's agenda. That being humans who've never encountered a serious threat (like most of the village) are dismissive or even condescending towards one who has (Mostar) and won't listen to them if they suggest fighting back against a natural predator. They think, "oh! She's just being dramatic because of her past, the animals won't harm us if we don't harm them," when ordinarily that'd be the case, but after a natural disaster nature isn't going to place nice or spare other's feelings. It's hard to say what the root cause of this thinking is and the novel doesn't completely discuss it, but it's dangerous thinking regardless.

It may seem like this book and I are shitting on humans and their incompetence, and yes we are, but it's because like so many other novels this is a wake up call. Humans have become so coddled by technology, but technology is only moving to enhance comfort at the expense of security. Greenloop was supposed to be the ultimate yuppie, privileged, upper class dream: becoming one with nature! Technology pushing the green agenda! Limited food to reduce waste! Yoga and meditation to reduce stress! Life away from the hostile, chemical-ridden cities! Well, that's all well and good, but what happens if, say, a volcano erupts that pushes animals away from their natural food chain, leading them to a village of pampered adults with nothing protecting them? Oh, and what if Sasquatch were real and preyed on them after losing their food supply? What you get is a massacre that could have been easily avoided of the creator of Greenloop had entertained the thought that there could be danger present in the wild. Because, you know, nature is SO peaceful and SO harmonious *rolls eyes*.

These are probably the same people who you'd see in the news having been mauled by a lion at the zoo because they fell in after leaning too far over the barrier to get a fucking picture. Dipshits.

I could go on about how this book perfectly tackles human incompetence in the face of danger, especially with nature, but this would be a fucking essay and I don't have time to write that much. Suffice to say, this was a well-thought out, well-written novel that pits humans against nature in a realistic and disturbing way.

the_wanlorn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Holy shit this was so good I devoured it. I haven't devoured a book in years. Amazing. Loved it. Perfection.

mairead_parade's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Didn’t grab me as much as WWZ and I struggled with suspension of disbelief for the journal premise (how/when is she writing this in such detail) but Brooks remains very good at world building.

kayay's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

nikkijazzie's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

chelseatm's review against another edition

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5.0

Wow! I loved this book. It's well researched and exciting. I loved how the author paired the fiction and non-fiction and created a real viseril sense of reality. If you liked the style of World War Z, I'd highly recommend this one. Love it!

linnaboobooks's review against another edition

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4.0

This is my first survival horror novel, and I love it more than I expected to. Before Friday, I never had any interest in this. Bigfoot or any of that kind of "maybe they exist" beings have captured my attention but after hearing a Booktuber (Oliviareadsalatte) talk about enjoying it, I put a hold on the audiobook right away.

I love the audiobook's format of multiple narrators; I love the diary entries, the little quotes, the interviews, and the "present" timeline of the interviewer behind the book.