Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre

I will give it up to Max Brooks. He did write a story with the most unlikable characters imaginable. So unlikable that I was actively rooting for all of their deaths for a good chunk of the book, and managed to make some (SOME) of them into pretty enjoyable people by the end. Except Mostar, she was da real mvp from the start. I was so annoyed by these characters that I was going to quit the book at the beginning, but I'm glad I kept going, because this was a hell of a book. Not great. And has very strong, libs need to man up and embrace them their killing side vibes. Like there was an entire spiel about the neighborhood not having any guns and how that was just so awful of those weak willed libs 🤢 but I loved the tension, and the survival aspects. And the growth of the main character. And I wish he wouldn't have left the ending so open ended. I hate open ended endings. But overall, this was a fun read. Brutal. Not anywhere as good as World War Z. But entertaining in its own way. I would say my only other issue that kinda squicked me out was the way he characterized the lesbian couple. I don't know I didn't like how he portrayed them in the beginning, and ofc one of them was domineering, controlling and seemingly abusive of her wife. It just really rubbed me the wrong way. As I stated though. Fun book, interesting read, didn't think I would like it as I've never particularly been interested in Bigfoot stuff. But he did a good job keeping you invested until the end of the novel.

Content Warnings

izypup's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

ehmannky's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Overall, there was enough here in this book that I liked and found entertaining to keep reading. It's bloody and spooky, but not scary enough to give me nightmares, and I appreciate that. I liked the framing device of the journal and the interspersed excerpts of "interviews" and books. I actually think the excerpts were far more effective than the actual journal entries, and they felt like a strong call back to what makes World War Z such a strong novel. Maybe it's just because Kate's journal was just too novelistic. It was just a little too perfect.

I wasn't a fan that the Asian child was silent for much of the book, as I feel like that just calls on a tired trope. I did like that Brooks explicitly draws attention to the overall point that this is a town of privileged mostly white people copying Levittowns and that they were doomed from the start because of this. I also appreciated the fact that this book points out that the Disneyfication of nature is bad and it leads to people making careless decisions and dying. However, I didn't like the implication that

Kate and Pal have "devolved" into some kind of savage, primitive creature on the off chance that they may be hunting the Sasquatch herd at the end of the novel. It just tickles something that I did not care for.

There's also the implication given the description of some of their character's developments that their issues such as anxiety or hypochondria are just products of society and can be cured in a way by this intense situation, and that also just rankles me.

Content Warnings

More...