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jedman's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bc7ate9's review against another edition
5.0
Really enjoyed this one. It got off to a slow start, but by the time I got to the second half, I couldn't put it down (hence, I finished it sneakily at my desk at work in the middle of the day...)
This book offered a terrifyingly plausible view of the near future. The characters were believable as they accepted and dealt with their circumstances as they arose. While I found myself thinking "WHY aren't you doing x, y, and x?!!" (the result of so many dystopian stories with infallible heroes), I had to admit that I would be just as clueless and trusting as the main character. That being said, if you want a fearless protagonist who uses her many years of practical experience to confidently take control and save the day, this maybe isn't the book for you.
This book offered a terrifyingly plausible view of the near future. The characters were believable as they accepted and dealt with their circumstances as they arose. While I found myself thinking "WHY aren't you doing x, y, and x?!!" (the result of so many dystopian stories with infallible heroes), I had to admit that I would be just as clueless and trusting as the main character. That being said, if you want a fearless protagonist who uses her many years of practical experience to confidently take control and save the day, this maybe isn't the book for you.
sheila_p's review against another edition
4.0
This is a hauntingly simple book that is timely and spooky. The wonder in this book is how it is the day to day that is the focus, in light of the tragedy taking place outside of the four walls in a home. This is a book club book, read it and pass it along to your friends then gather for some coffee or wine and talk talk talk.
brendaleigh92's review against another edition
4.0
This book was very interesting but what kind of ending was that?!?
gertyp's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this author's writing. This book was far different from what I thought.
emgrace444's review against another edition
1.0
this book sucked. i would rate it 0 stars if i could.
desirosie's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like I have a lot to say about this book for some reason. I read it in one day straight - it moved pretty fast, but then it also got to a point when I couldn't put it down. The story started kind of slow in my opinion, and the main "action" in the first part of the book that sets up the second part - i.e., how Jiselle finds herself in the situation she's in - seemed contrived to me, which affected how I felt about the book overall.
There is something really, really compelling, and also really, really frightening about dystopian stories that chronicle the gradual decay and collapse of our (very recognizable) world, that is so different from those that invoke the zombie apocalypse or simply take place in a world that is not particularly recognizable. See Into the Forest for another example like this one.
Because what is happening seems so plausible, books like this really get to me (evidence: last night's nightmares), but then I'm also incredibly frustrated when they end because they seem to end in the same way: We watch the gradual collapse of modern life as we know it, such as infrastructure, food supply, etc., but our band of characters manages to persevere through hardship. At some point in time they start to run out of their food stocks from the grocery store, like canned soup and powdered milk, and other sensible things that they've managed to hoard. But then!! They discover/realize other tools and resources that can help them survive - like a gun! and seeds! We will be okay! And they gaze bravely off into the future of their self-sufficiency and the book closes. AGH. That's great but it also aggravates me because I want to know what happens next. Do they make it? Do they all learn how to shoot squirrel and ground flour from nuts? Or does some roving band of violent, starving men arrive at their door the next day and rape and murder them? (Because women are always the main characters in this type of narrative.) The false optimism at the end of these stories sometimes strikes me as a vast betrayal of the genre and of reality, and although it would probably send me into deeper depths of despair to read it, I think it would almost refreshing for someone to end a book like this with them all dying in the end.
/deep breath. I think I need to take a break from end-of-the-world books for awhile, especially in my current state. It's a good book, and I recommend it - it just got to me.
There is something really, really compelling, and also really, really frightening about dystopian stories that chronicle the gradual decay and collapse of our (very recognizable) world, that is so different from those that invoke the zombie apocalypse or simply take place in a world that is not particularly recognizable. See Into the Forest for another example like this one.
Because what is happening seems so plausible, books like this really get to me (evidence: last night's nightmares), but then I'm also incredibly frustrated when they end because they seem to end in the same way: We watch the gradual collapse of modern life as we know it, such as infrastructure, food supply, etc., but our band of characters manages to persevere through hardship. At some point in time they start to run out of their food stocks from the grocery store, like canned soup and powdered milk, and other sensible things that they've managed to hoard. But then!! They discover/realize other tools and resources that can help them survive - like a gun! and seeds! We will be okay! And they gaze bravely off into the future of their self-sufficiency and the book closes. AGH. That's great but it also aggravates me because I want to know what happens next. Do they make it? Do they all learn how to shoot squirrel and ground flour from nuts? Or does some roving band of violent, starving men arrive at their door the next day and rape and murder them? (Because women are always the main characters in this type of narrative.) The false optimism at the end of these stories sometimes strikes me as a vast betrayal of the genre and of reality, and although it would probably send me into deeper depths of despair to read it, I think it would almost refreshing for someone to end a book like this with them all dying in the end.
/deep breath. I think I need to take a break from end-of-the-world books for awhile, especially in my current state. It's a good book, and I recommend it - it just got to me.
joanne_is_from_canada's review against another edition
3.0
This was interesting to read and I'm up for reading just about anything about disease and the plague, but this only got 3 stars from me, simply because of the ending. It felt like a random point was picked in their lives and "the end" was tacked on. So many things we'll never know, so many unresolved issues. And no real climax to the story even. It just...ended.
thestarman's review against another edition
2.0
Say something nice: The writing style was good.
VERDICT: 1.5 stars, mostly for the middle child in the story (the only tween-or-older character possessing a spinal column).
I won't waste your time listing all the problems. It was not thrilling in any way whatsoever. Nor did it have an actual ending. The plague felt like a tacked-on and half-hearted subplot in a mediocre Lifetime movie.
PS: I liked Kasischke's next book far better.
VERDICT: 1.5 stars, mostly for the middle child in the story (the only tween-or-older character possessing a spinal column).
I won't waste your time listing all the problems. It was not thrilling in any way whatsoever. Nor did it have an actual ending. The plague felt like a tacked-on and half-hearted subplot in a mediocre Lifetime movie.
PS: I liked Kasischke's next book far better.
thisistrashpsyd's review against another edition
3.0
In A Perfect World is how the world ends in a very quiet, and specific fashion. In Kasischke's book, the world ends due to an onset of the Phoenix Flu and we get to look at it through the eyes of a very naive newly wedded flight attendant and the family that has fallen in her lap due to the marriage.
Honestly, I hated the main character. Here she is, getting married to this guy who seems too good to be true with these god awful children who hate her and her mom who thinks she's an absolute retard and then on top of all this drama the world decides it wants to end itself. If that's not cause for a nervous breakdown, I don't know what is but this character (Jiselle) takes it all in stride like it's just another normal day. And because of this reaction I find it all a bit unreasonable. All around her, people have their lives falling apart but this family gets closer instead of falling apart. Instead of heading for the hills like her other friends she becomes even more entranced in this family and protecting them although they've given her no good reason to.
And I guess that's the point of this story. Jiselle grows from a naive girl walking into a situation she barely thought out and learning to take care of herself and others during a crisis. It's all very poetic, fitting for an author who mostly thinks of herself as poet.
This book took me a very long time to read because the fairy tale atmosphere took a long time for me to get used to. But when I sat down and really got into it, it's a solid book that gets you with how she weaves the destruction of the world, not in the development of the characters (because the characters, besides Jiselle don't really go anywhere lets be honest) and the ending will definitely leave you hanging, but with good reason. I don't think anyone would have bought it if she had wrapped up everything in a good way and a miracle cure was to be had.
Honestly, I hated the main character. Here she is, getting married to this guy who seems too good to be true with these god awful children who hate her and her mom who thinks she's an absolute retard and then on top of all this drama the world decides it wants to end itself. If that's not cause for a nervous breakdown, I don't know what is but this character (Jiselle) takes it all in stride like it's just another normal day. And because of this reaction I find it all a bit unreasonable. All around her, people have their lives falling apart but this family gets closer instead of falling apart. Instead of heading for the hills like her other friends she becomes even more entranced in this family and protecting them although they've given her no good reason to.
And I guess that's the point of this story. Jiselle grows from a naive girl walking into a situation she barely thought out and learning to take care of herself and others during a crisis. It's all very poetic, fitting for an author who mostly thinks of herself as poet.
This book took me a very long time to read because the fairy tale atmosphere took a long time for me to get used to. But when I sat down and really got into it, it's a solid book that gets you with how she weaves the destruction of the world, not in the development of the characters (because the characters, besides Jiselle don't really go anywhere lets be honest) and the ending will definitely leave you hanging, but with good reason. I don't think anyone would have bought it if she had wrapped up everything in a good way and a miracle cure was to be had.