Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

12 reviews

mauvenotebook's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Great book. Some of the characters were a little weak, and you can definitely tell it was written in 2006, but it still holds up really well.  The choice of format was very original, and I liked how he included characters from all over the world instead of focusing on the US and Western Europe like most zombie novels.

My favorite stories were the one about the Russian priest, the one about the downed pilot, the entire Todd Waino arc, and the one about Arthur Sinclair.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Violence, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Cannibalism, Gun violence, Suicide, Rape, Gore, and Pandemic/Epidemic

whynotreadwithalex's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Gotta say, I love me a good zombie story! Picked up this audiobook because I absolutely love the movie and wanted to see how it all started. Although the book is COMPLETELY different from the film, it was enjoyable, adventurous, fast-paced, and, well, globally terrifying!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Body horror, Death of parent, Murder, Rape, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Death, Blood, Genocide, Child death, Alcohol, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ursa_arlo's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Positives. World War Z is a brilliant piece of speculative fiction that realistically explores how a war on zombies (or any major world war for that matter) functions. The interviews with different individuals who survived the war feel extremely realistic, from their different approaches to the war rooted in their culture and personal experience, to the easy ways in which they talk about their expertise. It is fantastically written and showcases every angle and emotion you might find in a war like this without getting lost in the detail.

Dislikes. Many characters are introduced throughout the interviews and at the end, when they are revisited, this makes it harder to keep track whose story is being continued. Other than that, no notes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, War, Body horror, Xenophobia, Self harm, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Grief, Violence, Gun violence, Gore, and Death

sydneyo_0's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

There is a movie based off of this book and if you've seen the movie first it's okay, you haven't been spoiled for anything. This book has an interesting, and I believe, realistic take on how the world would react to a Zombie Apocolypse. How each country would react, what nations were more likely to pull through mostly intact and why, and how Nations would interact with each other during a crisis. Not to mention touching upon politics

and how information gets passed along the chain of command, or just flat out ignored and tossed aside

. It's a series of interviews taking place years after the end of World War Z, with survivours from all around the world and all different walks of life. Some of the stories are horrifying and some make you wonder if you would have done the same thing to survive if you had been in their situation. 

This may end up becoming one of my new favourite novels. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Animal death and Cannibalism

wormgirl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Xenophobia, War, Death, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

corabookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Self harm, Body horror, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Death, War, Blood, Murder, and Violence

xdawnsii's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

I really enjoyed how this book was written - as an “oral history”. It made for a unique and interesting fiction read! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jazhandz's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Gore, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Excrement, and Suicide

Minor: Cannibalism and Pregnancy

therealratking's review against another edition

dark informative tense fast-paced

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

5.0

"Most people don't believe something can happen until it already has. That's not stupidity or weakness, that's just human nature."

Whats the book about?
World War Z is comprised of multiple short stories from many diverse people across the globe. The book is set out in an interview type format and follows the rise and fall of the zombie war as perceived from different types of people.
Whats my opinion?
This is an excellent book for those who like alternate histories. The individual stories feel realistic and the low-simmer ever present horror of the undead adds an overarching tension that worms its way deep into your brain. Another element i loved about this book is its commentary on human nature and how society may react when faced with a seemingly invincible enemy.
I highly recommend this book to fans of zombies, history, science and realism.
One criticism is that their were very few female charcters and their personalities felt stereotypically shallow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, and War

Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Animal death, Body horror, and Cannibalism

bebidocrimes's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

4.0

I really enjoy seeing the human side of wars, even fictional ones. The short interview style lent itself to exploring so many perspectives and things I never would have considered to think about. (The people left on the ISS!!) I was just disappointed at the ratio of interviews that were from men as opposed to women, the balance was really off. Like 1/10 might have been women. Probably less.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Suicide, Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Body horror, Confinement, and Violence

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Abandonment, Self harm, Cursing, Alcohol, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Suicide attempt