Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Shift by Hugh Howey

5 reviews

maddie_can_read's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved the first novel in the series and felt like I couldn't put it down. I still enjoyed this novel but it did not feel as gripping as the first one did.

After about the 40% mark, I felt like it started to drag, get a bit convoluted, confusing, over-explained (but also some parts not explained enough). I feel like it's better to leave some mystery if the explanation is confusing/ murky/ not great. I think the difference between Shift and Wool might be because the first novel was originally a collection of several novellas combined? I think Shift would have benefited from being a lot shorter/ tighter. Shift just didn't fit together as nicely as Wool did. 

I'm looking forward to seeing what Dust does to wrap things up. 

The Jimmy/ Solo parts really reminded me of the Jimmy/Snowman character from Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, but going into this detail about Jimmy made me wonder why Jimmy wasn't completely unhinged in the first novel when he met Juliette. He has been all by himself for 30 years. 

I enjoyed the Donald/ Troy reveal but while interesting it wasn't surprising. 

I wish the love between Donald and his wife had been more detailed/ believable because it didn't seem to make sense why Donald was so upset at loosing her (enough to kill) when it seemed like he was almost about to cheat on her at the beginning. I feel like I didn't understand why Donald was angry enough to kill, especially like the only ally/ person he liked from the before times. This was disappointing because I thought the depiction of romance in the first novel was pretty good. 

I also wished we had seen more of the impact that murdering had on Donald and Jimmy. Especially Donald because he seemed so blase about it! 

Also wished the Mission plotline had connected more? While I absolutely loved seeing the twist of them being reset, it felt like it should've connected more? Also did not get how they were reset. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Medical content, Murder, Confinement, Excrement, Genocide, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

lpdx's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Gun violence, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Death, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and War

sophieamreacher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Slow at times but intriguing, upsetting, and thought provoking. It will be interesting to see where book 3 goes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Medical content, Abandonment, Abortion, Police brutality, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Mental illness, Alcohol, Drug use, Excrement, Vomit, Child death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Rape, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Death, Misogyny, War, Body horror, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Genocide, Kidnapping, Gore, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

theimposter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Excrement, Confinement, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Torture, Gaslighting, Body horror, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, Gore, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Medical content, War, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, and Gun violence

kirchnerkd's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment and Sexism

Minor: Animal death, Excrement, and Genocide