Reviews

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

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

jasmin_nami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional

• 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

4.5

meat_muffin's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

savduggan's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.75

whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition

4.0

This book is laid out as a series of interviews, living up to its oral history subtitle. It has an odd sense of similarity to The Christ-haunted Landscape, presumably because of the interview format. I found it far more compelling than I expected. It presents a sense of hope for survival yet refrains from glorifying humankind in a way not often seen in the zombie subgenre. Don't get me wrong, I love the genre in general, but this was definitely a different take. It was also really funny at points.

aphelionconnection's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I've never read a horror book that felt so... Real.

gothamballer39's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This book really shines as an audiobook. I absolutely loved reading it the first time around, but hearing the whole cast of characters with all their accents and inflections was really cool. Made the stories even more human. I love that the author voiced the interviewer too! 

bjt1977's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.0

rusty_nail's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

kellyggrimsley's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense medium-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? Yes

3.75