Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

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

8 reviews

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. 

---

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

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

---

Content Warnings

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

theoldestbennetsister's review against another edition

dark informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

Some cool and interesting perspectives you wouldn't usually hear from in a zombie/apocalypse story. The sheer number of people and accounts made it a bit repetitive sometimes. But some of the accounts were just excellent zombie short stories on their own.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Death, Suicide, Self harm, and War

Moderate: Child death, Xenophobia, and Animal death

Minor: Death of parent

clarabooksit's review against another edition

The representation in this is super offensive. Nearly every character is a stereotype, they all spout offhand bigoted comments that often have no bearing on the narrative, and the racism and xenophobia go way beyond the in-story narrative elements that mirror real world responses to crises and pandemics. Not to mention the overt sexism and poorly written women. All this adds up to a big old “Nope” from me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Religious bigotry, War, Child death, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Classism, Ableism, Racism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Sexism, Death, Body horror, Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Abandonment

Moderate: Grief, Fatphobia, and Medical trauma

rainbowcerberus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Xenophobia

Minor: Self harm and Pregnancy

klor's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I've been recommended the audio version of this book over the physical copy and the (apparently innacurate) movie version and boy, did I enjoy it. Brooks took a lot from historical instances of how different countries and people will respond to a zombie apocalypse, I also enjoyed a lot of the interviewee voices and the stories that created a much well-rounded story of what happened in the zombie war. I think for topics like this, focusing on people is one of the things that brings a heart to the story. I think it also looked at different solutions like

the ocean (it's terrifying to think of zombies underwater and RIP whales, and in some instances, how the world hasn't recovered fully yet.

This is one piece of media that I'd probably enjoy seeing as a miniseries but the whole situation might also feel a bit too early, given that similar incidents happened during the COVID pandemic.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Gun violence, Body horror, Cannibalism, and Death

tardycreative's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• 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

5.0

Quite an inspiring read, very exciting and thought provoking!

This is how world building should be done.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Xenophobia, War, Vomit, Violence, Suicide, Racial slurs, and Gore

mackenzi's review

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? It's complicated

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Violence and Gun violence

Minor: Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Medical content, and Genocide