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graywild's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
2.0
The story of Magdala and her "pilgrimage" to a relic she thinks can cure her. Journey starts through the desert with her father and along the way she travels with a disgraced priest. This take place sometime after an event that is not explained well. There are hybrid human/plant beings that are also in the desert. Story is disjointed for me and sometimes I struggled with following along on the plot. Not recommended.
cassiealexandra's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.5
I’ll admit this was a book I bought for the cover from the Aardvark Book Club. In fact, it’s the book I kept seeing in their ads and it got me to subscribe. When I read the description I paid attention to the dystopian themes and overlooked the horror genre in it. I should have guessed this based on the fact that this cover reminds me a little of some episodes of the 2013 tv series, Hannibal, but I didn’t! I also read “desert,” but didn’t expect a sort of western set in the future. This combination of dystopian, western, horror, and even a taste of cli-fi (an acid rain has caused this dystopian future) worked surprisingly well for me–surprising because horror is not something I pick up often and I’m not sure I’ve ever read a western.
I loved the beauty of the desert places depicted. The part animal, part plant, sometimes part human creatures that could either wander or be rooted in the sand were creepy in the best way. The ideas about home and family were a bit veiled but came through so nicely. Discussions on healing and faith were unexpected but welcome. The legends the travelers share about how their current society came to be, how and why the rain came and brought such devastation did the necessary worldbuilding while also leaving some mystery.
This comes with a multitude of content warnings. There’s so much about this future that is sexist, brutal, and deranged. See notes below if you want to know. Suffice it to say, there were a lot of intense moments, but somehow they were presented in a semi-clinical and observant way rather than with emotion. I think this was purposeful and may have added to the vibe of this book, but it made it a little difficult to connect with the characters.
The bottom line: Overall, I think I may have loved this minus a bit of the detached brutality and it being slightly slower than my preferred pace.
— NOTES —
Genres: dystopian, horror, western, hint of cli-fi
POV: third-person + first-person
Content: gun violence, murder, suicide, child death, trafficking, pedophilia (vague)
— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)
Pace: 4.5
Enjoyment: 4.5
Craft: 4.5
Gut: 4.5
Total: 4.5
I loved the beauty of the desert places depicted. The part animal, part plant, sometimes part human creatures that could either wander or be rooted in the sand were creepy in the best way. The ideas about home and family were a bit veiled but came through so nicely. Discussions on healing and faith were unexpected but welcome. The legends the travelers share about how their current society came to be, how and why the rain came and brought such devastation did the necessary worldbuilding while also leaving some mystery.
This comes with a multitude of content warnings. There’s so much about this future that is sexist, brutal, and deranged. See notes below if you want to know. Suffice it to say, there were a lot of intense moments, but somehow they were presented in a semi-clinical and observant way rather than with emotion. I think this was purposeful and may have added to the vibe of this book, but it made it a little difficult to connect with the characters.
The bottom line: Overall, I think I may have loved this minus a bit of the detached brutality and it being slightly slower than my preferred pace.
— NOTES —
Genres: dystopian, horror, western, hint of cli-fi
POV: third-person + first-person
Content: gun violence, murder, suicide, child death, trafficking, pedophilia (vague)
— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)
Pace: 4.5
Enjoyment: 4.5
Craft: 4.5
Gut: 4.5
Total: 4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Trafficking, Child death, Suicide, Pedophilia, and Murder
madsthemads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? Yes
4.0
shannone's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
samwescott's review against another edition
Library hold elapsed and I realized I wasn’t interested enough to pick it back up.
jasarahines's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
horrorhussy's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.
This was a beautiful and horrifying book, it felt a little reminiscent of [b:The Road|6288|The Road|Cormac McCarthy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600241424l/6288._SY75_.jpg|3355573]. I absolutly love Chronisters writting style, and her world building. I never really felt like I knew where the story was heading, but each journey connected beautifully to the last. My only small grib was with the editing, I think I would have enjoyed it more with an acknowledgement of the passage of time. I was always a little thrown out of the story everytime we jumped forward in time, with no marker to inform us we were moving forward.
Otherwise this was a fantastic post-apocalyptic story, that seems little to realistic to our future
This was a beautiful and horrifying book, it felt a little reminiscent of [b:The Road|6288|The Road|Cormac McCarthy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600241424l/6288._SY75_.jpg|3355573]. I absolutly love Chronisters writting style, and her world building. I never really felt like I knew where the story was heading, but each journey connected beautifully to the last. My only small grib was with the editing, I think I would have enjoyed it more with an acknowledgement of the passage of time. I was always a little thrown out of the story everytime we jumped forward in time, with no marker to inform us we were moving forward.
Otherwise this was a fantastic post-apocalyptic story, that seems little to realistic to our future
maiiau's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0