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opheliabox's review
2.0
I don’t know if it’s because I’m an epidemiologist by trade or because we have almost thirty more years of data on VHFs at my time of reading, or because of my specific dislike for journalistic fear mongering around rare diseases (which is really just very thinly veiled journalistic fear mongering around race) but this was… frustrating. Didn’t finish, could bare to. This was by far the most annoying book I’ve read in years.
cinchona's review
4.0
I'm rereading this as an adult to help a student I'm tutoring with summer homework. I gotta say, I approve of interesting and engaging summer reading, but it's a little intense for students to process the sheer amount of guts and gore and disgustingness described in this book. Then again, I remember vividly reading it when I was a kid, and eagerly watching documentaries about it, so who am I to talk.
The details are annoying at points, and overall the pacing is herky-jerky, but overall Preston provides a very effective narrative. The science isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be upon re-reading. It's not quite as informative as I'd like, and some pretty significant scientific ideas are glossed over (uh, how are these viruses "retreating into the forest exactly?!), but he does hit a lot of fine points about epidemiology and biology.
I wanted to give this book 3 stars, but it really did have that quality of a thriller: I had to read it all at once, to the end.
The details are annoying at points, and overall the pacing is herky-jerky, but overall Preston provides a very effective narrative. The science isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be upon re-reading. It's not quite as informative as I'd like, and some pretty significant scientific ideas are glossed over (uh, how are these viruses "retreating into the forest exactly?!), but he does hit a lot of fine points about epidemiology and biology.
I wanted to give this book 3 stars, but it really did have that quality of a thriller: I had to read it all at once, to the end.
jenhurst's review against another edition
5.0
For a book that’s not a horror novel, it may as well be. I didn’t realize what Ebola did to the body before hand and it’s honestly terrifying. there’s obviously a bit of dramatization in the novel, but he didn’t have to do much with what there was to work with.
jewel99's review
5.0
I totally knew type of read for me as I made a commitment to myself to read at least five nonfiction books that I saw recommended on BookTok.
It’s an interesting story, well, written with a lot of detail, but an exiting pace to keep the reader invested. I’ve already tried to find the sequel to this book by the same author in my Libby app, but haven’t been able to find it so far.
It’s an interesting story, well, written with a lot of detail, but an exiting pace to keep the reader invested. I’ve already tried to find the sequel to this book by the same author in my Libby app, but haven’t been able to find it so far.
maiad9's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.5
It’s dark but informative. Wish there were more pictures of the virus in the book and diagrams.