Reviews tagging 'War'

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

49 reviews

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, Violence, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Suicide, Cannibalism, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

nyxonyxdust's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and War

eliaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Antisemitism, and Suicide attempt

crusoe'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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ryleej13's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Gore and Suicide

Minor: Cannibalism

mjones14's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad slow-paced

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

3.75

Really though I was going to like this more than I did. I think all in all the film is better than the book, but I presume this is because I don't read much nonfiction which this is in the style of. Beautiful world building though and impressive in its global scope

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Alcohol

oakdogs's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and War

Minor: Cannibalism

retswerb's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

It's nice to have an audiobook with such a wide variety of readers. Most of the readers are great, a few mediocre. 

I found a lot to like in the book, but the lack of characters to follow really made the read drag for me. Just when you get attached to a character the narrative switches to someone else and doesn't return. 

Various characters express casual racism / bias in their narratives. While it is written to fit with the characters, I found the overall result a bit distasteful as words written by a white man, put in the mouths of characters from a variety of places and cultures.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and War

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

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Content Warnings

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

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.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, and Xenophobia

Minor: Death of parent