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meagm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
5.0
The audio version of this is the way to go, multiple voice actors really take it up a notch!! I loved this despite it making me cry like a baby for a bio-engineered pig of all things. Great character/plot about a post-pandemic world with a sci fi twist. Every chapter is a new person’s experience at different points in time spanning hundreds of years & they’re all so unique/straight weird sometimes. Dark and often difficult to read but very worth it if you like the more horror side of post-apocalyptic, but want to try something new.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Death, Grief, Terminal illness, Body horror, and Child death
Minor: Animal cruelty
gotabookforeverysituation's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Suicide, Grief, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Racism, Medical trauma, and Child death
Moderate: Animal death
lindsayerin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Child death, Death, and Animal cruelty
unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
This #PlagueNovelPals book was surprisingly uplifting and in many ways a balm for our current world. It is super dark and sad - it is about a plague brought on by climate change - but it is also about humanity’s ability to persevere, to invent and to eventually overcome. It’s an epic story built through small human interactions. My friend Meg described it as a combination of Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy and Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves and I wholeheartedly agree with that assessment. I would also sprinkle a little bit of Chuck Palahniuk’s macabre zaniness and unlikeable narrators to the mix.
I enjoyed the format for this book - it’s a series of short narratives that are loosely connected rather than a straight through plot. In that way it is quiet and helps you experience the world Nagamatsu built in a very relatable way, through each character’s eyes. The stories end up being more connected than they initially seem but the end and that speaks to a beautiful restraint from Nagamatsu. The writing is impeccable. Each of the characters is interesting and understandable, and you visit many locations and situations on Earth and throughout the universe. I liked that this book was emotionally impactful and dealt heavily with grief and death but it wasn’t gory in the way some books like this are. It’s an emotional sledgehammer but it also puts you back together when it’s done.
👍🏻Recommended! Plague novel/science fiction fans will love this book. Please mind the CW, it is heavy content but in the end it is very hopeful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug use, Medical content, Xenophobia, Body horror, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
mel_s_bookshelf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
3.75 stars
An ambitious fusion of short story collection and novel, How High we go in The Dark is creative, beautiful, and inspiring, whilst simultaneously being terrible, tragic, and haunting. It rides a very fine line between being absolutely absurd and eerily close to reality, which makes it even more disturbing than it would otherwise be. Think Black Mirror, but instead of stand-alone episodes, a collection of stories based around the same overarching theme and where characters and connections become loosely intertwined.
When I bought this book, I didn’t realise that it was more akin to a collection of short-stories than a novel, and so I felt a little put off when I got very invested in the first chapter only to find out that the next chapter (and each there-after) was an almost completely different story. For someone who highly prioritises developing a connection to characters, I found this to be a down-fall, however, despite this, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book.
Nagamatsu’s writing is stunning, and I found many quotes that deeply resonated with me. Although I was initially jarred by the use of short stories, I was also very impressed at the way in which these stories were linked together. In saying that, I did find that my enjoyment of each individual story varied greatly. I did thoroughly enjoy most – the themes within were complex and fascinating, and one even made me cry; however, a few were quite boring to me, and I found myself skimming over these.
Despite this not being what I thought I signed up for, this book most definitely left an impact on me and won’t be something that I forget anytime soon.
If you loved Black Mirror, or just generally enjoy Sci-fi, then I highly recommend this. I also recommend it if you like unique and interesting books that are very well written. There are a few trigger warnings for this one though so definitely look those up first!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, and Medical content
Moderate: Animal death and Grief
prettyfunctional's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Perfect for readers of the Overstory & Cloud Atlas. It balances a blend of realism and fantasy. This book lives somewhere between hope and despair and will definitely stick with you for a while
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Body horror, Terminal illness, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, and Animal death
Minor: Gore
hca's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness
Content warning for global pandemic
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