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franklola's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Blood, Medical trauma, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Chronic illness, Racism, and Alcohol
Minor: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
jessikalange's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Racism, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
scarlettreadsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Graphic: Vomit and Pandemic/Epidemic
ifoundcallie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Very reminiscent of Stephen King, particularly āUnder the Domeā. If you liked that, youāll love this. For people SOLELY looking for a thriller or commentary on race/social class, turn elsewhereā¦this book intentionally subverts the expectations of those genres.
I love how the omniscient narrator stingily portioned out information, which shamefully left me feeling the same desperate NEED for information that the book was critiquing!
There are a few times in this book where the writing could use some trimming/adjusting towards purposeāthe heavy emphasis on certain carnal images felt self-righteous and cheap for the rest of the story. Honestly, this is the only thing that keeps this book from being a āperfectā book for me. This pitfall is reminiscent of Stephen Kingās writing, again, which makes sense knowing that the author reread Pet Semetary while editing this book. I can only read so many descriptions of bored and worn out married couples ātumbling into the only comfort: of flesh smacking against fleshā or teenage male characters and their detailed descriptions of āspit-in-hand, spurting releaseā, or adult men who are dumbstruck by their unexpected ālarge load of vitality and youth long goneā. I felt disappointed every time the book swung back to these tropes, faithfully. Yawn.
There are many passages/chapters in this novel that blew me away and can easily stand on their own as brilliant pieces of art. I would love to sit and analyze some of the turn-of-phrase, allusions, and imagery handpicked by this intelligent author. I was giddy with annotation, and this book rewards you for paying attention to these nuances of craft. Overall, Iām so glad I was recommended this book. It itched an āam I spiraling and paranoid or is the world endingā scratch that is often not done well.
Bravo, Rumaan Alam.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Blood, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Racism, Sexual content, Excrement, Vomit, Alcohol, War, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, and Colonisation
mlewis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Alcohol
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Gore, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Racism
manuelte's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Pandemic/Epidemic
eve81's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
shehyuz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Body horror and Pandemic/Epidemic
kaylanoellesims's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Vomit
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Racism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
kelleywithanextrae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Death, Suicide, Vomit, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic