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mizzy406's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Excrement, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Death of parent, Gore, and Grief
michellewords's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
"This is what the good guys do; they keep trying."
Man, this book is something else. I don't know if I can give it a proper review.
I watched the movie a very long time ago and I remember pretty much nothing except how slow and boring it was. I found the book to be neither.
I think most people know the plot of this book. In a post-apocalyptic world, an unnamed man and his son are on 'the road' to the ocean to find food and basic survival tools. Along the road, they encounter the results of people trying to survive, and most of them aren't great (biggest understatement of the year).
This book is short, but man McCarthy sure knows how to punch a book up. The characters were SO well-developed. I knew exactly who the man and his son were. I knew what choices they would make and how they would survive. Their personal arcs and stories were so perfectly written.
The prose too. OMG, McCarthy walks this fine line where it's very basic writing but throws just enough details to absolutely sell this world.
The theme that I found the most compelling in this book was this unconscious search for light and goodness, both literally and figuratively. Even in the most obviously terrible situations, the man searched for what could help them survive and the boy searched for goodness in people. It was heartbreaking throughout the book how this search brought so much pain and darkness. It made the ending of this book so much more hopeful than I expected.
Is it weird to say I loved this book? It's such a dark, drudge of a book-it feels weird to say that I loved it. It was a beautiful tragedy that I am unlikely to forget.
I don't think I could recommend this book to everyone. There are far too many triggers to be found for the average person. I would recommend it for the stronger stomached and not prone to depressive reflections. It's such a good book, I wish I could recommend it to more people.
A note on TW: The Road is truly one giant trigger warning, specifically when it comes to violence and cannibalism. So I mean, you know what you are getting into when you read this book. It truly is a shocking read. The shock value is part of this book and I don't think the story could be told without any of the scenes. Yup, even that scene.
Man, this book is something else. I don't know if I can give it a proper review.
I watched the movie a very long time ago and I remember pretty much nothing except how slow and boring it was. I found the book to be neither.
I think most people know the plot of this book. In a post-apocalyptic world, an unnamed man and his son are on 'the road' to the ocean to find food and basic survival tools. Along the road, they encounter the results of people trying to survive, and most of them aren't great (biggest understatement of the year).
This book is short, but man McCarthy sure knows how to punch a book up. The characters were SO well-developed. I knew exactly who the man and his son were. I knew what choices they would make and how they would survive. Their personal arcs and stories were so perfectly written.
The prose too. OMG, McCarthy walks this fine line where it's very basic writing but throws just enough details to absolutely sell this world.
The theme that I found the most compelling in this book was this unconscious search for light and goodness, both literally and figuratively. Even in the most obviously terrible situations, the man searched for what could help them survive and the boy searched for goodness in people. It was heartbreaking throughout the book how this search brought so much pain and darkness. It made the ending of this book so much more hopeful than I expected.
Is it weird to say I loved this book? It's such a dark, drudge of a book-it feels weird to say that I loved it. It was a beautiful tragedy that I am unlikely to forget.
I don't think I could recommend this book to everyone. There are far too many triggers to be found for the average person. I would recommend it for the stronger stomached and not prone to depressive reflections. It's such a good book, I wish I could recommend it to more people.
A note on TW: The Road is truly one giant trigger warning, specifically when it comes to violence and cannibalism. So I mean, you know what you are getting into when you read this book. It truly is a shocking read. The shock value is part of this book and I don't think the story could be told without any of the scenes. Yup, even that scene.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Grief
christianbluer's review
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Trafficking, Gore, Slavery, Child death, Murder, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Physical abuse, Grief, Cannibalism, and Blood
Moderate: Vomit and Terminal illness
emmgracebuch's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Cannibalism, Grief, Cursing, Vomit, and Child death
maulikki's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I usually like stories set in dystopian worlds, and this one definitely left me thinking. To me, the book was a good balance between light and dark, I really enjoyed all the small believable moments of love and humanity inside the new bleek world. The book rarely gave any answers, and instead presented a parent in impossible situations trying their best to protect their child. I get this is not for anyone, but just for the writing alone, I could recommend this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Slavery, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Torture, Vomit, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Cannibalism, Rape, Child abuse, Excrement, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Child death, Death of parent, Violence, and Murder
tariana's review
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
What a tense book! I didn’t give much credit to the reviews when I started listening this, but they didn’t lie. It really gave a John Steinbeck’s vibe. Most of the story is about father and son walking towards the coast on a post apocalyptic world, looking for food, running away from bad guys and trying to find hope in the midst of desolation. Through the story we see the father evolving from being super understanding with the child to becoming short tempered as the control starts to slip from his hands together with the realization that he won’t be able to protect the boy forever. At the same time, the boy starts to see his father with new eyes, no longer a hero, but failing to realize that his father is afraid. I confess that at a certain point the boy would die and the father would finally be free from his self imposed responsibilities and put an end to his suffering. But as he says at the end, he wouldn’t be capable of doing so.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Cannibalism, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent
beamishbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
One of the best fictional books I've ever read, maybe the best.
DEFINITELY the best dystopian tale.
DEFINITELY the best dystopian tale.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Vomit, Murder, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Terminal illness, Gore, Abandonment, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Gun violence, Violence, and Animal death
stephanielee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
I read this book based on a recommendation off TikTok. She had other books that she rated high as I had so I figured this one couldn't be terrible. I was wrong. I will say that once I finished and reflected on this book is the only reason I gave it 1.5 starts. I should've added it to my DNF pile. This is the story of a man and his young son walking across the US after there was some sort of massive devastation that caused a lot of fires. The man knows that one day his kid will be alone and we get flashbacks of the man's wife and some interactions between them. It is supposed to be how the father and son are sustained by love in a hopeless world but the father always seemed to be on the brink of just giving up and didn't really seem to love his son all that much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, and Violence
surdiablo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
So I admittedly had a rough time liking this initially, not because I minded the lack of punctuation or anything similar, I just couldn't connect with it emotionally. The slow, monotonous pacing didn't help either as it felt like it was going nowhere for a while, besides showing how bleak and miserable the world is. However, it picked up around 40% and I found myself interested in it for the most part. This book is unequivocally the embodiment of bleakness, yet it surprisingly manages to instill a sense of hope all the while. Make no mistake, this book can leave you torn apart. There were several gut-wrenching moments, and even though I had already seen the movie and knew what was in store, the ending was emotional. I can see why this one is polarizing aside from the writing style, as people may find the plot or character development lacking, but I think McCarthy crafted a compelling journey that we were meant to take alongside the duo, and it's doubtful any other book can the beat the experience it provides in that sense. It's a beautiful yet disturbing novel that you may or may not click with, but it's also rather short so I would recommend giving it an honest try and not putting it away immediately if you are taken aback by the writing style.
<b>“He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it.”</b>
“He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it.”
<b>“He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it.”</b>
“He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicide and Cannibalism
uniquelymace's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Vomit, Death of parent, Excrement, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Suicide, Torture, Murder, Cursing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and Violence