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beledit's review
5.0
An excellent finish to this trilogy. Danny, our antihero, is eking out a meagre existence as the world declines around him, but cannot escape his destiny to save the world. But who does he save? Them or Us?
ollie_lee's review against another edition
2.0
The last in the series and also the least entertaining. I should have ended reading after book two. The unchanged are almost all extinct when this story starts. Danny is on his own again but stuck working for a ruthless leader in a small town while most of British Isle is a nuclear wasteland. He is constantly trying to find a way out and a way to be on his own.
What I enjoyed about the other two books was simply not here. I liked the hiding and violence between the two sides and seeing how the story arc escalated. This simply had a bunch of one sided, horrible characters that were to hard to like.
What I enjoyed about the other two books was simply not here. I liked the hiding and violence between the two sides and seeing how the story arc escalated. This simply had a bunch of one sided, horrible characters that were to hard to like.
patchy710's review against another edition
3.0
I definitely have mixed feelings on this final chapter of the Hater Trilogy. I felt that it started off slow and repetitive: infiltrate an Unchanged camp, kill them, rinse, repeat. However, as the novel progressed, it became increasingly clear that this was about the evolution of Danny into something not quite Unchanged, but not quite Hater either, which serves to bolster the title "Them or Us". Exactly who are "they" and who are "we"? I appreciated this development, but maybe would've liked to see hints of it earlier on in the story. Maybe he could've let one group go, before taking out another? I suppose his constant state of fear driven by the insane "leadership" is a driving factor in not letting that happen, but still.
I was pretty frustrated leading up the reveal of the unchanged in the bunker led by Peter Sutton. With the amount of hype Peter delivers regarding how it will change *everything*, you can imagine finding yet ANOTHER Unchanged camp was a serious let down. After I figured out that's where it was heading, I had guessed it was a huge camp with hundreds of unchanged. Nope! Twenty or so. Ugh. It was a nice touch though to have the unchanged thinking Peter and Danny could fake the hate, rather than vice versa. When all hell breaks loose during the climactic battle at the end, I felt like this camp was severely underdeveloped and would've liked to have seen more out of them when it came to fighting for survival. Which leads me to the title again: Them or Us. There's a lot of them and a lot of us. Haters vs Unchanged? Haters vs Haters? Haters vs sorta-haters vs unchanged? AH! So many options...
The arrival of Ankin's army also left me with mixed feelings. I'm not sure it really went anywhere except as a catalyst for the final battle, which is too bad because there was a lot of set up for a possible civil war within the town before they even arrive, rendering that story line useless. After everything goes down, they just kind of fade away.
This brings us to Hinchcliffe. He basically took on every horror movie villain cliche out there for the final battle. Which is fine, but totally predictable. OF COURSE he wasn't dead after the car crash. OF COURSE he wasn't dead after they all thought he was on the dock.
Overall I think this was a good read. There's just a feeling of missed potential throughout. That said, it didn't stop me from blazing through each chapter late into the night!
I was pretty frustrated leading up the reveal of the unchanged in the bunker led by Peter Sutton. With the amount of hype Peter delivers regarding how it will change *everything*, you can imagine finding yet ANOTHER Unchanged camp was a serious let down. After I figured out that's where it was heading, I had guessed it was a huge camp with hundreds of unchanged. Nope! Twenty or so. Ugh. It was a nice touch though to have the unchanged thinking Peter and Danny could fake the hate, rather than vice versa. When all hell breaks loose during the climactic battle at the end, I felt like this camp was severely underdeveloped and would've liked to have seen more out of them when it came to fighting for survival. Which leads me to the title again: Them or Us. There's a lot of them and a lot of us. Haters vs Unchanged? Haters vs Haters? Haters vs sorta-haters vs unchanged? AH! So many options...
The arrival of Ankin's army also left me with mixed feelings. I'm not sure it really went anywhere except as a catalyst for the final battle, which is too bad because there was a lot of set up for a possible civil war within the town before they even arrive, rendering that story line useless. After everything goes down, they just kind of fade away.
This brings us to Hinchcliffe. He basically took on every horror movie villain cliche out there for the final battle. Which is fine, but totally predictable. OF COURSE he wasn't dead after the car crash. OF COURSE he wasn't dead after they all thought he was on the dock.
Overall I think this was a good read. There's just a feeling of missed potential throughout. That said, it didn't stop me from blazing through each chapter late into the night!
fil's review against another edition
3.0
Continuing in the same vein as the humdrum second book of the Hater trilogy this one started out slowly and with little promise, it did pick up afterwards with more than just the habitual pointless violence (by the way: that's the point of these books). Having an actual storyline helped the third installment immensely, having a weak one did not. Adding trite commentary on our race's pitiful state and other 'words of wisdom' on how we got to this point felt half-assed and clumsy.
Despite all this I rated it 3 stars because it was an easy, fun read and I really wanted to know what would happen to Danny McCoyne and that's the point, no? Well, that and the unique perspective of the protagonist.
Despite all this I rated it 3 stars because it was an easy, fun read and I really wanted to know what would happen to Danny McCoyne and that's the point, no? Well, that and the unique perspective of the protagonist.
englej311's review against another edition
2.0
not as good as the first?seemed a bit slow and I kept wondering where it was going.. didn't seem to have a point. I liked the second halfbetter as it picked up speed.
bookworms_closet's review against another edition
3.0
Their lives were empty, but for the hunt and the kill. It was an inescapable paradox: by destroying their enemy they were also removing their own reason to live.
The Beginning: At the height of the last English summer, the skies turned black as coal and never cleared.
I was a bit disappointed by this one, the third and final instalment of the Hater-series. I loved the first novel so much. It was unlike anything I’d read before and it got a well-deserved spot on my top 5 reads of 2013. The second instalment, Dog Blood, was also quite good, but noting like the first one. Them or Us seemed like an anti-climax to the story. Instead of going out with a bang, it slowly drifted away.
And the sad thing is that the plot had such potential. The world as we know it has come to an end, and Danny, our “hero”, is left with the scraps. Brilliant novels have been written about this, e.g. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (it’s amazing, read it!). The twist and what makes Them or Us unique is that it’s told from the bad guys’ perspective. I’ve been really excited about this, but was left utterly disappointed. I wish Moody had played more with this concept. Instead Danny has second thoughts about the dark side, and longs for the humanity the world has lost. This wasn’t the way I’d hoped the Hater-series would go, even though I enjoyed some of the descriptions. For example, our psycho-killer protagonist got a new habit of curling up in his sleeping bag to read romance novels:
It’s a trashy thriller-cum-romance novel, and as clichéd as it sounds, this sort of book has become something of a release. They help me to forget where I am and who I am, and what I have to deal with each day. They almost make me feel human again.
Details like that made it all worth while. And don’t get me wrong, the novel is entertaining and a very enjoyable read. But it’s not brilliant like Hater. Now I need to get my hands on the first instalment of Moody’s other series, Autumn.
For more reviews and book talk, please visit my blog The Bookworm's Closet
The Beginning: At the height of the last English summer, the skies turned black as coal and never cleared.
I was a bit disappointed by this one, the third and final instalment of the Hater-series. I loved the first novel so much. It was unlike anything I’d read before and it got a well-deserved spot on my top 5 reads of 2013. The second instalment, Dog Blood, was also quite good, but noting like the first one. Them or Us seemed like an anti-climax to the story. Instead of going out with a bang, it slowly drifted away.
And the sad thing is that the plot had such potential. The world as we know it has come to an end, and Danny, our “hero”, is left with the scraps. Brilliant novels have been written about this, e.g. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (it’s amazing, read it!). The twist and what makes Them or Us unique is that it’s told from the bad guys’ perspective. I’ve been really excited about this, but was left utterly disappointed. I wish Moody had played more with this concept. Instead Danny has second thoughts about the dark side, and longs for the humanity the world has lost. This wasn’t the way I’d hoped the Hater-series would go, even though I enjoyed some of the descriptions. For example, our psycho-killer protagonist got a new habit of curling up in his sleeping bag to read romance novels:
It’s a trashy thriller-cum-romance novel, and as clichéd as it sounds, this sort of book has become something of a release. They help me to forget where I am and who I am, and what I have to deal with each day. They almost make me feel human again.
Details like that made it all worth while. And don’t get me wrong, the novel is entertaining and a very enjoyable read. But it’s not brilliant like Hater. Now I need to get my hands on the first instalment of Moody’s other series, Autumn.
For more reviews and book talk, please visit my blog The Bookworm's Closet
mftaylor's review against another edition
4.0
Just finished the 3rd novel in Moody's Hater trilogy. It was really good. Again, well written and you really feel for the main character, even if it is hate for most of it. A sad but believable view on humanity and what many of us could become. I would recommend reading all 3 to get the full story and effect, although the 2nd book is a little slow starting compared to the rest.
Update: I re-read this book after reading the three new Hater books. It seems this one is the end book if you follow the time line. Still a good read!
Update: I re-read this book after reading the three new Hater books. It seems this one is the end book if you follow the time line. Still a good read!
thesidxxx's review
3.0
Loved the first book in the series, but it kind of lost the plot after that (for me).
sierrae's review
5.0
I appreciate this book and the whole Hater series so much for how real it feels. I pretty much finished this series within a week because I could not get enough of Danny. He is a pretty awesome main character and very real and believable.
This novel would have been a great stand alone-novel, but it also worked well as the third installment in the trilogy. Actually, I think that each book had it's own way about them that would have made them all successful as stand-alone novels. Each one was different, but helped push along Danny's characterization in a god-forsaken post-apocalyptic world.
This last book is very depressing and grim, ans not to spoil anything, but it doesn't have much of a happy ending.
This novel would have been a great stand alone-novel, but it also worked well as the third installment in the trilogy. Actually, I think that each book had it's own way about them that would have made them all successful as stand-alone novels. Each one was different, but helped push along Danny's characterization in a god-forsaken post-apocalyptic world.
This last book is very depressing and grim, ans not to spoil anything, but it doesn't have much of a happy ending.
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