Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - Station Eleven

I'm kind of shocked by how much I enjoyed this. I would have never picked this up if it wasn't on the 2023 Canada Reads shortlist. I had no idea what to expect, and knowing that the tagged genres were not my thing, I expected to hate this. BUT WOW. I can't exactly pinpoint what I loved, but this was so good. The writing was excellent, thought-provoking and poetic without being pretentious. I am a sucker for anyone who writes about Toronto well, and Mandel did not disappoint. I liked the weaving timelines and how all the main characters fit together, but I thought there were too many auxiliary characters to keep track of. I also wasn't a fan of the book's organization, the various section titles were unnecessary. I think there is definitely a different experience reading this in the post-COVID19 era and I wonder if I would have enjoyed this as much, had I read it pre-2020.

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reggiethebird's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I very much preferred this to Sea of Tranquility. Those first 30 or so pages are a tough read, and hit a little too close to home (the toilet paper line got me [ I'm very glad I read this after covid]), but the rest is nicer. Jumps around the timeline a ton, but once you know to expect it it works beautifully.

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mari_books's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I made the mistake of/ had the fortune to read this book while on a 24hr travel day in 2023 - just three years after our world was changed totally by the pandemic. I had chills for the whole read while on the plane. It’s incredible to read so much of how I’ve felt about the past few years on a page. It was like historical fiction of our present challenges, though obviously COVID didn’t take our society as close to the edge as in the book. I highly recommend for anyone who wants a poetic, challenging reading of society in decay. Lots of trigger warnings for many dark themes. At the end I was left feeling a deep sense of gratitude for how our world met our pandemic moment despite how deeply flawed, and the miracles of our modern technology. This is not for people who don’t like Shakespeare, this was probably maximum Shakespeare for me.

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quinnyquinnquinn's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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matcha_pages's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

"Survival is insufficient."

Station Eleven is different from apocalypse books because it doesn't focus on the collapse & destruction of society. Instead it focuses on the things we need after survival - human connections, the arts, and appreciation for the everyday things we take for granted.

I initially struggled with understanding how the various characters and timelines would eventually converge. But patience paid off as the book progressed and I really enjoyed how everything tied together towards the end. I felt the book was unbalanced at times, for example it'd focus a lot someone's pre-pandemic backstory but post-pandemic they don't play a big role.

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dryriver's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

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