Scan barcode
hoey_girlboss_queen's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
3.75
Este libro te captura en su mundo hasta el punto en que piensas que estas dentro de él y te sorprendes cuando te das cuenta de que la gente en la vida real no está ciega.
Lo único malo es que en algunas partes se puede sentir muy sermoneador, pero vale la pena leerlo completo.
Lo único malo es que en algunas partes se puede sentir muy sermoneador, pero vale la pena leerlo completo.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence
anibenfrad's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
mariahribeiro's review against another edition
i literally cannot phisically finish this book because i despise it and it makes me fee terrible
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail
jess_yasmyn's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Rape
catarina_fernandes's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
mariasilva's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Murder
nannahnannah's review against another edition
1.0
Y I K E S.
Spoonies beware!
This book is terribly exhausting to read, and if you have trouble keeping your place when reading or have trouble reading long paragraphs, spare yourself the spoons and don't read this book. It's not worth it, I promise!
So this book begins with one man (with no name; nobody in this book has a name. They're referred to as "doctor", "the doctor's wife", "the boy with a squint", etc.) who suddenly sees only whiteness. This "blindness" spreads like a virus, and soon everybody has it. The Ministry tries to contain it at first, putting those affected into quarantine - in a mental asylum, no less.
Now, this book is written in an infuriating way that gets old after . . . say, 10 pages. There's almost no periods. Run-ons are everywhere. No quotation marks. No new paragraphs to differentiate who's saying what. No new sentences to differentiate who's saying what. I don't know about you, but that right there sounds like a dystopia. Again, spoonies beware! I have tired eyes and chronic fatigue, so I had to have a bookmark keep track of my reading line, or else there would be no way I could keep my place in this no-paragraph mess of meandering words.
It's also impossible to enjoy or at least become engaged by because it's so damn sexist and ableist!! The men had titles like "doctor", "the first blind man", etc., while the women had these: "first blind man's wife", "doctor's wife", etc. The narrator also had to tell the audience how surprising it was that the sex worker had good relations with her parents, given her career. ?? I don't even want to get into that right now.
There was also a scene that other reviewers here have talked about much more eloquently than I could - a scene so violently disgusting that I can't believe this book is so highly praised. It's a rape scene, where women line up and "volunteer" to be raped by some ruffians in exchange so that they and their husbands can get some food. Of course, this scene had to be described in such vivid detail that I'm 100% sure it was some sick thing the author put in to jack off to. I usually don't input such disgusting things into my reviews but in this case . . . it was that disgusting.
And the ableism! This man had to have hated blind people to such a degree I can't even fathom. Let this be a lesson to all: don't use disabilities as metaphors for whatever gross thing in humanity you want to point out! Just don't do it. Don't.
I can't even count the number of times the word "blind" was used to point out something terrible in humanity, or even so bluntly as just to point out how awful being blind was. That to be blind was to be dead, and vice versa. Let's find one quote though . . . here's one: "What is your name, Blind people do not need a name." Beautiful.
Not to mention, in the end everyone regained their sight! Oh boy what an ending! This probably started the magical cure trope, I don't know. It's sure annoying in any case. The protagonists learned their lessons, so their "disability was cured"! Amazing, give the book a prize!
This book was an awful reading experience. And so ableist I can't recommend it to anyone. Please read something by an actually blind author.
Spoonies beware!
This book is terribly exhausting to read, and if you have trouble keeping your place when reading or have trouble reading long paragraphs, spare yourself the spoons and don't read this book. It's not worth it, I promise!
So this book begins with one man (with no name; nobody in this book has a name. They're referred to as "doctor", "the doctor's wife", "the boy with a squint", etc.) who suddenly sees only whiteness. This "blindness" spreads like a virus, and soon everybody has it. The Ministry tries to contain it at first, putting those affected into quarantine - in a mental asylum, no less.
Now, this book is written in an infuriating way that gets old after . . . say, 10 pages. There's almost no periods. Run-ons are everywhere. No quotation marks. No new paragraphs to differentiate who's saying what. No new sentences to differentiate who's saying what. I don't know about you, but that right there sounds like a dystopia. Again, spoonies beware! I have tired eyes and chronic fatigue, so I had to have a bookmark keep track of my reading line, or else there would be no way I could keep my place in this no-paragraph mess of meandering words.
It's also impossible to enjoy or at least become engaged by because it's so damn sexist and ableist!! The men had titles like "doctor", "the first blind man", etc., while the women had these: "first blind man's wife", "doctor's wife", etc. The narrator also had to tell the audience how surprising it was that the sex worker had good relations with her parents, given her career. ?? I don't even want to get into that right now.
There was also a scene that other reviewers here have talked about much more eloquently than I could - a scene so violently disgusting that I can't believe this book is so highly praised. It's a rape scene, where women line up and "volunteer" to be raped by some ruffians in exchange so that they and their husbands can get some food. Of course, this scene had to be described in such vivid detail that I'm 100% sure it was some sick thing the author put in to jack off to. I usually don't input such disgusting things into my reviews but in this case . . . it was that disgusting.
And the ableism! This man had to have hated blind people to such a degree I can't even fathom. Let this be a lesson to all: don't use disabilities as metaphors for whatever gross thing in humanity you want to point out! Just don't do it. Don't.
I can't even count the number of times the word "blind" was used to point out something terrible in humanity, or even so bluntly as just to point out how awful being blind was. That to be blind was to be dead, and vice versa. Let's find one quote though . . . here's one: "What is your name, Blind people do not need a name." Beautiful.
Not to mention, in the end
This book was an awful reading experience. And so ableist I can't recommend it to anyone. Please read something by an actually blind author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Rape, and Sexual harassment
xihe's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I listened to the audiobook!
- Honestly? It is a fairly, maybe even inherently, ableist novel (a complicated discussion far beyond the scope of a bulleted review).
- It's pretty underwhelming as science fiction.
- The issues, plots, and sometimes the prose, felt far more simplistic than what I think (???) it was trying to convey.
- For me, it was somewhat more effective as entertainment than whatever it was attempting to masquerade as.
- I honesty don't see what about it hasn't already been done to death before it already, in a more compelling manner.
- Except perhaps the frank depiction of rape and sexual violence in a pandemic of this nature, though I felt this element deserved more weight and focus in the narrative given the extremely graphic depictions of gang rape we are subjected to. It's also bogged down by some sexism that shows up in the book (both objectification & slut-shaming, for instance).
- We now know it's probably not a realistic depiction of what would happen in a pandemic. I'm not convinced that was the main intention, but I think it probably was one of them.
- Honestly? It is a fairly, maybe even inherently, ableist novel (a complicated discussion far beyond the scope of a bulleted review).
- It's pretty underwhelming as science fiction.
- The issues, plots, and sometimes the prose, felt far more simplistic than what I think (???) it was trying to convey.
- For me, it was somewhat more effective as entertainment than whatever it was attempting to masquerade as.
- I honesty don't see what about it hasn't already been done to death before it already, in a more compelling manner.
- Except perhaps the frank depiction of rape and sexual violence in a pandemic of this nature, though I felt this element deserved more weight and focus in the narrative given the extremely graphic depictions of gang rape we are subjected to. It's also bogged down by some sexism that shows up in the book (both objectification & slut-shaming, for instance).
- We now know it's probably not a realistic depiction of what would happen in a pandemic. I'm not convinced that was the main intention, but I think it probably was one of them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Vomit
aritammarques's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
While I do not share the same feelings, or may I say, lack of faith, towards humanity on the edge of collapse I did find this book gripping and engaging.
As always I love Saramago's characteristic writing style were the dialogue seems to lull you with it's rhythm and where a focused and intuitive reader needs not many explanations to know who's talking or how the action is unfolding.
Maybe it's because I share the writer's nationality but he's novels era always imprinted with such a familiarity that sceneries don't need very much describing for me to be able to picture them in my mind. And the way he uses common sense phrases either in the dialogue or in the descriptions always makes me chuckle.
As always I love Saramago's characteristic writing style were the dialogue seems to lull you with it's rhythm and where a focused and intuitive reader needs not many explanations to know who's talking or how the action is unfolding.
Maybe it's because I share the writer's nationality but he's novels era always imprinted with such a familiarity that sceneries don't need very much describing for me to be able to picture them in my mind. And the way he uses common sense phrases either in the dialogue or in the descriptions always makes me chuckle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail