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kristene's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Torture, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death and Death
frozencusser's review against another edition
Anal rape with gun oil in a plot device that has nothing to do with the sci-fi part of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Torture, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Violence, Body horror, and Physical abuse
emviolet's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
3.5
This is a very dark book, worsened by the fact that we are living in a global pandemic. It took me a long time to read it for many reasons; length, content, depth of information. This is not going to be for everyone, and it does have very Stephen King vibes in terms of storytelling and length. That being said, I do think it’s a pretty good book. There is a lot of attention to science, detail, and development of plot and character. It’s scary, not in a spooky way but in a “this could really happen” way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Racism, Rape, Gun violence, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Violence, Torture, and Homophobia
qwerty88's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Alcohol and Animal death
brigidc's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
This book made me so unhappy. It wasn’t the sci-fi fantasy that I felt the back cover’s description portrayed, instead it was dark and gruesome and miserable with no redeeming positive themes or moments. It’s not for everyone, and it wasn’t for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Racism, Torture, Pregnancy, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Gore, Death of parent, Confinement, Body horror, Blood, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Violence, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Hate crime, and Death
I read this a year ago and added all the content warnings I could remember (over 20) but there were probably some I forgot. In addition to a (minor/vague spoiler)demiwriter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Torture, and Rape
Moderate: Blood, Racial slurs, Violence, Gun violence, and Gore
Minor: Suicide and Animal death
megsib's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, and Dementia
luckykosmos's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I have very different feelings about this book depending on the angle taken. This book may have aged poorly - it feels weird to say that, only a year in, but one pandemic and chaotic election season later, I spent half of this book going, "That isn't how that goes!" I had issues with suspension of disbelief from the beginning for that reason. But, adding on to that, the handling of racial politics felt... clumsy. It was a plot point, but not a motivation, and not addressed beyond 'these people are dangerous' (except for Bo and Matthew, which I'll get to in a moment). That section of the book could have been taken out and tried by a different author, maybe one with a less white, cishet perspective (because, yes, I don't feel great about the non-cishet rep either), and I feel like little would have been lost.
That being said, this is a wonderful book when it comes to examinations of leadership and faith. Science and religion weren't pitted against each other, but there were different interpretations of the situation based on whose perspective we were in, and for this reason, Matthew's perspective was my favorite - watching him falling into something he didn't believe, and contending with the different ways he lost Autumn or Bo. Watching Bo's radicalization as Matthew lost his faith was interesting - though, again, the exact nature of that radicalization, the white supremacists, felt weak.
I hated the ending. I hated the final reveal with Black Swan. I can't decide if it was decided from an ecofascist angle, or a poorly optimized artificial intelligence (though this could give it too much credit), but from how the past few months have gone and the ecofascist conversations at the beginning of the pandemic, I could not suspend my disbelief long enough to justify it. Maybe I would have a different perspective eight, nine months ago. I wish I saw in this book what authors I love saw, but I don't think Chuck Wendig was the author to tell this story, and I don't think it dropped at the right time.
(I may have rated this higher if it were shorter, but to feel so lukewarm after almost 800 pages is disappointing)
That being said, this is a wonderful book when it comes to examinations of leadership and faith. Science and religion weren't pitted against each other, but there were different interpretations of the situation based on whose perspective we were in, and for this reason, Matthew's perspective was my favorite - watching him falling into something he didn't believe, and contending with the different ways he lost Autumn or Bo. Watching Bo's radicalization as Matthew lost his faith was interesting - though, again, the exact nature of that radicalization, the white supremacists, felt weak.
I hated the ending. I hated the final reveal with Black Swan. I can't decide if it was decided from an ecofascist angle, or a poorly optimized artificial intelligence (though this could give it too much credit), but from how the past few months have gone and the ecofascist conversations at the beginning of the pandemic, I could not suspend my disbelief long enough to justify it. Maybe I would have a different perspective eight, nine months ago. I wish I saw in this book what authors I love saw, but I don't think Chuck Wendig was the author to tell this story, and I don't think it dropped at the right time.
(I may have rated this higher if it were shorter, but to feel so lukewarm after almost 800 pages is disappointing)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Chronic illness, Rape, Sexual violence, and Torture
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
altlovesbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Maybe not the best book to read in 2020, but I read it on a whim and I'm glad I did it when I did it. It made the book feel like it carried a bit of extra weight, or baggage, or something when I could compare it to what's going on around me. You have a disease sweeping the world. You have a small group (the Flock) immune to the disease, walking like a sleepwalker to an unknown destination and guarded by a group of family and friends (the Shepherds). Then you have society unrest all around them, as fears and hatred become front and center. Things end for America, poorly.
This was a hard book to review. I really wanted to like it, to the point where I caught myself trying to rationalize myself to even just 4 stars "just because". In the end though, while I liked the journey and the concept, the ending was...really lackluster to me. Not a lot really happens over the course of the book, and while you get some really intimate pictures of the walkers and the shepherds painted for you, it's a lot of window dressing on a tire fire of society commentary. There's some red herrings thrown out for the ultimate cause of the disease, but despite that I still managed to not be surprised at all at where it led.
If you like the idea of end-of-the-world diseases, societal collapse, and all that sci-fi dystopian setting, maybe still give this a try. There's lots to like here. The ending didn't click with me though, but maybe it will for you.
This was a hard book to review. I really wanted to like it, to the point where I caught myself trying to rationalize myself to even just 4 stars "just because". In the end though, while I liked the journey and the concept, the ending was...really lackluster to me. Not a lot really happens over the course of the book, and while you get some really intimate pictures of the walkers and the shepherds painted for you, it's a lot of window dressing on a tire fire of society commentary. There's some red herrings thrown out for the ultimate cause of the disease, but despite that I still managed to not be surprised at all at where it led.
If you like the idea of end-of-the-world diseases, societal collapse, and all that sci-fi dystopian setting, maybe still give this a try. There's lots to like here. The ending didn't click with me though, but maybe it will for you.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide, Rape, Torture, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism
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