Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Severance

Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

aklovekorn's review

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reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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samcanuel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This is the only pandemic book I have been able to enjoy post-covid to date. Really well written, very thought provoking, and times honestly quite creepy. Ma’s pandemic is an imaginative commentary on the routine way we live our lives under capitalism.

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fernash's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

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astridrv's review against another edition

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A fast, rather smart read that offers a bleak, at times funny, contemplation of capitalism and alienation, whether through work, sickness, or immigration. I found it a compelling take on pandemic & post-apocalyptic themes, succeeding as Station Eleven did in examining that type of setting from a different lense. Some paragraphs about memory and childhood hit me right in the feels, and the general comment about the deeply alienating nature of late stage capitalism is well done.

I found the description of the fevered extremely jarring, since everyone's reaction to them is seeped in ableism, and I'm still thinking about this book as I progress through the podcast series from Nevada Humanities about its contents: https://www.nevadahumanities.org/severance-radio

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serena_hien's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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aharper's review against another edition

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funny mysterious

3.5

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46jjsg's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Who is this novel for? What was this novel for?? Sometimes there are stories told to just to be told and I get that- I seriously do; however, I feel so tricked into reading this because where's the satire on capitalism and the modern workforce that I was promised?? For context, I'm an Asian American immigrant who is 25F + works in corporate + in the Midwest. You would think I would be able to relate to the mc but the more I read the more I found the mc of this novel to be frustrating and by the end of the novel I was tearing my hair out like that's it?? I don't know if it's because I'm gen z but I just wanted to grab the mc by the shoulders and a scream at her to get herself together it's so embarrassing!!! I don't understand the author, am I supposed to root for Candace? Is she meant to be unlikable? I've read novels with unlikable characters (see: Wuthering Heights) but at least they have actions that revolve around a theme and you learn something as a reader or it opens up a discussion. Candace is so passive and just so emotionally detached literally pre and post shen fever that I just feel like if she doesn't care about her own life (multiple self destructive behaviors) so why should I care for her?? Candace longs for connection and the sense of belonging, but her attempts (if they can even be called that) at building meaningful relationships are so lack luster?? Like I said. Maybe it's because of my age, but I just don't get this. I like contemporaries. I like dystopians. I like nonlinear storytelling. But this novel just wasn't it. 2 stars because despite all of this, the premise is really interesting at a surface level and I'm impressed this was published pre-covid. The bar is low. Maybe I would've rated this higher if I wasn't a asian american woman myself but who knows.

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andeulea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It’s interesting this book was published before the COVID-19 pandemic. It definitely reminded me of how many people felt when the virus was first spreading.

However, unlike the pandemic, large corporations in this world did not thrive. Even NYC was crumbling. Here, a deadly plague impacted everyone, regardless of social class.

It did take a while for me to get into the book because the narrative kept switching from the present, to the main character, Candace’s past in NY, to the present, to the families past, etc..

I'm curious about the author's decision to introduce Candace's Fujianese background and family's past in a post-apocalyptic setting. Other than maybe identifying her as a person of color? The present and future offer no references to the relevance of this information, but not sure if it even matters. At least I got to learn about my ancestors’ history? I guess?

Overall, I had fun reading about the world falling apart while the apocalypse unfolded. It was a depressing but also thrilling read!

Update: After some reflection, the mention of Candace's background becomes clearer. It seems that the apocalypse served as an allegory for the "severance" of any ties that Candace may have had to her Chinese background. Following her family's arrival to the US, she began losing that part of her identity, a common experience for many immigrant children. However, Ling Ma's writing style made me feel like this comparison was more of a stretch.

But! The use of the apocalypse as an allegory for the modern day 9-5 workday was more prevalent through the Shen Fever. This fever served as a metaphor for the monotonous routine of middle-class laborers operating on autopilot, without reflection or thought.

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