Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

18 reviews

owenwilsonbaby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

"He woke to quiet voices. This had been happening more and more lately, this nodding off unexpectedly, and it left him with an unsettled intimation of rehearsal. You fall asleep for short periods and then for longer periods and then forever."

Compellingly written prose with a well-developed cast of characters. Whilst I wish Kristen's storyline had more events within it, I really liked the book and I think it is both hopeful and unsentimental about humanity, in a way that I suspect might be altered in the TV adaptation. 

This book has a lot to say about art and community-building and the role these will play in coming crises. It felt resonant with ecological anxieties about climate change and social anxieties in the age of COVID-19. Some of the passages about process and industrialisation felt a tad oversimplified and neoliberal - surely an Amazon delivery driver or a factory worker making snowglobes has complex, nuanced feelings about their labour and their lives that goes beyond gratitude for a job - but everything else was thoughtful, interesting, well-paced and moving. I loved Kirsten and Miranda. What wonderful characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, and Mental illness

emhunsber's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Drug use, Infidelity, Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Death of parent, Child death, and Alcohol

garynoplastie's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Terminal illness, Blood, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Animal death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Grief, Suicide, and Medical content

Minor: Rape

kinomatica's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious tense 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Medical content, Death of parent, Violence, Terminal illness, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Rape, and Gun violence

Minor: Infidelity

people quarantined in airplane

bibliophilemama's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, and Suicide

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Infidelity, and Domestic abuse

pastelkerstin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide, Violence, and Confinement

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

lunarliz's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Such a wonderful book. I am very glad I read it, one I could read many times and always find something new in it, though it will never be the same as reading it the first time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Suicide

Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Blood, Confinement, and Violence

namizaela's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

"I stood looking over my damaged home and tried to forget the sweetness of life on Earth."

I don't usually read post-apocalyptic fiction, and I didn't really know much before reading this book, so I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that the whole premise of this book was exploring society after a devastating pandemic. Nevertheless, I read on, and honestly this book was not what I expected. The moments of tension were interrupted with chapters of character study, which I found a little strange. The plot seemed to go nowhere, and the climax of the book fell a little flat.
But I don't think the point of the book was to deliver a gripping plot. To me, the point seemed to be to explore what humanity really is. It's interesting to see how the individual character studies of the pre-pandemic world compare to the more sweeping generalizations about the post-apocalyptic human society. Both are done really well–in both cases, I got the sense that humans have the capacity for terrible evil as well as kindness. 
Even though this book wasn't what I was expecting at all, I loved it. The language is beautiful, and I especially loved the character of Miranda, who I think is written the best out of all of them. This was a wonderful, interesting story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Medical trauma, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Gun violence, and Medical content

Minor: Mental illness and Adult/minor relationship