Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird

13 reviews

brynalexa's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.75

Overall this novel was a breeze to get through; just enough diversity of prose and mystery to keep you turning the pages. I wished the idea that “power is bad no matter who has it” was more pervasive. It seemed like almost an afterthought or accidentally included. There was quite a bit of “cops are good and necessary” which was off-putting. You would hope the new world described wouldn’t include the violence of police. It felt a bit like the author threw in the notes from sensitivity readers all in the last 100 pages as an afterthought as well. Most of the characters had the same personality, even though it seems to be trying to be a feminist story. It came together in the end well. I would recommend it as an easy read if you aren’t hoping to take it too seriously. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Child death, Violence, Abandonment, Death of parent, Infertility, Death, Grief, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Misogyny, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, War, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Mass/school shootings, Deportation, Gun violence, Alcohol, Genocide, and Fatphobia

bloodmaarked's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

4.5* rounded up. i picked this book by putting all the books on my tbr available to borrow at the library right at that moment into a randomiser and letting it pick for me, and boy did it pick a good one! the end of men came to me after someone in my book club said they enjoyed this back in october last year, and she was right - it’s brilliant! i started reading this on a quiet poolside day during my holiday and i read 62% of it then and there, that’s how much it pulled me in.

✧ full review on my tumblr ✧

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Infertility, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: War, Transphobia, and Trafficking

maxence_666's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jishwathebig's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Infertility, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Suicide

experfectionist's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

Chronicles of a major global pandemic that only affects men (wipes out 90% of men), told through the perspectives of multiple women in the medical and political fields, and who face loss and hardship, and how the world comes to grip with the pandemic and how the world changes and adapts afterwards. The multiple points of view are interesting and varied, and the book deals more with humanity and the human side of a major pandemic, and the hope and inspiration that we find even through loss and mourning, as opposed to dark post-apocalyptic stories that deal with the aftermath and destruction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

cogowno's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Death

clare_tmumford's review against another edition

Too many upsetting moments

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, Child death, Infertility, and Medical content

The concept of this book seemed really interesting. I just couldn’t get through the horrifying details I’m afraid

alisafrancyne's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Infertility, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, and Grief

hretzkin's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.0

Too many characters to keep track of. Some of them have only a few chapters. I couldn't keep everyone straight. I think this was a unique idea but needed more around how some men were naturally immune and why women had no symptoms. 

It was fine. Not stellar. Wouldn't recommend to a friend but don't regret reading it. Middle of the road.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Infertility, Death, and Child death

nanirump's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

This was a quick read with lots of short chapters. I found the multitude of characters a lot and I wasn't particularly attached to any of them and got them confused more than I didn't. I liked the varied exploration of peoples' experiences and it hit differently after the world actually having gone through a global pandemic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Infertility, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Sexism, Transphobia, Suicide, War, Violence, and Pregnancy