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brynalexa's review against another edition
- 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
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
nanirump's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, Infertility, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Sexism, Transphobia, Suicide, War, Violence, and Pregnancy
marshiereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I didn’t like most of the characters you saw a decent amount of (Lisa and Katherine in particular), but found other people much more fascinating yet they were talked about for only a moment (the Russian woman and Rosamie). Amanda and Dawn were probably my favorite perspectives, with the southern standford researcher being the most forgettable.
I think, if you’re going to do that large of a cast of characters, don’t make most of them from the UK or working in the UK, it’s literally most of them and they’re mostly sad and grieving which makes sense but doesn’t add to the overall narrative that a multi-perspective story generally does.
It’s worth a read but only just.
Graphic: War, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Death, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Child death, Sexism, Terminal illness, Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Vomit
liesthemoontells's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
I was also disappointed at how straight the book was - the one lesbian character who doesn't enter into a relationship with a woman out of necessity is an arrogant sociopath, and the stories of women who fall in love with women after most men have died out are kept at a distance from the reader through news articles and interviews. None of our first person characters enter into a WLW relationship other than the aforementioned sociopath.
It also isn't until 354 pages into a 403 page book that the author spends a moment considering what traumatic impact the Plague would have had on the trans community, treating them like the afterthought that the sole trans character in the book ironically calls out the medical establishment for doing.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Medical trauma, Violence, Grief, Terminal illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Suicide, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts
nerdyprettythings's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Graphic: Suicide, Miscarriage, Mass/school shootings, and Grief
leannanecdote's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Child death, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical content, War, and Ableism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Classism, Miscarriage, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Transphobia, Trafficking, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Sexual assault
vicky523's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Grief, Infertility, and Death
Moderate: Miscarriage and Misogyny
cheye13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
It's pitched as a feminist dystopia, but only mentions women taking over positions of power in the briefest asides. The real focus is the fallout of losing half the population. All of the recovery is focused on repopulation: protecting surviving men, birthing healthy boys, rationing sperm. Despite the female POVs, all the attention is once more on the men. Counterintuitively, it felt like the story coddled men while women buckled down to helm survival.
The most cohesive and developed theme was not women in positions of power, but fertility.
The specific careers (genetics, anthropology, government intelligence) spread the content of the novel too thin. With such intricate professions, there wasn't enough research to provide more than a superficial involvement in the novel's entire premise.
The identity diversity also felt like a hamfisted afterthought rather than a significant facet of the characters that would affect their approach to events. I appreciated the acknowledgement of the trans experience, but it felt extremely shoehorned, and again, not explored in any meaningful way. Sexuality and racial diversity wasn't handled any better, and there was nearly no class diversity.
The writing style was exceedinly readable, and the narrative was generally engaging. But ultimately, I sat down for a dissection of gender in the modern world, and instead got an exceedingly heteronormative narrative that in no way challenged the status quo, skirted gender essentialism, and was also kinda depressing.
Graphic: Pregnancy, Child death, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Abandonment, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, and Miscarriage
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Misogyny, Suicide, Transphobia, and War
the transphobia I mention isn't just that inherent in the premise; a trans character mentions how much more difficult life has been for trans people after "the plague," including an increase in general transphobia and transphobic violencetilly_and_the_books's review against another edition
3.5
Minor: Miscarriage, Infertility, Death of parent, Child death, Death, and Terminal illness
thelibraryofanna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Child death, Death of parent, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Miscarriage, Infertility, and Pregnancy
Minor: Abandonment, Suicide, and Misogyny