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booksthatburn's review against another edition
Holy crap, that was a quick DNF. The (cis, white, male) protagonist's main complaint about maybe being the last human is how it made him involuntarily celibate. Written in the 1950's, this has not aged well. Also, his reaction to vampire babes moaning sexily outside his window is to be upset about how much he wants to but can't/shouldn't fuck them. I like sexy vampires. I like unsexy vampires. I do not care for man complaining that sexy vampires are a trap. I stopped after the weird thought exercise about whether vampires are worse than the mothers of politicians and arms manufacturers, distillers, and pornographers.
The one thing I will grant it is that the audiobook narrator did a great job, their narration reinforced the trapped feeling of his perspective, how much he focuses his thoughts on emotionally safe pathways (for him), and tries to avoid his distress. Unfortunately those pathways are sexist as fuck.
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Sexism, Alcohol, Medical content, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny
Minor: War
sassmistress's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Violence, Gun violence, and Misogyny
Moderate: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Cursing, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Animal death, and Confinement
Minor: Death of parent, Child death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, and Self harm
- Very graphic depiction of alcoholism and heavy alcohol use, from the mind of the user. We're constantly watching strong drinks spill, smell, burn going down, numb emotion, etc.- POV is regularly on the verge of a mental breakdown.
- Memories of his wife wasting away and dying, then having to dispose of her body. The grief is graphic. His child dies, too, though this is less prominent.
- Dog content:
- He is an atheist, but prays twice out of desperation. Religion is otherwise depicted as frenzied madness.
- Lots of lustful gaze and objectification. This is viewed as the inevitable result of a man's "deprivation" / isolation. One passionate embrace/kiss.
- Blood, obviously, and some violent "vampire" deaths, but most of it is kept at a moderate emotional distance. Most deaths are the MC bleeding out the sleeping "vampires", not described too graphically, but a few are more violent.
- Brief mention of rape, and a few suicidal thoughts.
oddreads_nicolestins'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, Body horror, Medical content, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Sexual content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Child death, War, Infertility, Cannibalism, Abandonment, Vomit, Domestic abuse, and Confinement
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Medical content, Child death, Cursing, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
cnohero's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
<Spoiler>Pros:
This was really well written and gripping. I read well past my bedtime.
I'm impressed by it's scientific discussion especially for it's time (1960's).
Excellent world-building and just enough horror for my taste but not too much.
This book did bring me to the edge of tear and could be very moving in some parts
Cons:
I did not like the main character. Maybe he supposed to be unlikeable?
I hated the way the author discussed lust and sex. I really have a hard time with the discussion that the main character was so sexually deprived he was tempted to have sex with the living dead.
Overall I was not comfortable with the discussion of women they are not treated well or regarded well through the book. There was too much emphasis on women's bodies and sex. </Spoiler>
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Misogyny, Mental illness, Gun violence, Gore, Death, Cursing, and Confinement
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief