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genny's review against another edition
mysterious
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
4.0
I really enjoyed the tone of this. Quietly scary with a palpable sense of dread. I was freaking out because I couldn't imagine how it would end, and it kind of...doesn't? Don't read this if you don't like open endings or having a lot of things left to the imagination. The story heavily hints at the beginning of the end of the world but we're restricted to a very isolated POV. The characters don't know what's going on, we don't know what's going on, but an omniscient narrator occasionally does tell us what's going on...in the outside world, far from the main cast. I thought it was clever, but judging from other reviews, this is a polarizing book. There's really no closure to be had here, yet it worked for me. I'm not sure how but that ending punched me in the gut! Plenty to chew on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Vomit
Moderate: Racism and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol
oshild's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Vomit
abbytwo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- 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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, and Vomit
alexisgarcia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was an insane read. I’m slightly new to reading thrillers, it was a genre I never really read (no idea why) until recently. This book was incredibly bone chilling and unpredictable. I was surprised that I was never able to guess what was happening next which I was very excited by. I don’t think the characters were incredibly well developed but the book was on the shorter side and character development didn’t seem to be a main aspect of the book so I never minded. This is one of the most captivating thrillers I’ve yet and would definitely recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
javabones's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
I thought this was going to be a thriller/mystery but it turned out to be a disaster in itself. Finished it out of stubbornness and hope that it would go somewhere. It did not. The writing style draggggged on and it was so bizzare and full of gross sex details?? It was so bad it was funny, after you got over how uncomfortable it was. It deserves a lot of trigger warnings, which makes it seem interesting, but literally nothing happens.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol
orireading's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit
Moderate: Blood and Alcohol
Minor: Suicide
the author CONSTANTLY mentioned the 13-year-old character being chubby/fat, what she was eating, what her body looked like, etc. in a way that was rarely relevant to what was actually happening in the scene. that was weird honestlydanielle2121's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
3.0
This was interesting! Not at all what I thought it would be like. I assumed it would have a similar feel to Station Eleven but that wasn’t the case…
It was definitely very slow in the beginning but quickly picked up towards the end… an end that I still don’t fully understand and was slightly anticlimactic.
Not a bad read!
It was definitely very slow in the beginning but quickly picked up towards the end… an end that I still don’t fully understand and was slightly anticlimactic.
Not a bad read!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood
halceeeeeeeee's review against another edition
mysterious
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
2.5
not enough there to be liked or disliked? The plot didn't go anywhere, but the concept in and of itself was interesting. A lot of the sexualisation of the teenage son was completely unnecessary and added nothing, the sex in general felt like it wasn't really serving any purpose. Overall, pretty underwhelming rip.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Blood, and Vomit
Moderate: Racism
euphoriaonpluto's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Where do I even begin with this one?
The 3 stars I'm giving this book is a compromise, as, in actuality, its two halves are two separate books in my head and I'd give the first one 2 stars and the second one 4.
The first half of this book was so boring I have no idea how I got through it. Nothing happened. It was so repetitive at times I wondered if there was an editing mistake and a paragraph had been pasted twice.
The second half, surprisingly, became more and more interesting. By the end I was on the edge of my seat, the way I was promised to be.
One major flaw that was consistent throughout the entire book was the writing style.
1. It was terribly pretentious. Literary fiction undeniably prides itself with complex prose, but this felt like the author was a college student trying to reach a word quota for an essay. It's like he was writing it with a thesaurus right next to him so he could make sure he sounds as intelligent as possible. It was insuffarable at times.
2. Did Sigmund Freud write this book? What was with the obsession with sexuality? Why did everything have to be compared to sex. Why did we have to be reminded of how horny these people are at least 5 times a chapter? I, myself, may be asexual and therefore not entirely well-versed with how libido works, but, surely, middle-aged men don't get erections because????? the sun is out????? and it's a nice day????? Even worse is the fact that this obsession with sexual metaphors didn't spare the teenage children of the protagonists, either. It was disgusting. At times it made me feel like a pedophile by proxy for reading these words. Why did I have to read about a sixteen-year-old jerking off and what kind of porn he likes? Why did I have to read a description of a sixteen-year-old boy and a thirteen-year-old girl observed by their mother, which featured nipples and "curvy" and "jiggle" and a swimsuit straining at the bottom? And why, for the love of god, did there have to be a scene where this middle-aged woman fantasises about making out with a cashier she herself describes as "could be in high school or out of it"????? The way the protagonists' children's bodies were described as sexual in nature was made even more disturbing by the fact that, quite in contrast, their mantal maturity was decreased so much it was like they were 5 and 8, respectively. How is a sixteen-year-old old enough for me to have to read a sentence about his balls, but not old enough to be told that there was a blackout in the city? What is happening here????
TLDR: First half sucked, second half was great, and it would have been ten times better if it had been written by someone who wasn't obsessed with genitals and metaphors about erections and orgasms.
The 3 stars I'm giving this book is a compromise, as, in actuality, its two halves are two separate books in my head and I'd give the first one 2 stars and the second one 4.
The first half of this book was so boring I have no idea how I got through it. Nothing happened. It was so repetitive at times I wondered if there was an editing mistake and a paragraph had been pasted twice.
The second half, surprisingly, became more and more interesting. By the end I was on the edge of my seat, the way I was promised to be.
One major flaw that was consistent throughout the entire book was the writing style.
1. It was terribly pretentious. Literary fiction undeniably prides itself with complex prose, but this felt like the author was a college student trying to reach a word quota for an essay. It's like he was writing it with a thesaurus right next to him so he could make sure he sounds as intelligent as possible. It was insuffarable at times.
2. Did Sigmund Freud write this book? What was with the obsession with sexuality? Why did everything have to be compared to sex. Why did we have to be reminded of how horny these people are at least 5 times a chapter? I, myself, may be asexual and therefore not entirely well-versed with how libido works, but, surely, middle-aged men don't get erections because????? the sun is out????? and it's a nice day????? Even worse is the fact that this obsession with sexual metaphors didn't spare the teenage children of the protagonists, either. It was disgusting. At times it made me feel like a pedophile by proxy for reading these words. Why did I have to read about a sixteen-year-old jerking off and what kind of porn he likes? Why did I have to read a description of a sixteen-year-old boy and a thirteen-year-old girl observed by their mother, which featured nipples and "curvy" and "jiggle" and a swimsuit straining at the bottom? And why, for the love of god, did there have to be a scene where this middle-aged woman fantasises about making out with a cashier she herself describes as "could be in high school or out of it"????? The way the protagonists' children's bodies were described as sexual in nature was made even more disturbing by the fact that, quite in contrast, their mantal maturity was decreased so much it was like they were 5 and 8, respectively. How is a sixteen-year-old old enough for me to have to read a sentence about his balls, but not old enough to be told that there was a blackout in the city? What is happening here????
TLDR: First half sucked, second half was great, and it would have been ten times better if it had been written by someone who wasn't obsessed with genitals and metaphors about erections and orgasms.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia and Sexual content
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Alcohol, and War
nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, and Vomit
Moderate: Death, Racism, Suicide, Excrement, Islamophobia, Medical content, and War