Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

8 reviews

whynotreadwithalex's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.0

Gotta say, I love me a good zombie story! Picked up this audiobook because I absolutely love the movie and wanted to see how it all started. Although the book is COMPLETELY different from the film, it was enjoyable, adventurous, fast-paced, and, well, globally terrifying!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Body horror, Death of parent, Murder, Rape, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Death, Blood, Genocide, Child death, Alcohol, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Pandemic/Epidemic

bebidocrimes's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

4.0

I really enjoy seeing the human side of wars, even fictional ones. The short interview style lent itself to exploring so many perspectives and things I never would have considered to think about. (The people left on the ISS!!) I was just disappointed at the ratio of interviews that were from men as opposed to women, the balance was really off. Like 1/10 might have been women. Probably less.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Suicide, Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Body horror, Confinement, and Violence

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Abandonment, Self harm, Cursing, Alcohol, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Suicide attempt

bri__'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The writing is exceptional and the post-war documentary format is different to any other book that I've read. The inconsistency of the characters (apart from the narrator), provided a more broad perspective of 'World War Z' and also helped to make the experiences of each character feel more individual and unique. The book itself is well thought-out and it is evident that Max Brooks has done his research. While some stories I found boring and confusing, there were others that I found thrilling and overall captivating. That is the beauty of this type of format with a variety of different stories, there are bound to be ones that are favoured over the others and that makes the experience all the more personal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Death, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, War, Abandonment, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, and Gun violence

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Racial slurs, Ableism, Classism, Confinement, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual assault

percys_panda_pillow_pet's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Almost a year ago I picked up Max Brooks' book, Devolution. I hadn't even realized it was a horror book, nor that it was by the same author who wrote the New York Times Bestseller World War Z. Since, finishing Devolution in all its gory, terrifying glory, I decided I had to check out his previous, most famous work. 

Despite being written 14 years prior to Devolution, I didn't see much change in style and prose. It's not unusual to feel like an author's previous books are less well-written than their latest, many authors grow into their craft like any other author. However, World War Z was just as well written as the later book, which I really have to commend him for. This is not to say the books aren't different.

While World War Z took a more global perspective on the events within it, Devolution was much smaller and more personal. This heavily affected the horror in both books. The latter book was much more terrifying for its close perspective and heavy circumstances. The former, however, had a bit of a lighter tone at times, as there were so many victories to weigh out the losses in the war on Zombies. I would say that while Devolution is more frightening and makes for a better horror book, World War Z makes for a great introspection into humanity and has a bit more hope in it, which I actually preferred. I have to note that I actually rated Devolution lower because it was so heavy at times that I had to take mental breaks, which made the experience not as much fun.

I really liked the retrospective I had while reading this book post-COVID and many other important events that have happened between now and 2006 when the book was first published. I think it's amazing how Brooks actually captured certain pandemic ideologies that cropped up during COVID, and the way the government didn't do as much until trouble was beyond the doorstep and into the house, so to speak. So many plague/apocalyptic books failed to accurately predict what pandemic life was actually like, but Brooks got fairly close. I also really enjoyed the meta aspect as well and all the worldbuilding.

I think my only gripe was that I had an issue remembering all the new names for countries, as well as the names and places where the "author" was interviewing various characters. I had known that several of them repeated eventually, but I was only able to follow a few. I think perhaps a character list and map would've really helped this book.

Otherwise, I had a great time reading this and could picture myself rereading it in the future. I definitely want to check out the movie that was made and see how that is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, War, Confinement, Gun violence, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Blood, Death, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Cannibalism, Child death, and Drug use

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Islamophobia, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Antisemitism

asipofcozy's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense medium-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

4.0

Usually, most people pick up a cozy Christmas read or romance book during the winter. I am definitely not one of those people.

I have seen the World War Z movie multiple times and while not the best zombie movie out there it was really good and gave a new perspective to the zombie apocalypse. So finally, after many years, I decided to pick up the book. Please be aware the book is nothing like the movie as the book is told in a documentary/interview style and the movie follows one character...who isn't even in the book.

I really enjoyed the style of writing. It brought us closer to the situation and gave us many perspectives on the zombie war and what happened in those beginning days of the spread. 

Brooks really touched on the basic human instinct of survival, fear, and what would you do to survive. What many of these characters went through and what they had to do to survive was quite appalling at times. Brooks also touched on how society reacts to a global pandemic and war. While this book was written in 2006 it's like Brooks foreshadowed our own pandemic and how we as a real society would react...it's sad and upsetting to think about.

There were so many times where I underlined a part of the book because it reminded me of our own situation and pandemic. And while I get this was a piece of science-fiction, it really highlighted on humans' basic instinct and survival. In the end we are just like any animal doing what it takes to survive in a vicious world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Cannibalism, Child death, War, Animal death, Cursing, Rape, Genocide, and Suicidal thoughts

chezler24's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

This was a re-read for me, and I can safely say that this is still one of the best pieces of zombie-related media out there. Brooks does an excellent job at creating a global view of the zombie war and even considers what it would be like to be stuck in space during the zombie apocalypse! The idea of constructing a book from a series of collected interviews helps show brief glimpses at how different people, groups, and nations dealt with this massive tragedy. While the zombie war is obviously not a real event, the way the book is makes it feel visceral, real, and undeniably human. (Also, after re-reading, I realized there is something a bit funny about me turning to a piece of media centered around a massive pandemic while also currently living through a massive pandemic.)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Murder, Child death, Animal death, Death, War, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Death of parent, Medical content, Body horror, and Blood

Minor: Cannibalism

ashurah's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death, Gore, and Violence

sarahholliday's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This brilliantly constructed book has become a horror classic for a reason. The complexity of Brooks' story, the detail with which he illuminates all aspect of life during and after the Zombie War, the wide range of moral codes he explores...it's utterly unique and will leave you in awe of the mind that came up with it all.

Because of that complexity it can occasionally feel like a slog to get through, especially the middle chapters, but it is still an expertly crafted and well-written book. Perfect for anyone looking for a horror novel without the jump scares or high tension.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, and War