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helgamharb's review against another edition
3.0
The beginning of this huge book is intriguing and the characters are well-sketched and interesting. You want to read more and learn what is going to happen to them and how are they going to deal with the impending disaster; but you can't do that. You can't, because the story suddenly jumps to almost a hundred years later. And you are introduced to a bunch of brand new characters for whom you don't care enough to continue the hard labor of reading on.
I finished the book but am sorry to say i didn't care a bit about any of the people in the story and am not invested enough in it to read the second and third volume.
I finished the book but am sorry to say i didn't care a bit about any of the people in the story and am not invested enough in it to read the second and third volume.
sevenlefts's review against another edition
5.0
These definitely ain't no sparkly vampires.
I ran across this review in the New York Times and thought I'd give it a try. So, so glad I did. This book had me sucked in (ahem) from the beginning. As many horror novels do, this one starts with secret government/military experiments gone horribly wrong. A virus is set loose across North America, turning many of us into light-fearing, blood-sucking maniacs. But a few manage to survive, including one very special little girl.
The action jumps from the collapse of society forward a century to a time when only a few pockets of humanity have managed to survive in enclosed camps. Cronin paints a believable world with a culture that has developed to survive almost nightly onslaughts by these horrific creatures. In one such encampment, the batteries that have run the lights that keep the creatures at bay are starting to fail. A stranger arrives, a message is received, and a group strikes out to find help.
I like how Cronin jumps around with the timeline a bit during the early parts of the book, jumping forward and back yet not giving anything away until necessary. This books reads very cinematically -- it's a kind of a given that this will be turned into a movie. I just hope it's good. And that the next two books in the planned trilogy measure up. I'm looking forward to them.
I ran across this review in the New York Times and thought I'd give it a try. So, so glad I did. This book had me sucked in (ahem) from the beginning. As many horror novels do, this one starts with secret government/military experiments gone horribly wrong. A virus is set loose across North America, turning many of us into light-fearing, blood-sucking maniacs. But a few manage to survive, including one very special little girl.
The action jumps from the collapse of society forward a century to a time when only a few pockets of humanity have managed to survive in enclosed camps. Cronin paints a believable world with a culture that has developed to survive almost nightly onslaughts by these horrific creatures. In one such encampment, the batteries that have run the lights that keep the creatures at bay are starting to fail. A stranger arrives, a message is received, and a group strikes out to find help.
I like how Cronin jumps around with the timeline a bit during the early parts of the book, jumping forward and back yet not giving anything away until necessary. This books reads very cinematically -- it's a kind of a given that this will be turned into a movie. I just hope it's good. And that the next two books in the planned trilogy measure up. I'm looking forward to them.
maddog20's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-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? N/A
4.75
bodisstarr's review against another edition
The first portion was great and I thought I was hooked. Then it stalled; the plot was barely moving and I didn’t care about any of the new characters. When I realized I still had >13 hours left, I just couldn’t bring myself to keep going.
pumpkinmama's review against another edition
3.0
Very reminiscient of King's The Stand in situation/scope. If we had 1/2 stars I'd give it a 3.5 I enjoyed the 1st half much more than the second, and felt it got a bit rushed and hard to follow towards the latter half - which is funny because its not like its a short book! Overall a solid story and certainly entertained me for a while.
schung13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rocks_and_mountians's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
meowserly's review against another edition
5.0
Quite the ride. The set up takes a while, but it's with it. You know, if you're OK with heaps and heaps of Dystopic death within the horror/sci-fi genre.