Reviews with content warning for Death - Station Eleven

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

449 reviews

ksheaffs's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Station 11 is my favorite kind of book, where somehow the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s subtle while you’re actively reading it but sinks in once you’ve set it down and leaves you with the feeling that you’ve just experienced something really special. In a word, it’s dazzling.

If you’re looking for a suspenseful Walking Dead esq post apocalyptic novel and nothing else, Station 11 might disappoint. Yes this plot is present but is it more a device to examine the characters and how they rebuild their identities after a catastrophic event draws a line between the world they know and a world they can’t begin to imagine. The switching pov and multiple timelines unravel a complex web of a select group of people all connected through one man. Pick this book up for its beautiful prose, its vibrant characters, its atmospheric quality, and its unpacking of the the question, “if survival is insufficient, what does it take to thrive?”

Content Warnings

liesbethvv's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This was my first foray into dystopian literature and my heart was heavy with anticipatory dread. It shouldn’t have been. This was by no means a light read, but I was on the edge of my seat, wanting to know the paths of the main characters after a virus wiped out the majority of earth’s population. It rang close to home, with the panini still going strong, but it somehow also managed to be just a little hopeful. Not a lot, but you can find some meaning, connection and humanity hidden in the war zone that is planet earth after a disaster. Plus, the book has the added bonus (to me personally) of having the ‘characters linked by objects’ trope that I love. Would recommend!

Content Warnings

hkropp77's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is so amazingly intertwined. My favorite part is that it’s told pre and post pandemic.

Content Warnings

realalexmartin's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Reading this book after being in a pandemic for two years is one way to rehash trauma!

Content Warnings

braynard's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was initially recommended to me by a professor who wanted to include it in our tragedy class, but cut it for time. And let me tell you, this book was not the easiest thing to read in 2022. The writing style and story were beautiful, but the content hit a bit close to home.

Emily St. John Mandel's writing style in this book is succinct yet elegant. She keeps it simple, but this never detracts from the emotions of the story. If anything, the reserved quality makes you feel the emotions more. I don't often cry over books, but one scene had me sobbing with only a few sentences and an implication.

She handles the multiple plot lines with just as much grace. The stories of Arthur, Kirsten (a traveling actress who was only a kid when the pandemic began), Jeevan (a former paparazzo who tries to save Arthur's life), Miranda (Arthur's ex-wife and comic artist), and Clark (Arthur's old friend) are beautifully woven together to create a rich narrative.

And while I have seen some reviews upset that not of the plot lines and characters came together in the end, I think that its the mark of a mature narrative. Realistically, the chances of all of them meeting in the end is unlikely, and part of the beauty of this book is the harsh realism.

This book tackles a lot of hard questions. What is the point of art in crisis? How do we survive? Why do we survive? What do we know when everything we have known is gone? While COVID-19 is not as bad as the Georgian Flu, these questions still resonate for us, especially those of us who lost people or have been permanently affected by the virus.

This book can be a hard read for people, but I would definitely recommend it.

Content Warnings

audge's review against another edition

4.0

dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

wow this was a journey. i'm so glad i finally read this. i love it. on the surface, it looks like just another post-apocalyptic story but it's so introspective. this is actually about humanity and reflections on life. the way the author weaves the character's storylines is incredible especially this was told in a non-linear way. very much looking forward to watching the show now!

Content Warnings