Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

29 reviews

wildflowerragdoll's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I don't know what will stop me loving this book. Fair warning it may cause anxiety symptoms as it deals with topics of being alone, death, global apocalypse, cults and the harmful effects of organized religion. But I love its commentary on humanity and the prospect of something good coming out of chaos.

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alexeireads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

finished reading on august 26, 2021

i almost gave up on this book last year because i couldnt handle reading a book about a pandemic while i was living through one, but i finally picked it up again a week or two ago and im so fucking glad i did. instead of painfully reminding me that im currently living in a world ravaged by a pandemic, this book made me fall in love with the world; with humanity, with the compassion and serendipity and continuous need to *live* that exists in all of us—“because survival is insufficient.” what a beautiful, beautiful book.

 

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wordswoods's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was a ride. 
Station Eleven follows various people throughout the unraveling and aftermath of a worldwide pandemic. We also get flashbacks to their earlier lives. 
Written before the Covid-19 pandemic, some of the things that happen are all too realistic: stocking up on supplies like water, air traffic halting, people not being warned in time but mostly, people knowing about it but thinking it's probably not so bad and continuing their normal lives. 

The big difference, though, is that this pandemic's death rate is estimated to be around 99%. Air traffic never starts back up again and eventually, all power networks, electricity and the internet cease to be. A new kind of survival society unfolds. 

We follow different storylines in the past and present and learn why they are intertwined along the way. 

This novel is a tale of a pandemic gone wrong, a view into a post apocalyptic society, but also a reflection about which things really matter and why. 

You will not be disappointed. And I'm not going on a plane anytime soon. 

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alayamorning's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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pastelkerstin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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kitkat_kate's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

As you wander through the stories of all the different characters, and on different points of the timeline as well, it can feel a little jarring and disjointed.

Keep going.

The last quarter of the book beautifully ties all the stories together, connecting the Before Times and After Times, and giving the reader cause to hope for the future of this world.

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silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition

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funny mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • 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

4.0

I really couldn't say why I enjoyed this book. If I tried to explain it to anyone, I'd take about two sentences to explain the premise, which sounds fascinating and then end up with, "But all that happened was..." 

There are some interesting observations about life, and whole lot of random everyday life (pre-, mid-, and post-apocalypse), and a few very bad life decisions. Overall I found the characters likeable, but rarely admirable or especially interesting. There was some suspense around how different storylines fit together, and the resolution was quietly satisfying (though not surprising by the time got there). 

My only explanation for liking this book is that the writing must have been amazing (rather unobtrusively amazing, but that's how I prefer writing styles) to keep me so engaged, so I will probably try more books by the author.

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namizaela's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

"I stood looking over my damaged home and tried to forget the sweetness of life on Earth."

I don't usually read post-apocalyptic fiction, and I didn't really know much before reading this book, so I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that the whole premise of this book was exploring society after a devastating pandemic. Nevertheless, I read on, and honestly this book was not what I expected. The moments of tension were interrupted with chapters of character study, which I found a little strange. The plot seemed to go nowhere, and the climax of the book fell a little flat.
But I don't think the point of the book was to deliver a gripping plot. To me, the point seemed to be to explore what humanity really is. It's interesting to see how the individual character studies of the pre-pandemic world compare to the more sweeping generalizations about the post-apocalyptic human society. Both are done really well–in both cases, I got the sense that humans have the capacity for terrible evil as well as kindness. 
Even though this book wasn't what I was expecting at all, I loved it. The language is beautiful, and I especially loved the character of Miranda, who I think is written the best out of all of them. This was a wonderful, interesting story.

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glitzersmilla's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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