Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

98 reviews

iamcortney's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

A thoughtful reflection on a disease-driven apocalypse. I have always been interested in the moments and days right when the end comes, rather than "we were happy and fine" and then "20 years later". This novel includes a great distribution of events before, during, and after the collapse of civilization. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, and Grief

Minor: Violence, Child abuse, and Suicide

While the apocalypse is caused by a pandemic, there are no graphic details of the illness and death by it. When described it is in more general terms of flu-like symptoms and delirium. I tagged religious bigotry as graphic because there is a violent cult with "we are the light, you are the darkness" type of mentality, "we are saved/chosen because we survived the plague." The cult references the Christian book of Revelations but otherwise there is no explicit uses of Christianity to oppress/kill others, just out of context quotes. The minor child abuse tag is due to mention of child brides, though there is no graphic descriptions of it.

astridrv's review against another edition

Exquisite writing, a real page turner, neatly done. The author successfully made me marvel at the wonderful improbability of our lives. And the theme of fame and what remains of the narrative of our lives was a smart choice too. A well executed book that was a delight to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Death, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Suicide, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Sexual assault

bookswithbethx's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Mental illness, Gun violence, Medical content, Pedophilia, Animal death, Blood, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Murder, Sexism, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Medical content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Car accident, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

arborapollonis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, and Grief

analenegrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

I'd known of the HBO show but I hadn't ever watched it, and I'm glad I haven't. This book is so engaging, beautiful, and made me think so much about what makes humanity. 

It's simultaneously an easy read because of how well-written it is, but also so hard to read in a post-2020 world where COVID fundamentally changed so many things. So much of the book was familiar; Mandel has a keen understanding of how we as a society react to things. Some of the standouts include a dedication to theater and the arts, a dedication to preservation, and relying on religion to the point of madness. All of these things were seen in our pandemic as well as in this book. 

I cannot recommend it enough, and I will probably be thinking about it for a long time after reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Alcohol, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Violence

musicalpopcorn's review

dark emotional reflective tense 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? No

4.5

When a plague strikes the world, the people who survive are left to survive as best they can.

I quite enjoyed this book. Emily St John Mandel is fast becoming my favourite author. I like the way she weaves her stories and ties things together with neat but emotional little bows. I quite liked how this was a little different than a standard post-apocalyptic book in that it was based more on relationships and less on the nitty-gritty of survival. I also liked how there was a lot of speculation about how people would reminisce and find different memories of technology to fixate on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Suicide, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Medical content, Blood, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Mental illness, Alcohol, Abandonment, Rape, Pedophilia, and Panic attacks/disorders

indigosl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious medium-paced

3.75

The post-pandemic context was exciting and the world building was interesting. I thought it brought up some fascinating ideas of cultism, community, and the arts. However, key observations of the implications of this new-world and the associated themes seemed to, at times, fall flat. Nonetheless an enjoyable read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Death, and Murder

Minor: Gun violence, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

miller8d's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.0

Absolutely loved the storytelling technique, world-building, and flow of descriptive language.
Note: I pictured Richard Ayoade as Jeevan, Jesse Plemons as August, Con O’Neill as Dieter, Andrew Garfield as Sayid, Andre Michaan very faintly as Clark, and a wishy-washy mix of Tom Hiddleston/Brian Cox as Arthur.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Kidnapping, Trafficking, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Religious bigotry, Violence, Pedophilia, Slavery, Genocide, Gun violence, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Child death, Death of parent, Death, and Suicidal thoughts

I added lots of content warnings for this book, but as a pretty sensitive person, I can honestly say I didn’t find this book upsetting— moreso realistic in an apocalyptic context. It touches on many serious topics but it does so in a justified and non-shocking way.

hflh's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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

4.5

If you are looking for a post-apocalyptic adventure, this might not be for you. The present day setting follows characters navigating a post-apocalyptic Great Lakes after several years after a devastating pandemic. The post-pandemic and during-pandemic world is incredibly compelling, but most of the book bounces between the lives of a few characters pre-pandemic.  

A lot of the past sections focus on things related to not being happy with where your life is going/has gone. I would not recommend reading this book if you’re in a stage like that in your life. With the way St. John Mandel writes, it can feel quite heavy and depressing sitting in those feelings. 

 

If you are thinking about reading this after watching the show, I highly recommend reading. The show changes quite a few things and the book is a similar but much different and worthwhile experience. The book also handles

Frank’s death

in a less ableist way and I thought the show does Jeevan and Miranda’s characters a bit dirty.

 
St. John Mandel writes in a way that I haven’t experienced before. Partially through using 3rd person omniscient, she does an incredibly good job of capturing a really melancholic, distant feeling that was intense to sit with but also so engaging. I also absolutely loved the non-chronological skips in and out of different characters’ lives.   

 

The present day characters aren’t particularly developed as the present day is more about the collective experience of a post-pandemic world which I didn’t mind. This is where I’d recommend readers watch the show because it was cool seeing a different take on the story with more focus on present day.

 

My biggest issue was the ending. I liked it as a concept but it was really rushed and read more like a brief summary of events which made for an unsatisfying conclusion after the slower build. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Murder

Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, Suicide, and Death of parent