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namizaela's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Medical trauma, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide, Gun violence, and Medical content
Minor: Mental illness and Adult/minor relationship
king_taliesin's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
** spoiler alert ** I read this at age 15 and I adored it. The book stayed in my thoughts as one of the greatest post-apocalypses I've ever read for 6 long years. I am not the same person I was at age 15, for better or for worse.
Now reading this at 21, it is still one of the most beautiful and thoughtful books I've ever read. But also reading it during the Covid-19 pandemic was especially hard and at times I hated the book. The words that soothed me at 15, haunted me now. 3 million people have lost their lives to a disease that ripped through the world, and a year on we still have not recovered. Whatever happens now, the world will never be the same. As with every apocalypse, we have lost something to this pandemic - lives, innocence, trust.
This review is rambling but I don't know how to look at this book through the lens of fantasy anymore. The Georgia flu is fictional and far more deadly than Covid-19 (thank fuck), but that was never the point of Station Eleven. Station Eleven is about what persists, rather than what we've lost.
Doctor Eleven outlives his creator, Arthur's life is preserved through magazine clippings, the Museum of Civilisation is lovingly preserved, lights begin to turn on in the darkness.
Now reading this at 21, it is still one of the most beautiful and thoughtful books I've ever read. But also reading it during the Covid-19 pandemic was especially hard and at times I hated the book. The words that soothed me at 15, haunted me now. 3 million people have lost their lives to a disease that ripped through the world, and a year on we still have not recovered. Whatever happens now, the world will never be the same. As with every apocalypse, we have lost something to this pandemic - lives, innocence, trust.
This review is rambling but I don't know how to look at this book through the lens of fantasy anymore. The Georgia flu is fictional and far more deadly than Covid-19 (thank fuck), but that was never the point of Station Eleven. Station Eleven is about what persists, rather than what we've lost.
Doctor Eleven outlives his creator, Arthur's life is preserved through magazine clippings, the Museum of Civilisation is lovingly preserved, lights begin to turn on in the darkness.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Death of parent, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Murder, Pedophilia, Suicide, Violence, and Gun violence
Minor: Torture, Stalking, and Sexual assault
deals heavily with an infectious, flu-like disease that kills the infected host very quickly. comments about the pandemic. can be very triggering due to real-life parallels to the Covid-19 pandemic
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