Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

27 reviews

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

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

kelly_e's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective 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? No

3.0

Title: Station Eleven
Author: Emily St. John Mandel
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: September 9, 2014

T H R E E • W O R D S

Evocative • Ambitious • Eerie

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.

Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Despite hearing (and reading) so many glowing reviews from my bookish community for Station Eleven, I had no plan to pick it up... until it landed on the 2023 Canada Reads shortlist. Since 2021, I've made a point of reading as many books from the longlist as possible, with a particular focus on the five shortlisted titles. And so, despite knowing this wasn't likely to be my cup of tea, I borrowed a digital copy from my library.

I'll start by saying, I truly appreciated the dystopian Canadian content. Emily St. John Mandel has carefully constructed a realistic (eerily so) and reflective tale of post-apocalyptic survival. And of course, it's incredibly well written. While I know the ambiguous ending has been a point of contention between readers, for me it actually seemed the most fitting.

Despite that, I just wasn't a fan of the story or the structure. It's told in three different timelines from several points of view, and I definitely liked certain section a lot more than others. At times, I found myself disappointed to reach the end of a chapter only to find out I'd be ripped from what was happening in that storyline. Additionally, the plot just held very little interest for me. I'll admit coming out of a pandemic was probably not the right time to read this book, and it's quite possible the past three years impacted my reading experience.

I completely understand why so many readers love Emily St. John Mandel's descriptive and poetic writing style, yet Station Eleven was not a book for me. I don't think it's surprising it landed on this years Canada Reads list, as it definitely stimulates thought and discussion. I am looking forward to seeing how it'll fair on the panel, but in my opinion it doesn't necessarily fit the theme of shifting one's perspective.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Emily St. John Mandel enthusiasts
• readers looking for pandemic fiction

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"What I mean to say is, the more you remember, the more you've lost." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Violence, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Murder, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Infidelity, Blood, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Ableism, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

juliahendrickson's review

challenging reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Murder, Suicide, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Stalking

undecidedpersonality's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Grief, Gun violence, and Medical content

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Animal death, Pedophilia, and Body horror

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Alcohol, Drug use, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

anarchist_al's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

An absolutely gorgeous, gorgeous book. Haunting to read after 2020. I loved the twisting timelines and perspectives and finally seeing all the connections form and play out and pass. I want to know everything about this world and every single character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death of parent, and Infidelity

Minor: Rape and Pregnancy

readbycarina's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Suicide, Gun violence, and Trafficking

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Rape

Minor: Blood, Abandonment, and Terminal illness

whatathymeitwas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Child death

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Blood, Alcohol, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Animal death, Mental illness, Drug use, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual content

sbsreads's review against another edition

hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Though this book is marketed as dystopian at first, it takes a reflective and emotional look into the aftermath of an apocalypse with fascinating glimpses into life before and how it affects those who survived. It was very different from most dystopian that I’ve read before and I loved the reflective nature of it!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

This book is centered in an apocalyptic pandemic so it may be triggering.

owenwilsonbaby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

"He woke to quiet voices. This had been happening more and more lately, this nodding off unexpectedly, and it left him with an unsettled intimation of rehearsal. You fall asleep for short periods and then for longer periods and then forever."

Compellingly written prose with a well-developed cast of characters. Whilst I wish Kristen's storyline had more events within it, I really liked the book and I think it is both hopeful and unsentimental about humanity, in a way that I suspect might be altered in the TV adaptation. 

This book has a lot to say about art and community-building and the role these will play in coming crises. It felt resonant with ecological anxieties about climate change and social anxieties in the age of COVID-19. Some of the passages about process and industrialisation felt a tad oversimplified and neoliberal - surely an Amazon delivery driver or a factory worker making snowglobes has complex, nuanced feelings about their labour and their lives that goes beyond gratitude for a job - but everything else was thoughtful, interesting, well-paced and moving. I loved Kirsten and Miranda. What wonderful characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Child abuse, Confinement, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, and Mental illness