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larabreanne's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
graciekunik's review
4.0
This book just seemed cool at a used bookstore (I totally judged a book by its cover) and low and behold…..it was cool!!! Also so freakishly prophetic (it was written 2013-2019 about a pandemic caused by a coronavirus called “Aramis”) that at times I couldn’t even believe it was written BEFORE covid-19.
3.5-4 stars because I love when stories are told from many perspectives and I LOVED how this one blended every story into one. It was cool to see how interconnected all of these characters were and how attached I became to certain storylines. It just got a little slow in the storylines I was less into. So good! So full of human love and sacrifice and cute things humans do.
3.5-4 stars because I love when stories are told from many perspectives and I LOVED how this one blended every story into one. It was cool to see how interconnected all of these characters were and how attached I became to certain storylines. It just got a little slow in the storylines I was less into. So good! So full of human love and sacrifice and cute things humans do.
astrilde's review
3.0
3.5 Stars
A story about a group of people all connected somehow as the world faces a deadly pandemic*.
A little confusing at first keeping all the people and how they are connected straight in my brain and there are a few loose threads that don't get tied up before the books ends though I will not say because of spoilers. Pay attention at the beginning of each chaper as the book jumps back and forwards through time with different chapters as well as characters.
*This year is for disaster books, to prove that as bad as 2020 has been, it could be worse!
A story about a group of people all connected somehow as the world faces a deadly pandemic*.
A little confusing at first keeping all the people and how they are connected straight in my brain and there are a few loose threads that don't get tied up before the books ends though I will not say because of spoilers. Pay attention at the beginning of each chaper as the book jumps back and forwards through time with different chapters as well as characters.
*This year is for disaster books, to prove that as bad as 2020 has been, it could be worse!
benrogerswpg's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't enjoy it very much.
I don't think literary fiction is my bag.
1.8/5
I don't think literary fiction is my bag.
1.8/5
charlotatot's review
4.0
Terrifying how accurate this book is. Ending just sort of ... trailed off though, which I am finding is rather trendy. I'd love something a bit more final, but I suppose, like COVID, ARAMIS just keeps on going ...
trout_lily's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
The fact that she wrote this novel before COVID made this book intriguing to me and I wanted to see how she unwrapped her fictional pandemic story given our real experiences since 2020. I am also really drawn to books about characters with intersecting lives navigating disasters and looking for a way forward. So I was doubly looking looking forward to it.
35 pages in and I was done. But, while waiting for other books to arrive from the library I went back and finished it.
The characters are formulaic and so flat that I just don't care about their lives. More bizarrely, it centred mediocre, shitty, white men with the all but one white woman as nagging desperate women with adjacent story lines. Even then they were one dimensional. Aramis Girl/ Ed was the only interesting character and given the nature of anti-Asian racism eluded to, she was given very short shrift and served as a backdrop to a white man. Why, why why??
The pandemic itself feels like a lacklustre backdrop. Given all the research that went into this book I expected a little more urgency of the situation and little more time early on with the viral spread and the societal changes to get set the ambience for the character arcs. No doing.
I wonder if we were not experiencing the COVID pandemic in real life, would this book be better? I don't think so.
35 pages in and I was done. But, while waiting for other books to arrive from the library I went back and finished it.
The characters are formulaic and so flat that I just don't care about their lives. More bizarrely, it centred mediocre, shitty, white men with the all but one white woman as nagging desperate women with adjacent story lines. Even then they were one dimensional. Aramis Girl/ Ed was the only interesting character and given the nature of anti-Asian racism eluded to, she was given very short shrift and served as a backdrop to a white man. Why, why why??
The pandemic itself feels like a lacklustre backdrop. Given all the research that went into this book I expected a little more urgency of the situation and little more time early on with the viral spread and the societal changes to get set the ambience for the character arcs. No doing.
I wonder if we were not experiencing the COVID pandemic in real life, would this book be better? I don't think so.
storybookvisitor's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jonathan_piers's review
challenging
dark
emotional
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
3.0
nessa_8l's review
the start is kinda boring. i’m sure if i continued it would get interesting but i don’t have the patience rn.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content
kaybyrdy's review
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Pros: Good descriptions of characters and the pandemic in general. I liked that the writing allowed me to connect the dots in the midst of the story and go back to see if i was right / if the plot point was foreshadowed initially.
Cons: Too many characters that couldn’t be thoroughly fleshed out. I personally think the writing should’ve just been focused on Sarah, Owen, and Elliott. I didn’t gaf about ARAMIS girl nor Stuy and his wife. Some information was needlessly given for sake of description and became a bore to read. AND THE ENDING OMG. The ending sucked so bad. Now i understand literature critiques about endings because the ending was so rushed and she just killed half the characters off lmao.