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katharasecunda's review against another edition
Too much religious stuff for me to deal with, having some religious trauma. Same reason why I didn't jive with Station Eleven.
lotswife's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
anitavdbos's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
luluguid's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
mbcovarrubias's review against another edition
4.0
I think this is probably one of [a:Chuck Wendig|17152|Chuck Wendig|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1294919586p2/17152.jpg]'s best books! It is extremely relevant to today, and this current era in humanity. However, I do not think that it has lasting potential. There are some very strong truths within the themes that speak to right here and right now, that may not be relevant in a few years, hopefully. I've had the pleasure of interacting with Mr. Wendig a few times on twitter, and it seems that our circles very much intersected in this novel and his thoughts.
I grew up in an extremely radicalized Evangelical Christian community. You never really know how radical a community is until after you are far removed from them. There are a lot of themes in this novel that I found ran through my own past as well as some other wonderful pop-culture icons of this era such as The Handmaid's Tale (TV Series), The Perfection (Netflix movie), and even intersecting his own common theme of the dangers of technology and the internet found in his other novels. I bring up my past because one of the major characters in the novel, Matthew Bird, read very familiar to me.
I was a "Progressive Christian" minister who still dabbled in speaking about prophecies and eschatology. This was so much of my identity that it didn't allow me to see what was right in front of me; my wife and my son. Though this was more of a Side plot, it very much helped to see how I also contributed to the division that Christianity is now experiencing. As I have since stepped out of that role and am very much working on being myself, and enjoying my life in myself. I saw a lot of the pain that this particular character endured, and would continue to endure.
I thoroughly enjoyed the themes of how religion, politics, and even reliance on technology can lead to radicalism. I'm not super happy with the twist at the end. Though I do see how it fits in with the themes, it just didn't feel right to me. There was something unsettling about how the story ended for me. Not sure why that was. It was due to this that I didn't give it a full 5 stars. Overall I was quite pleased with this read.
I grew up in an extremely radicalized Evangelical Christian community. You never really know how radical a community is until after you are far removed from them. There are a lot of themes in this novel that I found ran through my own past as well as some other wonderful pop-culture icons of this era such as The Handmaid's Tale (TV Series), The Perfection (Netflix movie), and even intersecting his own common theme of the dangers of technology and the internet found in his other novels. I bring up my past because one of the major characters in the novel, Matthew Bird, read very familiar to me.
I was a "Progressive Christian" minister who still dabbled in speaking about prophecies and eschatology. This was so much of my identity that it didn't allow me to see what was right in front of me; my wife and my son. Though this was more of a Side plot, it very much helped to see how I also contributed to the division that Christianity is now experiencing. As I have since stepped out of that role and am very much working on being myself, and enjoying my life in myself. I saw a lot of the pain that this particular character endured, and would continue to endure.
I thoroughly enjoyed the themes of how religion, politics, and even reliance on technology can lead to radicalism. I'm not super happy with the twist at the end. Though I do see how it fits in with the themes, it just didn't feel right to me. There was something unsettling about how the story ended for me. Not sure why that was. It was due to this that I didn't give it a full 5 stars. Overall I was quite pleased with this read.
cjpenner's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
swashbuckling_mathematician's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
kaebirdie's review against another edition
2.0
This book could easily have been half as large and conveyed just as much. I'm finishing it because i don't want to walk away from it...but it's a slog. Maybe it's different by eye, but the audiobook is not a great fit for me. Neither reader can do an Irish accent (Pete Corly) or a good British accent (Sadie), and i think if you can't do a good facsimile of an accent, don't do any.
Additionally, the Matthew Bird plot line just...doesn't hang together well for me. No spoilers, but i honestly didn't find it believable. And yes, i know a certain suspension of belief is key, but some stuff works and some stuff just doesn't, for me.
There were some good lines that hit well, and obviously it was compelling enough for me to keep reading, but i won't be dipping into the sequel. At 32 hours, this was easily 16 hours too long for me.
Additionally, the Matthew Bird plot line just...doesn't hang together well for me. No spoilers, but i honestly didn't find it believable. And yes, i know a certain suspension of belief is key, but some stuff works and some stuff just doesn't, for me.
There were some good lines that hit well, and obviously it was compelling enough for me to keep reading, but i won't be dipping into the sequel. At 32 hours, this was easily 16 hours too long for me.
flowerhatprincess's review against another edition
2.0
3.5/5 Stars
I was super interested at the begging of this book; the mystery had me completely hooked. It really wasn't until the middle of the book that I felt like the book started to drag a bit. And by the last two hundred pages I was ready for it to be over.
I think the only reason I made it throw this log was thanks to listening to the audiobook on 1.8x speed almost the whole time, cutting what would have been a 32.5-hour audiobook into roughly 18hrs. The audiobook flipped between a man and a woman which I really enjoyed and helped keep the characters discernable.
At one point there's a rockstar that gets involved and even though I really liked his character, in the end, I still feel like his character is unnecessary and could have saved the book significant chunks of time. I thought the main bad guys were a strange choice, instead of it being a government/military involvement or even the virus being a bigger threat would have made more sense than them essentially getting attacked by hillbillies out in the middle of nowhere. I didn't dislike it, I just kind of hoped it was going to be a small event in the book that sort of took over the plot line. There are some very intense violent scenes, some r-pe, and some light gore.
The characters themselves were... ehhh for me. My feelings for the main protagonist, Shana, stayed the same throughout most of the book. Though I did like her relationship with Arav and the plot line with that was very interesting, her constant paranoia near the end of the book becomes annoying pretty quickly.
Benjamin was a good guy, but at the same time, he just seemed like an average Joe that got chosen to be a part of this "quest" for no real reason. His relationships are fine but I become that invested in them and I think how he handled the flock was fine I guess.
Matthew is probably the character that went through the most in this book and had the most character changes. At some points, you root for him and at others, you wish he'd get dragged down. But, in the end, for me, he really gave too many religious monologues, most of which said the similar things. That being said- I did ultimately end up liking his character.
The rockstar and his boyfriend were a fun side thing that got dragged out for far too long in my opinion, but at the same time, they were enjoyable. But I still feel like I could have read this whole book without them and not have known anything different. In fact, at one point, I thought it would be more interesting if their characters got switched out for one in a city POV, to see what life is like over there.
The main bad guy, Ozark, what a piece of sh1t. We do not like this guy! He's a sadistic, cold, ruthless, stupid, selfish, and power-hungry monster! He'd probably be a dictator if could be! He was a good villain for what he was a shotgun-loving freak, but I thought some other villains could have been a nice touch for this story.
I don't recall very many plot twists during the book, but I particularly enjoyed the twist at the end. It did kind of make me want to pick up the next book in the series, but only if it goes in a completely different direction. For me, this book was about 200 pages too long, a little weak in the villain's department, but the mystery was good, and it was written great.
There was some interesting commentary in this book that made me think this book was published in mid-2020 but surprisingly it's from the year before giving this book and it's coincidences with Covid being the scariest thing to come out of this book.
I was super interested at the begging of this book; the mystery had me completely hooked. It really wasn't until the middle of the book that I felt like the book started to drag a bit. And by the last two hundred pages I was ready for it to be over.
I think the only reason I made it throw this log was thanks to listening to the audiobook on 1.8x speed almost the whole time, cutting what would have been a 32.5-hour audiobook into roughly 18hrs. The audiobook flipped between a man and a woman which I really enjoyed and helped keep the characters discernable.
At one point there's a rockstar that gets involved and even though I really liked his character, in the end, I still feel like his character is unnecessary and could have saved the book significant chunks of time. I thought the main bad guys were a strange choice, instead of it being a government/military involvement or even the virus being a bigger threat would have made more sense than them essentially getting attacked by hillbillies out in the middle of nowhere. I didn't dislike it, I just kind of hoped it was going to be a small event in the book that sort of took over the plot line. There are some very intense violent scenes, some r-pe, and some light gore.
The characters themselves were... ehhh for me. My feelings for the main protagonist, Shana, stayed the same throughout most of the book. Though I did like her relationship with Arav and the plot line with that was very interesting, her constant paranoia near the end of the book becomes annoying pretty quickly.
Benjamin was a good guy, but at the same time, he just seemed like an average Joe that got chosen to be a part of this "quest" for no real reason. His relationships are fine but I become that invested in them and I think how he handled the flock was fine I guess.
Matthew is probably the character that went through the most in this book and had the most character changes. At some points, you root for him and at others, you wish he'd get dragged down. But, in the end, for me, he really gave too many religious monologues, most of which said the similar things. That being said- I did ultimately end up liking his character.
The rockstar and his boyfriend were a fun side thing that got dragged out for far too long in my opinion, but at the same time, they were enjoyable. But I still feel like I could have read this whole book without them and not have known anything different. In fact, at one point, I thought it would be more interesting if their characters got switched out for one in a city POV, to see what life is like over there.
The main bad guy, Ozark, what a piece of sh1t. We do not like this guy! He's a sadistic, cold, ruthless, stupid, selfish, and power-hungry monster! He'd probably be a dictator if could be! He was a good villain for what he was a shotgun-loving freak, but I thought some other villains could have been a nice touch for this story.
I don't recall very many plot twists during the book, but I particularly enjoyed the twist at the end. It did kind of make me want to pick up the next book in the series, but only if it goes in a completely different direction. For me, this book was about 200 pages too long, a little weak in the villain's department, but the mystery was good, and it was written great.
There was some interesting commentary in this book that made me think this book was published in mid-2020 but surprisingly it's from the year before giving this book and it's coincidences with Covid being the scariest thing to come out of this book.