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Reviews tagging 'War'
You Feel It Just Below the Ribs by Jeffrey Cranor, Janina Matthewson
37 reviews
dryriver's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.25
I enjoyed this dystopian, post-apocalyptic read. It felt like a true memoir and had a hazy, melancholic feel that added to the clouded truth within the storyline.
Dr. Mariam Gregory was born into the collapse of society during the early 1900s, leading to her immediate family's death and hyperindependence. She eventually learned a method of meditation, called the "watercolor quiet" which she further developed as a quasi-psychologist. This is occasionally interrupted by the "editors" of her memoir, who claim it is riddled with inaccuracies. This book's framing makes it feel dark and questionable, especially as Mariam discovers what has been done with her work.
While I like the realistic feel of Mariam's recollection, this also makes the storyline feel piecey at times and muddles any clear themes. I wish that the authors pursued some of the large concepts more independently rather than frequently switching the moral focus. I love that they created such intense moral conflicts, but many of these areas felt underdeveloped. Again, maybe this is the result of having a believable personal narrative, but I was left wishing for a bit more.
Overall I think this is an intriguing novel for those who love post-apocalyptic and morally questionable themes.
Dr. Mariam Gregory was born into the collapse of society during the early 1900s, leading to her immediate family's death and hyperindependence. She eventually learned a method of meditation, called the "watercolor quiet" which she further developed as a quasi-psychologist. This is occasionally interrupted by the "editors" of her memoir, who claim it is riddled with inaccuracies. This book's framing makes it feel dark and questionable, especially as Mariam discovers what has been done with her work.
While I like the realistic feel of Mariam's recollection, this also makes the storyline feel piecey at times and muddles any clear themes. I wish that the authors pursued some of the large concepts more independently rather than frequently switching the moral focus. I love that they created such intense moral conflicts, but many of these areas felt underdeveloped. Again, maybe this is the result of having a believable personal narrative, but I was left wishing for a bit more.
Overall I think this is an intriguing novel for those who love post-apocalyptic and morally questionable themes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Death
Moderate: Abandonment and Forced institutionalization
standardgoose's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Death, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, and Child death
Minor: Gore
cubbykay's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
The Within the Wires series is principally built on unreliable narrators. Such is the nature of a universe where you do not have the freedom to keep your own memories. Even in cases such as Dr. Gregory that predate the Great Reckoning, this novel reminds us that memory is a fragile thing, warped by time and bias. This was an incredible way to flesh out the WtW universe in a way the limited format of a "found audio" podcast could not have delved into. I have some qualms about the footnotes shilling out a bit too much judgment for an organization interested in the preservation of history. But I've settled with the idea that it is a clumsy prod to the audience to not trust every voice, even those that claim to be neutral. Overall, stellar book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Medical trauma
Moderate: Child death and Pregnancy
Minor: Bullying, Gun violence, and Death of parent
catalyst226's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
Incredibly compelling and unsettling and definitely one of my favorite reads this year. The story has both an unreliable narrator and biased framing that makes you question what is true. Pulls in vibes of Parable of the Sower, The Giver, and just a little bit of The Handmaid's Tale (sans religious overtones). I'm very happy with the audiobook delivery and will likely purchase a physical copy because I enjoyed it so much. Highly recommend if you enjoy dystopian fiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Torture, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Child death and Pregnancy
Minor: Gun violence
seaweed's review against another edition
You Feel It Just Below The Ribs took me 3 weeks to finish, despite low page count and easy sentence structure, because it was boring, unnecessary and not particularly well-written (very quotable though! hooray for that).
If you have not familiar with the podcast Within The Wires, there is a chance you could enjoy it, since everything will be new information to you.
If you are a fan of the podcast, don't waste your time. I can guarantee that whatever you imagined about its world will be ten times more interesting than what the team chose to commit to. It feels as if the authors had a couple of ideas (already implemented inside the podcast) and thought to themselves: hm, can we squeeze a book out of this without bringing anything new or original to the table? - and then proceeded to do exactly that. There is one function it could serve - as a timeline, and a subpar one at that, since this fictional memoir barely uses dates.
If you have not familiar with the podcast Within The Wires, there is a chance you could enjoy it, since everything will be new information to you.
If you are a fan of the podcast, don't waste your time. I can guarantee that whatever you imagined about its world will be ten times more interesting than what the team chose to commit to. It feels as if the authors had a couple of ideas (already implemented inside the podcast) and thought to themselves: hm, can we squeeze a book out of this without bringing anything new or original to the table? - and then proceeded to do exactly that. There is one function it could serve - as a timeline, and a subpar one at that, since this fictional memoir barely uses dates.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
aileron's review
dark
reflective
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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Child death, and Torture
Moderate: Pregnancy, War, and Death of parent
Minor: Gun violence and Animal cruelty
abookwithreview's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Actual rating for this book is 4.5 stars.
I listened to the audiobook of this, and honestly I wish I could hear it for the first time again. I found it by using shuffle mode on Libby and had absolutely NO idea what it was about upon starting. I'm so glad I did though.
Unlike most dystopian novels, this one is not during the unquestioning after a society has been set up but instead in the before and during (mostly). We are allowed a front row seat to how this alternate timeline ended up where they did, with glimpses of how people are propagandized throughout.
A mid paced story with a haunting LGBTQ+ romance, this book was close to perfect.
I listened to the audiobook of this, and honestly I wish I could hear it for the first time again. I found it by using shuffle mode on Libby and had absolutely NO idea what it was about upon starting. I'm so glad I did though.
Unlike most dystopian novels, this one is not during the unquestioning after a society has been set up but instead in the before and during (mostly). We are allowed a front row seat to how this alternate timeline ended up where they did, with glimpses of how people are propagandized throughout.
A mid paced story with a haunting LGBTQ+ romance, this book was close to perfect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Torture, and War
Pandemic mentioned, psychological reprogramming, and psychological torture mentionedkb_icarus3's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Death, Police brutality, Torture, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and War
aimnorth's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, War, and Medical content
librarymouse's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-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
5.0
I've found that I love the niche of nonfiction/memoirs written about a fictional world and fictional people. I really loved this book. Cranor and Matthewson have a talent for describing a character's descent into into madness/paranoia/a conspiracy as a reasonable, understandable, and extended progression. They way they build suspense is very much like the frog and boiling water metaphor, and they pull you right alongside the characters. Miriam feels like a friend, and I desperately want more information about the world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Vomit, Medical trauma, Murder, Genocide, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer