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royalwaves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I canβt wait for the sequel that releases in March and I highly recommend this book. This is one of if not my favourite apocalypse book Iβve read. And the fact that itβs queer makes it even better.
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, and Murder
Minor: Racism, Sexism, and Vomit
kaz_brekker1's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Murder
Minor: Homophobia
leahhmorriss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Blood and Gun violence
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Homophobia
viivacious's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
gabriellesimpson's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Medical content, Violence, Homophobia, Murder, Gun violence, and Death
carina_dreamer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
π Dystopian books scare my anxiety. I like that they're meant to cause discussion and discomfort, but I want to read to escape my anxiety...
Given that this is a book about a post-apocalyptic world that went through a super-flu after COVID and lost like 90% of the population, I was still iffy about it. It didn't bring out bad memories from the Pandemic for me, but there are topics about grief over family members, so be careful.
(Note: it was written before the coronavirus and the author had to make little changes before publishing)
π Our main characters are: Andrew, a sassy gay teen, who stumbles with his injured leg on Jamison/Jamie's cabin. Jamie, a gentle and lonely teen, ends up saving his life and leg thanks to the medical diary his mother left him.
While Andrew recovers on Jamie's couch for a few weeks, the boys grow closer and their existences become irreplaceable for each other.
For some reason, they leave the cabin (as the map shows at the beginning of the book) and their friendship is put to the test many times. Finding food, and shelter, greeting or avoiding survivors, secret agendas and questions of the heart will be some of the things floating in their minds.
π Their growing friendship and bond are great and compensate for the slow burn in their romance. I value every moment they thought about how they saw each other and how they felt, especially Jamie discovering himself.
π This is mostly a book about two boys surviving together. They are broken by their own experiences and are put to the test by the harsh environment and people.
π While reading this book there were many times I forgot I was reading. The vibes are perfect for autumn, despite being a late spring/early summer book. I like the author's writing a lot and I will recommend this book always.
Rating: βββββ+π
Graphic: Death, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Hate crime, Homophobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, and Medical content
Minor: Misogyny, Child death, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts
pkc's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, Child death, Gaslighting, Medical content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Violence, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Gun violence, and Death of parent
luxxltyd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, and Animal death
sreddous's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A few things kept me from being fully immersed most of the time. I think I personally didn't really click with Andrew. I think his sense of humor grated on me, and I also got tired of the pop culture references reeeeal fast. I think SOME pop culture references are realistic (I'd miss Mario Bros games and Sailor Moon if the apocalypse happened in real life) and there are some times when Jamie and Andrew bond over talking about movies as a 'shared hobby' that's nice (I guess I hate to admit I, a Jacksonville native, did indeed lovingly roll my eyes at the Good Place and the Blake Bortles references), but.... whew. There are a LLLLLLOT. of. pop culture. references. Cutting..... half? of them would make things fit better and would feel less "guess what else I can shoehorn in!", IMO.
The romance I think was mostly well-paced-enough, although I think some of the scenes where they actually opened up to each other about their feelings felt a bit rushed -- speaking generically to avoid spoilers as much as possible, the bad guys ....just didn't pay attention, they were just "Celebrating"? While Jamie and Andrew were talking about all these really important things? I don't think I believe that that would happen. It feels like the romantic reveal stuff, and Cara's involvement and her feelings, was all happening so late in the book that it just needed to be rushed through, and that's a shame.
Still, in general, this book does a good job showing a plot or character-building point early that then pays off later. I like how Jamie struggles to use the gun and how Andrew mulls over what it means to trust people. Tense, sad, hopeful stuff!
Moderate: Gun violence and Homophobia
avacadosocks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Blood, and Child death
Minor: Racism and Vomit