Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

All That's Left in the World by Erik J. Brown

32 reviews

just_klaudia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

smasson13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was such a surprise. 

Honestly, I imagined I was done with apocalypse books in a COVID world, but this was peddled to me hard as the queer romance I needed.  

It was so much more than a romance or a post apocalypse book. As a YA novel, some themes were pretty obvious, but over all it was beautifully written and addressed such a difficult topic at a difficult time. 

The main characters are adorable and they cry and it's real! That being said, I found their voices very similar so occasionally would have to look back and see whose chapter I was reading. As well, the side characters are a little under developed. 

The romance doesn't feel forced. Instead it's just sweet moments and a whole lot of feelings. 

Besides the cute queer romance though, this book was really well written as an adventure. While it may have followed some cliché storyline and themes, it never once felt forced or fake. Instead it was riveting. I was always unsure where the story would go next and the tense moments truly got my heart racing. 

So while there may be flaws, it still receives a full 5 stars for me 🌟 What a fantastic novel, told with a gentle handle, for our very fragile world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Medical content, and Murder

Minor: Biphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

anniereads221's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

jenarae's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Vomit, and Medical content

Minor: Bullying, Hate crime, and Religious bigotry

bookishflower's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense 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? No

5.0

“This cute boy saved my life, gave me food and now stories. All you need indeed.” 

•••

“YES!’ I shout and roll the window down. ‘America! He knows Back to the Future!” 

•••

And just like Back to the Future there is no better opening than the power of love. (See what I did there?! *wink, wink!*) 

This book broke my heart then mended it again (repeat this stage a lot), made me fall back in love with the dystopian genre, and made me laugh out loud the whole time. 

Jamie and Andrew are the sweetest, I immediately fell in love with their characters and the way they support each other. The slow burn, grumpy/quiet and sunshine trope hitting all the marks! This is the dystopian, gay representation that was sorely missing in the height of 2010s with a fresh twist for post-pandemic life. 

Erik J. Brown is one of the few writers who can not only successfully, but expertly incorporate pop culture references into their writing. Nothing felt forced with the added bonus of being hilarious, while not shying away from the realities of what post-apocalyptic life would be like e.g. the ugliness of human nature and capitalism. 

I haven’t seen much hype online around this book since arcs were released (with a very cool marketing strategy too!) which needs to change! (For reference, I bought my copy, this review is completely unaffiliated if there’s any confusion).

 This book is criminally underrated, go read it now! 

P.S. 

(Someone needs to make the ultimate ‘all that’s left in the world’ pop culture guide with all the music, films, tv shows mentioned in the book- everyone needs to have Miss Congeniality and Nina Simone in their lives!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Drug abuse, and Alcohol

book_loser's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death, and Death of parent

aspring's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.5

this hit a little close to home with the state the world is in. but this book, through all of its angst was interlaced with hope and i adored it. the writing was intoxicating and i could never tell which direction the story was going to go. i feared for all the characters separately and i absolutely fell in love with them all and this piece of writing. a very beautiful book.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Homophobia and Misogyny

rachratesreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Blood

Moderate: Homophobia and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death and Vomit

librariangeorgia's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed this book, but at the same time it felt very realistic. 

It’s set years into the future, after COVID, in the aftermath of a ‘superflu’ pandemic. It feels like an alternative version of what could’ve happened in the last 2 years.

I adored Jamie and Andrew! Ugh, they need to be protected at all costs! I loved the slow burn relationship - and I usually hate that!

The ending was just *chefs kiss* - it felt just right for this book even though I really wanted to know what would happen with Henri!

Overall, well written and interesting book - just a bit too close to home at the moment for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

 Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advanced copy of this to review! There is a definite lack of gay post-apocalyptic fiction, so I'm so glad that this exists. I'm also happy to report that this lived up to my expectations, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I think I saw somewhere that this is being pitched as David and Patrick from Schitt's Creek as teenagers at the end of the world. That absolutely describes Andrew and Jamie's dynamic so well. Jamie is much more reserved, level headed like Patrick. Andrew puts himself out there more, like David. They have bickering, they have sweet moments. The romance definitely isn't lost in this post-apocalpytic novel. But it also doesn't take away from the seriousness of what's happening around them. It feels realistic, given the circumstances.

The only reason this isn't getting a full five stars is honestly because I was a little taken out of the story by the mentions of COVID. I get the importance, and appreciated the author's note at the end about it. I'm still of the opinion that it feels too soon to put COVID in books. Does anyone else feel this way?

Anyway, this is definitely a very character driven novel, as there's not necessarily a central conflict driving the plot except for the apocalypse. Personally, I'm a fan of this kind of story, but always feel like it's helpful knowing that before you go into the story.

All in all, if you're looking for a good character driven post-apocalyptic novel, this is for you! I also appreciated the Tom Holland references, because of obvious reasons (or maybe not obvious, if you haven't seen my posts about Spider-Man). This might be one I add to my personal library when it comes out in March! 
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I'm so happy this lived up to expectations for me! It checked a lot of my favorite boxes. Full review to come next week!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, and Violence

Minor: Bullying, Violence, and Excrement