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irenemarie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, Murder, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, and Gun violence
Minor: Sexism and Rape
electraa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
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? N/A
5.0
Moths by Jane Hennigan
🧬 Moths by Jane Hennigan
🧬 Cover art by Kieryn Tyler
🧬 Published by Angry Robot Books
🧬 Release Date March 14 2023
🧬🧬🧬🧬🧬/5
‘Where were you when it started?’ ‘These stories, the ones that those who weren’t there won’t understand, we hold them; we hoard them; we allow ourselves to look at them only a piece at a time’. ‘But beneath the weariness, I felt a warmth I hadn’t felt in years. The comfort of sharing pain.’
‘…he scanned the echoes of the world long dead.’
‘That may be the first time I noticed it, the plural pronoun - them, they, that group noun of the bothered that was ti become part of the language for men’.
‘In a recession, cash is king; in an apocalypse, it’s clean water and canned stew’.
🧬 I ate this one up. Finished in two days and when I saw there is a sequel I beamed!
🧬 Moths by Jane Hennigan is a post-apocalyptic, post-pandemic novel, taking place 43 years after a moth species started attacking men giving them SANS (severe acute neurological syndrome). Some turned blue and were suffocating in their sleep, and others became delusional and turned incredibly aggressive. For 43 years the world, or the UK (where this story is probably taking place), has lived without men. It has been so long that the new generations do not even know how men were incorporated into society before this terrible event. Vaccines and cures have not been successful.
🧬 We follow Mary, a 60+-year-old woman working as a carer in one of the facilities where they are taking care of non-infected men who are basically living as prisoners and in confinement cause even the most minor exposure to this moth will be deadly to them.
🧬 The rest of the plot is for you to discover and piece it all together as that was what was exciting to do while reading this book.
What I loved:
- The fact that our protagonist is older than what we are normally used to. We need more representation of older people, please!
- The pacing and jumping timelines seeing Mary’s past and present as well as her coworker Olivia which gives us glimpses of the world before but also we understand the characters knowing their backstory and what they have endured all those years.
- Character development
- Twists and ‘oh’ moments
- Seeing how the world is ruled by women, and how the author thought of realistic issues that would have come had it been reality like the fact that we have too few women mechanics etc and how they had to deal with learning by the few remaining plus educate themselves in repurposing as a vital way of surviving as to not reinvent the wheel so to speak. The three new pillars of this society? ‘Sorority, maternity and thrift’.
- The writing! Wow, I could not tell this was a debut novel. I did not miss a single word I was so hooked but also I annotated quite a few passages because of the beautiful imagery and/or metaphors Hennigan was weaving together.
🧬 All in all, this a story will not forget and will be keeping an eye out for the sequel called ‘Toxxic’. A massive thank you to Angry Robot Books for sending me a copy of this one in exchange for an honest review. To date, I have never been disappointed by your published books, and I have read quite a bunch so far!
🧬 Fun fact: this one was originally self-published and picked up by the lovely people over at Angry Robot Books. Edited by Eleanor Teasdale and Alice Abrams.
🧬 PS: I immediately subscribed to the author’s newsletter after I read the last word on page.
#moths
#postapocalyptic
#angryrobotbooks
#5starbookreview
#5starbook
#spoonfulofhygge_
#bookreview
🧬 Moths by Jane Hennigan
🧬 Cover art by Kieryn Tyler
🧬 Published by Angry Robot Books
🧬 Release Date March 14 2023
🧬🧬🧬🧬🧬/5
‘Where were you when it started?’ ‘These stories, the ones that those who weren’t there won’t understand, we hold them; we hoard them; we allow ourselves to look at them only a piece at a time’. ‘But beneath the weariness, I felt a warmth I hadn’t felt in years. The comfort of sharing pain.’
‘…he scanned the echoes of the world long dead.’
‘That may be the first time I noticed it, the plural pronoun - them, they, that group noun of the bothered that was ti become part of the language for men’.
‘In a recession, cash is king; in an apocalypse, it’s clean water and canned stew’.
🧬 I ate this one up. Finished in two days and when I saw there is a sequel I beamed!
🧬 Moths by Jane Hennigan is a post-apocalyptic, post-pandemic novel, taking place 43 years after a moth species started attacking men giving them SANS (severe acute neurological syndrome). Some turned blue and were suffocating in their sleep, and others became delusional and turned incredibly aggressive. For 43 years the world, or the UK (where this story is probably taking place), has lived without men. It has been so long that the new generations do not even know how men were incorporated into society before this terrible event. Vaccines and cures have not been successful.
🧬 We follow Mary, a 60+-year-old woman working as a carer in one of the facilities where they are taking care of non-infected men who are basically living as prisoners and in confinement cause even the most minor exposure to this moth will be deadly to them.
🧬 The rest of the plot is for you to discover and piece it all together as that was what was exciting to do while reading this book.
What I loved:
- The fact that our protagonist is older than what we are normally used to. We need more representation of older people, please!
- The pacing and jumping timelines seeing Mary’s past and present as well as her coworker Olivia which gives us glimpses of the world before but also we understand the characters knowing their backstory and what they have endured all those years.
- Character development
- Twists and ‘oh’ moments
- Seeing how the world is ruled by women, and how the author thought of realistic issues that would have come had it been reality like the fact that we have too few women mechanics etc and how they had to deal with learning by the few remaining plus educate themselves in repurposing as a vital way of surviving as to not reinvent the wheel so to speak. The three new pillars of this society? ‘Sorority, maternity and thrift’.
- The writing! Wow, I could not tell this was a debut novel. I did not miss a single word I was so hooked but also I annotated quite a few passages because of the beautiful imagery and/or metaphors Hennigan was weaving together.
🧬 All in all, this a story will not forget and will be keeping an eye out for the sequel called ‘Toxxic’. A massive thank you to Angry Robot Books for sending me a copy of this one in exchange for an honest review. To date, I have never been disappointed by your published books, and I have read quite a bunch so far!
🧬 Fun fact: this one was originally self-published and picked up by the lovely people over at Angry Robot Books. Edited by Eleanor Teasdale and Alice Abrams.
🧬 PS: I immediately subscribed to the author’s newsletter after I read the last word on page.
#moths
#postapocalyptic
#angryrobotbooks
#5starbookreview
#5starbook
#spoonfulofhygge_
#bookreview
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Suicide attempt and Rape
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