Reviews with content warning for Gore - And Then I Woke Up

Reviews tagging 'Gore'

And Then I Woke Up by Malcolm Devlin

21 reviews

doomluz's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This wasn't what I expected it to be about but I oved it. It reminded me of the films Shaun of the Dead and They Live. I liked the commentary it made about stories and beliefs.

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fleen's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.25

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racl's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

Very fresh and interesting take on a zombie apocalypse!

The idea of all of us being trapped in our own perspectives, our own narratives, really struck a chord with me at this point in my life.

It's hopeful and hopeless, kind and cruel, a delicate balance of opposites I found compelling and touching. Great read.

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pages_of_gray's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

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mkbeam's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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og_tomatogirl's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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spooderman's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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imrereads's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

3.0

I have mixed feelings about this. I thought the plot was really compelling and the story itself brilliant, but the way it was executed wasn't my favourite.

The story is told retrospectively, and I wish I got to see it as it happened, and could unravel it as it went on. I feel like that would have been more powerful.

But! The ending really struck me and I was glues to the book for the last thirty odd pages.

Overall, my impression is that it was fine. Enjoyable, but probably more suited to a different sort of reader than me.

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morecrocs's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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howlinglibraries's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

My greatest sin and my greatest achievement are the same. I told a story.

And Then I Woke Up feels like a difficult title to rate and review, because it was a difficult title to form a solid opinion on. I am absolutely enthralled by the concept of this story, and loved the narrative voice and the storytelling style, yet something didn't quite click for me throughout the bulk of the novella. I think this story suffers from repetition more than anything else, as it is an extremely character-focused story with very little action (though it has a decent depth of plot). That said, I did enjoy our narrator as a storyteller very much, so I suppose the book's flaws are also its qualities, in a sense (can you see now why I'm struggling to rate and review this?).

And Then I Woke Up is a zombie story of sorts, but told from the perspective of someone who has been "cured" — and these definitely aren't your average zombies. There isn't much to say without running the risk of spoilers, but I was fascinated by the entire premise that Devlin came up with and its social commentary on the way people view and spread information and "truth" in the modern age. The last 20% or so of the novella was phenomenal and I loved watching things unfold, so I'm very happy that I kept going through the more boring elements of the middle.

While And Then I Woke Up didn't fully captivate me, there was something about it that I think will stick with me for a while, and I'm extremely interested in future releases from this author. If you enjoy post-apocalyptic stories with a twist and a healthy (but not overly on-the-nose) commentary on some of the uglier sides of humanity, I highly recommend checking it out!

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