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hnolen1's review against another edition
3.75
This book was a very fast read, and seems a bit topical here at the end of 2023. I enjoyed the language and descriptions, but I absolutely had nightmares from it.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Gun violence, Violence, Slavery, and Cannibalism
stephanielee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, and Violence
lyfeistrip's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Body horror, Genocide, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Slavery, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Cannibalism, Sexism, Cursing, and Terminal illness
rhianonw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Cannibalism and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Gun violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, and Blood
Minor: Abandonment, Pregnancy, Animal death, and Suicide
rainerasnic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Gore, Death, Animal death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Slavery
superb_piano9536's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
Graphic: Cannibalism, Torture, and Gun violence
Moderate: Suicide
queerloras's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Death, Grief, Violence, Child death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Cannibalism, and Slavery
bluejeepbaby's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Violence, Cannibalism, Gun violence, and Gore
xcrowingx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Vomit, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Violence, Torture, Slavery, and Grief
erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
My overall impression of this book was that it was like a zombie apocalypse story, minus the trees and the zombies. In a non-descript North America that has been razed by fire, a man and his boy walk south in the hopes that they will get to warmer weather, and find it easier to survive. The main characters are known simply as the man, and the boy. This sort of increases the feeling of the bleakness, because for the most part, people are few and far between, and so you don't need a whole heap of names to disambiguate people.. and those names you do get from people are arbitrary and fairly meaningless.
Obviously this is a story of survival, and the balance of grief, hope and faith. As they travel down a highway they have to overcome obstacles both physical and emotional. The narrative is a mix of procedural descriptions, and poetic prose. It almost feels like the pretty bits are mismatched to the story, but I figure you have to have some fancy bits for your essays about the Literature (crozzled means with dark crispy bits on the outside.. like bacon). Typically the poetic observations are those of the end of day; musings that find one just before sleep after a long day of slogging through the countryside. It might help to have a dictionary nearby, because you don't get a Pulitzer by only using common words. There is a harsh poetic beauty to describing a highway full of burnt out cars whose occupants were scorched inside as they tried to flee the firestorms.
Ten thousand dreams ensepulchred within their crozzled hearts.
I really loved the descriptions of coming upon windfall resources, and in my own mind, I would have stopped my journey if I found plenty of resources.. or at least had a breather. Maybe I'm too risk averse to survive the holocaust of a continent. From what happens it doesn't look like radiation is a part of it, so this is a different take on things than other apocalyptic stories like Mad Max.
It was certainly an interesting read.
Graphic: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Terminal illness, Child death, Gun violence, Murder, Body horror, Physical abuse, Stalking, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture