Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

After World by Debbie Urbanski

5 reviews

droethler's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book was written by a prolific and excellent short story writer. She did a good job of bringing a novel to the table that played to her strengths, linking vignettes and letters and notes and diary entries in a cohesive narrative. 

Since a main character (the one writing the story) is an AI, it is an awkward yet successful voice that she creates to center the story. While I found it a bit slow in places, I kept coming back to read more. And sometimes I just needed to step away for a day to digest what I'd read. It is a true apocalypse story. 
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jamie_rich's review

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challenging dark sad tense slow-paced
  • 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

2.5

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porcinitortellini's review

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

4.0

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Thanks to Simon and Schuster for the free copy of this book.

 - I sit here trying to write a review of AFTER WORLD and find myself just making sad, overwhelmed noises. This is one of the most devastating, inventive, and beautiful books I've ever read.
- This book is an exploration into the best and worst of humanity, and a harsh vision of a potential future. (The content warnings are extremely real here, friends.) Amid that, it's also a loving look at our planet and its many possibilities.
- To be honest, I'm not sure this book fully stuck the landing at the end, but I'll be turning the rest of it over in my mind for months to come. 
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thepaperbackplanner's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The marketing for this book really plays up the romance/love story angle, which is what initially led me to choose to request an ARC via the Simon Books Buddy program. What I got instead was an unflinchingly dark and realistic and grim portrait of human extinction via manufactured disease. The descriptions of starvation, abandonment, various methods of suicide, and violence were too much for me. However! I did think the writing was engaging, and the plot was a new take on the apocalypse/end of humanity tale for me. I think lots of folks will like this if they're not in it for the romance.
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