Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird

12 reviews

brynalexa's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.75

Overall this novel was a breeze to get through; just enough diversity of prose and mystery to keep you turning the pages. I wished the idea that “power is bad no matter who has it” was more pervasive. It seemed like almost an afterthought or accidentally included. There was quite a bit of “cops are good and necessary” which was off-putting. You would hope the new world described wouldn’t include the violence of police. It felt a bit like the author threw in the notes from sensitivity readers all in the last 100 pages as an afterthought as well. Most of the characters had the same personality, even though it seems to be trying to be a feminist story. It came together in the end well. I would recommend it as an easy read if you aren’t hoping to take it too seriously. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Child death, Violence, Abandonment, Death of parent, Infertility, Death, Grief, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Misogyny, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, War, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Mass/school shootings, Deportation, Gun violence, Alcohol, Genocide, and Fatphobia

nanirump's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative reflective sad 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

3.75

This was a quick read with lots of short chapters. I found the multitude of characters a lot and I wasn't particularly attached to any of them and got them confused more than I didn't. I liked the varied exploration of peoples' experiences and it hit differently after the world actually having gone through a global pandemic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Infertility, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Sexism, Transphobia, Suicide, War, Violence, and Pregnancy

marshiereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

I thought the premise was intriguing, but the science and perspectives fell short. They told mostly 30-40 something’s comfortable economically storied while telling us about really interesting things happening elsewhere like the civil war in what was China. The other thing is having literally lived through a pandemic now, the world didn’t react like it did in real life. They had one riot in the book about air travel and nothing else was mentioned (outside of the civil war in china). There was no anti-maskers or anti-vaxers, which I think should have felt good but it just made me angry honestly.

I didn’t like most of the characters you saw a decent amount of (Lisa and Katherine in particular), but found other people much more fascinating yet they were talked about for only a moment (the Russian woman and Rosamie). Amanda and Dawn were probably my favorite perspectives, with the southern standford researcher being the most forgettable. 

I think, if you’re going to do that large of a cast of characters, don’t make most of them from the UK or working in the UK, it’s literally most of them and they’re mostly sad and grieving which makes sense but doesn’t add to the overall narrative that a multi-perspective story generally does.

It’s worth a read but only just.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Death, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Child death, Sexism, Terminal illness, Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Vomit

leannanecdote's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Child death, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical content, War, and Ableism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Classism, Miscarriage, Racism, and Sexism

Minor: Transphobia, Trafficking, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Sexual assault

brenna2themax's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

I really enjoyed reading this book and tore through it in a few days. I actually cried a few times while reading it when getting to the points in the story discussing toddlers and babies dying. I can't remember the last time I cried while reading a book, I'm not a big crier.
Very exciting and fast paced. The characters felt real, but all very similar. Part of this is that we all see them in the same situation of sudden, world-wide devastation and unbearable grief and fear, and there's not a whole lot of character development or exploration beyond that. The story is told from the perspective of many different people throughout the plague, mostly in Scotland and England, but we also hear briefly from a woman in Canada and a Fillipino woman in Singapore and then the Philippines. They all have the same/very similar socioeconomic standing, and all but 2 are white.
Still, I very much enjoyed reading this. A good thriller without a villain.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Death, Sexism, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Child death

Minor: Suicide, Trafficking, Homophobia, and Transphobia

placebogirl's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Sexism and Infertility

Minor: Domestic abuse, Racism, Child death, and War

clauglezzz_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense

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

4.5

The irony of reading this book while locked in my room with covid is undescribable. The first pages tore my heart out and stomped on it.

Anthony's death had me bawling for 2 hours

I wanted to do nothing more than to go out of my room and hug my dad but i couldn't. The chapter that was just blog from a misogynist saying that women had caused the plague made me so angry i trew the book across the room. This book was a rollercoaster of emotions and i cannot recomendit enough

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, and Confinement

Moderate: Sexism, Infertility, Misogyny, and Medical content

Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Murder

jenny_wren's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful inspiring tense medium-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? No

5.0

Wow! I loved this! Its about a virus that originated in Scotland but soon becomes a global pandemic. It tells the story from the perspectives of a range of characters - doctors, scientists and members of the public. The virus is carried by females but contracted by males who die with 2 to 3 days. It kills 90% of those who catch it. Its a race against time to find a vaccine but with so many deaths and experts lost, its a real challenge for those who survive. It affects all males - even new born babies. It looks at how the world will have to change because of a shortage of food, supplies and people.

This is such a thought provoking book that packs more of a punch because of COVID - even though it was written pre COVID. Something like this is a possibility now in a way it wasn't thought even probable before. I had to laugh in places how there were still those people who didn't think the virus was real and men believing it was a conspiracy - writing off women as hysterical and not knowing what they're talking about! 

This was amazing - it was a long book but I spent my whole Sunday reading it - just couldn't put it down!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Grief, Infertility, and Medical content

Minor: Sexism and Suicide

lpdx's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Medical content

Minor: Abandonment, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Ableism, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, and War

sarz's review against another edition

challenging fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Infertility, Sexism, and Suicide