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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
I’m really surprised by the number of bad reviews this book got. Maybe timing played against it as it’s about a pandemic that starts in the year 2020
I found it really well written and enjoyable. The end lost steam a little for me and I found it got a little predictable, but overall a very enjoyable dystopian novel with some interesting gender politics.
I found it really well written and enjoyable. The end lost steam a little for me and I found it got a little predictable, but overall a very enjoyable dystopian novel with some interesting gender politics.
An "unprecedented epidemic." "You can't imagine how much can change in six months." This was quite timely! A flu-like virus spreads through the world and causes prostrate cancer, wiping out most of the male population. I enjoyed the story and the perspective of a South African who gets trapped in America during the outbreak while visiting her husband's family. Although I liked it, I wish Bonnie had made more sense to me. It was hard to understand her actions, although our realworld pandemic has taught me that people are worse than I thought so I guess it's believable. I also wanted to strangle Miles near the end. I know he's a teenager and therefore a bit of a selfish idiot but come on. The Shining Girls is still my favorite of her books. Her other books haven't had the same emotional punch for me.
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was published mid-2020, so was written before the Corona pandemic. Not sure if people are ready to read about pandemics again, but here we were. I seem to have a theme this year after first reading The Power and now Afterland, to read about society changes when women are suddenly in power. In Naomi Alderman's book it was because suddenly women were more powerful. In Afterland it's because a pandemic wipes out almost all men. Women get the flu, men get the flu then prostate cancer. Our main protagonist is Cole, mother of one of the very few immune males, her 13 year old son Miles. They're from South Africa, but were in the US when the pandemic happened, and are now interred because males are precious and must be protected at all costs. But Cole's sister Billie helps them break out, for altruistic reasons, because she wants to sell first Miles' sperm, and later Miles himself, to a woman buyer. What we get from that point on is a road trip through the USA, as they're trying to reach the coast to flee back home to South Africa, while being hunted down by Billie, the FBI, hiding amongst a religious cult group.
I enjoyed it quite a bit. Compared to The Power, I think this was better-written. I was annoyed by Miles but I think he was portrayed as annoying as a 13 year old teenager can be, especially considering he's like the last of his kind.
It was very good, but not super amazing, fwiw.
I enjoyed it quite a bit. Compared to The Power, I think this was better-written. I was annoyed by Miles but I think he was portrayed as annoying as a 13 year old teenager can be, especially considering he's like the last of his kind.
It was very good, but not super amazing, fwiw.
The synopsis tells of this book tells of a story that is suspenseful and thrilling. The tags say it's more science fiction . In this case, I would've preferred it to be a thriller set in a dystopian world. So it's safe to say, that I was disappointed in this book.
The fact that I was expecting it to go a completely different route than it did, was the first thing that threw me off. The second was that it took FOREVER for anything to actually happen in this book, and when it happened it was nothing? Very lack-luster.
Almost all of this book is spent traveling across the country, no matter whose perspective you're in (I'll talk on those later). And we meet some people, have a few "interesting" encounters, but nothing major ever really happens. I was expecting more intrigue and thrill. Maybe getting found out and having to escape people who weren't Billie. Maybe Miles gets taken by someone and he has to escape and find Cole again. And maybe when Billie actually shows up, it can be more of a battle? More thrill and suspense, literally anything. I will take anything more than what we got in those like 5 pages.
The characters in this book were all irritating. I didn't like any of them. Cole was this overbearing, selfish mom who keeps her son safe for her own self interest. Miles is typical 12 year old boy and oof just doesn't have the common sense I feel like most people have at that age. And don't even get me started on Billie; she was the worst. I get she was supposed to be the villain, but her injury leaves her hurt and whining in her head. It's awful. She's very distasteful and not well written as being the villain who is present in the beginning of Cole & Miles' journey and a glimpse of her at the end, but like I mentioned it was so dull when she did show up. And the fact that all of them use these horrible pop culture references... oof not great and definitely the first thing that turned me away from the book. I get you are trying to make the characters relatable, but using pop culture in that way is not good writing in my opinion. It shows you don't know how to grow characters without that. I could be wrong, as this is the only work from this author that I've read. Nevertheless, I didn't enjoy the references interspersed within the book.
Overall, this was very disappointing. If you're looking for a different take on a dystopian, men-go-extinct pandemic, story I would recommend [b:The End of Men|53717123|The End of Men|Christina Sweeney-Baird|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597015498l/53717123._SY75_.jpg|84039944] by Christina Sweeney-Baird. It provides more of a science-fiction dystopian take and a more realistic pandemic like situation. I think because I read that book first, I wanted something different out of this that I just didn't get in any sense.
The fact that I was expecting it to go a completely different route than it did, was the first thing that threw me off. The second was that it took FOREVER for anything to actually happen in this book, and when it happened it was nothing? Very lack-luster.
Almost all of this book is spent traveling across the country, no matter whose perspective you're in (I'll talk on those later). And we meet some people, have a few "interesting" encounters, but nothing major ever really happens. I was expecting more intrigue and thrill. Maybe getting found out and having to escape people who weren't Billie. Maybe Miles gets taken by someone and he has to escape and find Cole again. And maybe when Billie actually shows up, it can be more of a battle? More thrill and suspense, literally anything. I will take anything more than what we got in those like 5 pages.
The characters in this book were all irritating. I didn't like any of them. Cole was this overbearing, selfish mom who keeps her son safe for her own self interest. Miles is typical 12 year old boy and oof just doesn't have the common sense I feel like most people have at that age. And don't even get me started on Billie; she was the worst. I get she was supposed to be the villain, but her injury leaves her hurt and whining in her head. It's awful. She's very distasteful and not well written as being the villain who is present in the beginning of Cole & Miles' journey and a glimpse of her at the end, but like I mentioned it was so dull when she did show up. And the fact that all of them use these horrible pop culture references... oof not great and definitely the first thing that turned me away from the book. I get you are trying to make the characters relatable, but using pop culture in that way is not good writing in my opinion. It shows you don't know how to grow characters without that. I could be wrong, as this is the only work from this author that I've read. Nevertheless, I didn't enjoy the references interspersed within the book.
Overall, this was very disappointing. If you're looking for a different take on a dystopian, men-go-extinct pandemic, story I would recommend [b:The End of Men|53717123|The End of Men|Christina Sweeney-Baird|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597015498l/53717123._SY75_.jpg|84039944] by Christina Sweeney-Baird. It provides more of a science-fiction dystopian take and a more realistic pandemic like situation. I think because I read that book first, I wanted something different out of this that I just didn't get in any sense.
It probably wasn’t the best idea to read a book about a pandemic while IN a pandemic. That’s the bad news. The good news is what I didn’t like about this story had nothing to do with its apocalyptic premise. In fact, if I’m being honest, I don’t really think it focused on this aspect of the story enough. Set in the very near future, a flu like virus (cringe) manages to kill off the majority of the world’s male population. The mysterious men/boys who do survive are destined to become pet projects, carefully monitored to ensure a reproductive future. This story centers around three main characters and alternates between their viewpoints in varying chapters. Every once in awhile some dark humor is thrown in, which manages to sit unevenly with the tone of the rest of the story. I’m also confused about how it all ended, which is the whole reason I stuck with it to begin with.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Throw it on the fire. That’s the review.
I jest, I jest… but honestly this book made me kinda hate reading and for that, I hate it. I struggled so much to finish this that I almost DNF’d it, it’s only because of my insanely stubborn streak that I persevered, so you don’t have to. You’re welcome.
I had SUCH high hopes for this, it’s dystopia, featuring a mother and son (who shared my littlest’s name, Miles), and I loved the adaptation of The Shining Girls so I thought I couldn’t go wrong with this. The premise sounded so interesting, in a dystopian 2023 a virus has all but wiped out the male species, those lucky few with the xy chromosomes who HAVE survived are precious. Precious to the scientists who are searching for a cure and precious to the women left behind. Cole and her son (surviving so far) are trying to escape the U.S. and get back to their native South Africa. It’s at its heart a story of survival, and the lengths a mother will go to to protect her son. So far so good. I wanted it to be great. It could have been great.
BUT, the author seemed to have spent the 6 years between this book and her previous one writing down jokes and portmanteaus she thought up, and, rather than figure out whether they brought anything to the story, just shoe-horned them in wherever. They were often not funny, kind of cringey and felt like inside jokes that I didn’t really want to be a part of.
THEN (and maybe this is because I am a mother of teenage sons) there was a reeeeaaaalllyy weird thread that ran through the book about Miles discovering his body and his sexuality, in quite a graphic way at times. He’s eleven. Now, I’m in no way a prude, I support sex- education and open conversations about those topics, in an appropriate time and place and I do think that young adult books are an amazing way to encourage those open conversations. This, to my knowledge is not a young adult book, so the whole thing just felt a little bit grubby and uncomfortable.
So that’s that. In the end I hated the book so much that I didn’t care whether or not Cole survived.
I jest, I jest… but honestly this book made me kinda hate reading and for that, I hate it. I struggled so much to finish this that I almost DNF’d it, it’s only because of my insanely stubborn streak that I persevered, so you don’t have to. You’re welcome.
I had SUCH high hopes for this, it’s dystopia, featuring a mother and son (who shared my littlest’s name, Miles), and I loved the adaptation of The Shining Girls so I thought I couldn’t go wrong with this. The premise sounded so interesting, in a dystopian 2023 a virus has all but wiped out the male species, those lucky few with the xy chromosomes who HAVE survived are precious. Precious to the scientists who are searching for a cure and precious to the women left behind. Cole and her son (surviving so far) are trying to escape the U.S. and get back to their native South Africa. It’s at its heart a story of survival, and the lengths a mother will go to to protect her son. So far so good. I wanted it to be great. It could have been great.
BUT, the author seemed to have spent the 6 years between this book and her previous one writing down jokes and portmanteaus she thought up, and, rather than figure out whether they brought anything to the story, just shoe-horned them in wherever. They were often not funny, kind of cringey and felt like inside jokes that I didn’t really want to be a part of.
THEN (and maybe this is because I am a mother of teenage sons) there was a reeeeaaaalllyy weird thread that ran through the book about Miles discovering his body and his sexuality, in quite a graphic way at times. He’s eleven. Now, I’m in no way a prude, I support sex- education and open conversations about those topics, in an appropriate time and place and I do think that young adult books are an amazing way to encourage those open conversations. This, to my knowledge is not a young adult book, so the whole thing just felt a little bit grubby and uncomfortable.
So that’s that. In the end I hated the book so much that I didn’t care whether or not Cole survived.
I have really enjoyed all of this author's, but this might be my current favourite. The idea of the "Manpocalypse" was executed incredibly well, and the characters were so well done. They were flawed and real, and each had their own unique voice. Cannot recommend it enough!
I have really enjoyed Beukes' previous books, but this one never quite grabbed me. Set in a world where the majority of men have been wiped out by a virus, a mother and son go on the run from the facility he is held in to try to get home to South Africa. They are pursued by her sister who has made a deal with some gangsters to sell the son to a rich family. Although the story had an interesting set up, it never felt that the lack of men impacted the world. I also struggled to engage with the characters.