You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Great read, quick and engaging. Very similar to Y: The Last Man but some differences.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
why
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This probably says a lot about me, but I thought this would be darker. A book where almost every man on the planet is dead, making them a hot commodity…..yeah I was expecting some bad things.
As it stands, we have a pretty decent mother and son chase thriller. Good pacing, immersive and inventive in its use of story.
Cole and Miles had a pretty solid relationship that felt real to me and it made for a decent amount of back and forth between them.
I did feel that there was some definite liberties taken on the part of the ‘chase’ element, with regards to lining things up though: it definitely felt like people would get to where they needed to be, when they needed to, and damn the geographical complications.
As it stands, we have a pretty decent mother and son chase thriller. Good pacing, immersive and inventive in its use of story.
Cole and Miles had a pretty solid relationship that felt real to me and it made for a decent amount of back and forth between them.
I did feel that there was some definite liberties taken on the part of the ‘chase’ element, with regards to lining things up though: it definitely felt like people would get to where they needed to be, when they needed to, and damn the geographical complications.
Ohhhh so good. Beautifully written and interesting characters, a nicely paced plot, and a consistent devastating world. The time frame Beukes chose for most of the book, a couple years post apocalyptic is such a fascinating and challenging time. You don’t have the drama of the dawning apocalypse or the true dead hopelessness of the end stage apocalypse, but a kind of groaning chaos that Beukes captured beautifully. This was a very weird but excellent book to read in a pandemic.
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Post-pandemic book that was written just before COVID. I was interested in the conceit and thought it was well-thought out, but did not personally enjoy reading what is essentially a pandemic novel (personal preference, not a fault of the book). I thought the second half of the book really dragged - too much evangelical christian bus travel and psychotic cross-country chasing when I was hoping for more details of what society was like, and finding out what happened after they escaped the US .
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Drug use, Trafficking, Kidnapping
Minor: Cancer, Infertility, Pregnancy
I wanted to like this book. The promise of "Children of Men meets The Handmaid's Tale" and the premise of the pandemic sounds like you should be in for an interesting read. The delivery fell short, though.
It was gritty in the same vein as Children of Men, but it felt like the focus of the plot was on a different part of the story than where I would want it to be. All of the draw of the premise is in parts that happen before the story is set. I wish there had been more focus on the reactions to the pandemic and the emotional processessing of losing so many loved ones, wondering if your son was next.
It was like watching The Walking Dead but starting at Season 8 and wondering how zombies came to be a thing. We do occasionally see brief flashbacks, but the story doesn't just fail to live up to its promises, for me it was almost repulsive in spots.
The draw of a pandemic plot took a real backseat to the poor life choices of the main character's sister and the thugs-for-hire she falls in with and their laundry list of disgusting acquired wounds. To stomach getting to the end, I had to skim in a few places. While I did finish it, I wish I hadn't picked it up to begin with.
It was gritty in the same vein as Children of Men, but it felt like the focus of the plot was on a different part of the story than where I would want it to be. All of the draw of the premise is in parts that happen before the story is set. I wish there had been more focus on the reactions to the pandemic and the emotional processessing of losing so many loved ones, wondering if your son was next.
It was like watching The Walking Dead but starting at Season 8 and wondering how zombies came to be a thing. We do occasionally see brief flashbacks, but the story doesn't just fail to live up to its promises, for me it was almost repulsive in spots.
The draw of a pandemic plot took a real backseat to the poor life choices of the main character's sister and the thugs-for-hire she falls in with and their laundry list of disgusting acquired wounds. To stomach getting to the end, I had to skim in a few places. While I did finish it, I wish I hadn't picked it up to begin with.