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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
ripping this apart in my utopia class. characters felt flat with no development. the world building confused the hell out of me. all the men are gone but miles is posting on his snapchat story?? 400 pages to a boring ending that tried to be philosophical.
Didn’t grab me, not really interested in finishing it
Interesting plot line but not a fan of the writing style
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not as strong as shining girls or moxyland(my personal favorite), a little draggy at the mid part but eventually picks the pace back up. Characters are written well for most parts especially Cole and Billie. The ending may feel kind of abrupt but I'm ok with such endings , depending on the story. Not too bad overall
This is probably my least favorite LB book I've read (after Broken Monsters and The Shining Girls), but I still thought there was a lot to like. LB writes side characters well and I sort of wish there were more. I liked the interlude shifting away from the main characters and providing more world building. It's not that I wanted to hear more of the characters intro-ed there, just more characters. I wasn't too interested in the more action-y parts, but thought the character aspects were v interesting.
Also, what a time to have just published a book about a devastating pandemic.
Edit because I forgot to mention a very important point: At one point, she makes a very casual "30-50 feral hogs" joke.
Also, what a time to have just published a book about a devastating pandemic.
Edit because I forgot to mention a very important point: At one point, she makes a very casual "30-50 feral hogs" joke.
why is the virus a cancer? i’m sure they explain this later but i just wasn’t feeling it. was a bit weary about the concept going into it and decided to stop because the whole thing was very cis, didnt want to read a post apocalyptic story where trans ppl don’t exist so it could have all the men be dead.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm so sad, I loved Lauren Beukes' other work, but this was a SLOG to get through. The plot was muddied by flashbacks and multiple narratives, and the world building was confusing.
I was intrigued by the premise of a pandemic book and this one seemed interesting. However, the "gender plague" details are never well established and it comes off extremely gender essentialist and weird. I don't think the author meant to make a weirdly TERFy plot but a lack of consideration certainly means that's where we ended up.
I also am like....still confused by the post-plague world, and also why the main characters are trying so hard to flee to South Africa. Descriptions of the world oscillate between it being a zombie-apocalypse-esque barren wasteland where you have to siphon gas and weird guns to survive, to quasi socialist utopia where the government will house you and give you a job if you want one, to relatively unchanged city scapes with flourishing tourist attractions. I'm not sure what the world is meant to be like, and it just feels unconsidered.
I was also disappointed with the ending--all this build up and the cross country chase, for it to end with 1) an extremely brief confrontation between sisters and 2) NO information about their life in south africa!!! It felt like hundreds of pages of work for such little pay off, it all just gets handwaved with them seeing some matriarchal killer whales??? Argh
I was intrigued by the premise of a pandemic book and this one seemed interesting. However, the "gender plague" details are never well established and it comes off extremely gender essentialist and weird. I don't think the author meant to make a weirdly TERFy plot but a lack of consideration certainly means that's where we ended up.
I was also disappointed with the ending--all this build up and the cross country chase, for it to end with 1) an extremely brief confrontation between sisters and 2) NO information about their life in south africa!!! It felt like hundreds of pages of work for such little pay off, it all just gets handwaved with them seeing some matriarchal killer whales??? Argh
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is my first book by this author and i was really intrigued by the premise. I like the alternate take that leaves a world without men, but still manages to function as a somewhat global society. The background for the virus was interesting and well explained, I liked that she got a bit scientific with it so any answers I may have had were explained. I wasn't overly impressed by the storytelling in general, i didnt find myself feeling very excited or emotional. The ending scenes were super well written and the perspective on parenting was spot on. The "last boy" (not really) was a cool character that had more depth then i expected. This author definitely feels up my alley and i plan to read more of her books in the future. I wasnt awed by this one, but i did finish it with a smile on my face. Worth the read.
Very MEH. I liked the first half okay, but it’s just a lot of buildup to nothing. Could be better as a TV series.