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lex23's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
booccmaster's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
fictionfan's review against another edition
3.0
The end of civilisation...
Makepeace Hatfield lives alone – the last resident of the town of Evangeline in Siberia. Some unexplained catastrophe has destroyed civilisation and decimated humanity. But one day Makepeace sees something that makes her think that somewhere remnants of civilisation may still exist and she sets off to find out...
This is a pretty standard post-apocalypse story, and I might as well start by saying I found it rather dull and pointless. We never know what caused the catastrophe – possibly climate change, though if so it doesn’t seem to have had much impact on the snowy wastes of Siberia. And, while we see humanity’s struggle to survive, there’s nothing terribly insightful about it. Scenes of horror and misery abound, there’s the usual cult religious aspects that are always included as part of apocalyptic dystopian fiction, man’s inhumanity to man is given full play, and we see that those who had stuck to their old traditional ways of life are better suited to survival than those who had lived in cities, far removed from nature and with skills that are useless in this new/old society. It has been compared (probably by the marketing people) to The Road, but it has none of the profundity or bleak beauty of that book – this is simply a kind of adventure story that quite frankly doesn’t have enough adventure in it.
While there are lots of descriptions of the wildlife and mentions of the local indigenous tribespeople, I never found the setting came to life for me. I can’t quite put my finger on why. I think it may be because I felt that survival in the Arctic region should have been much tougher, oddly, than it’s portrayed. Perhaps that’s my misunderstanding of the region – I know people have populated the area for millennia so clearly survival is not impossible – but I can only say I didn’t feel the cold seeping into my bones as much as I anticipated.
I’m struggling to find much to say about this one, to be honest. It is quite readable, the writing is good and Makepeace is a likeable heroine. I didn’t hate it, but I suspect I’ll have forgotten all about it in a couple of weeks. 2½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Makepeace Hatfield lives alone – the last resident of the town of Evangeline in Siberia. Some unexplained catastrophe has destroyed civilisation and decimated humanity. But one day Makepeace sees something that makes her think that somewhere remnants of civilisation may still exist and she sets off to find out...
This is a pretty standard post-apocalypse story, and I might as well start by saying I found it rather dull and pointless. We never know what caused the catastrophe – possibly climate change, though if so it doesn’t seem to have had much impact on the snowy wastes of Siberia. And, while we see humanity’s struggle to survive, there’s nothing terribly insightful about it. Scenes of horror and misery abound, there’s the usual cult religious aspects that are always included as part of apocalyptic dystopian fiction, man’s inhumanity to man is given full play, and we see that those who had stuck to their old traditional ways of life are better suited to survival than those who had lived in cities, far removed from nature and with skills that are useless in this new/old society. It has been compared (probably by the marketing people) to The Road, but it has none of the profundity or bleak beauty of that book – this is simply a kind of adventure story that quite frankly doesn’t have enough adventure in it.
While there are lots of descriptions of the wildlife and mentions of the local indigenous tribespeople, I never found the setting came to life for me. I can’t quite put my finger on why. I think it may be because I felt that survival in the Arctic region should have been much tougher, oddly, than it’s portrayed. Perhaps that’s my misunderstanding of the region – I know people have populated the area for millennia so clearly survival is not impossible – but I can only say I didn’t feel the cold seeping into my bones as much as I anticipated.
I’m struggling to find much to say about this one, to be honest. It is quite readable, the writing is good and Makepeace is a likeable heroine. I didn’t hate it, but I suspect I’ll have forgotten all about it in a couple of weeks. 2½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
christiek's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent. Brutal.
I was really pleased with the way Theroux cuts to the chase and doesn't include all the awful details about the parts of the the book I didn't really want to read about anyway. There'd be moments where the plot would go somewhere and I'd think, "oh, I don't want to read a book about this." But "this" would turn out to be a quick event in the book, not a 50 page description of what it was like.
I was really pleased with the way Theroux cuts to the chase and doesn't include all the awful details about the parts of the the book I didn't really want to read about anyway. There'd be moments where the plot would go somewhere and I'd think, "oh, I don't want to read a book about this." But "this" would turn out to be a quick event in the book, not a 50 page description of what it was like.
jenna_cross's review against another edition
3.0
3.25 rounded down. A very surprising and powerful book. Humanity is as harsh and cruel as the landscape that Makepeace inhabits. This was not an enjoyable read but a very worthwhile story that keeps you thinking about it long after it’s over.
trout_lily's review against another edition
4.0
Picked this out from a random lineup up of recommend books.
Cormac McCarthy-esque, post apocalyptic story with surprising reveals that the author doles out with time and at the right moments. What I loved about it was that you just weren't sure when this is supposed where to be. The setting and the time lend itself to a feeling of a spanning of history in one moment in time. It's well done. I was wonderfully surprised by it.
Cormac McCarthy-esque, post apocalyptic story with surprising reveals that the author doles out with time and at the right moments. What I loved about it was that you just weren't sure when this is supposed where to be. The setting and the time lend itself to a feeling of a spanning of history in one moment in time. It's well done. I was wonderfully surprised by it.
desirosie's review against another edition
4.0
Very good; really intense at times. (<--2010 comments).
2020 update:
A few days ago, I went to add this book to my "Currently Reading" queue after I was already 70-odd pages in, only to discover that I had in fact read this book before, a decade earlier. (Aside: I've been on Goodreads a long time and that makes me very happy.) I scratched my head and felt some level of existential distress because I had *no recollection* of the first reading up to that point though I suppose there was a certain vague familiarity to the story. I've read enough It's The End of The World As We Know It books though to chalk it up to post-apocalyptic overload + I Had A Brain Tumor And Sometimes Forget Things. I didn't know what to do - do I keep going or quit? My previous reading indicated that I enjoyed it at the time, and a very scientific Twitter poll told me that I should keep going, so I did. Someone even commented that, "You are not the same person you were in 2010, and so it is not the same book." (or thereabouts). How very wise indeed, and how very true.
SO - I finished the book and I still give it 4 stars, but they are different stars because I am a different person and the world is different. It is, after all 20-Fucking-20, Year of the Dumpster Fire, and I have been through a lot, myself, including becoming a mother, a fact which brings me endless joy while also being a sad weight around my neck. Two quotes from the end of the novel:
"And I'm still greedy for whatever's left to me. I can't open my eyes soon enough each day to see you, my darling."
"There's not one iota of fear in me about it. I wouldn’t have you stay for anything. But I can't think too hard about the world I've bequeathed to you, or the gulf between your childhood and mine or I start to feel guilty about it."
2020 update:
A few days ago, I went to add this book to my "Currently Reading" queue after I was already 70-odd pages in, only to discover that I had in fact read this book before, a decade earlier. (Aside: I've been on Goodreads a long time and that makes me very happy.) I scratched my head and felt some level of existential distress because I had *no recollection* of the first reading up to that point though I suppose there was a certain vague familiarity to the story. I've read enough It's The End of The World As We Know It books though to chalk it up to post-apocalyptic overload + I Had A Brain Tumor And Sometimes Forget Things. I didn't know what to do - do I keep going or quit? My previous reading indicated that I enjoyed it at the time, and a very scientific Twitter poll told me that I should keep going, so I did. Someone even commented that, "You are not the same person you were in 2010, and so it is not the same book." (or thereabouts). How very wise indeed, and how very true.
SO - I finished the book and I still give it 4 stars, but they are different stars because I am a different person and the world is different. It is, after all 20-Fucking-20, Year of the Dumpster Fire, and I have been through a lot, myself, including becoming a mother, a fact which brings me endless joy while also being a sad weight around my neck. Two quotes from the end of the novel:
"And I'm still greedy for whatever's left to me. I can't open my eyes soon enough each day to see you, my darling."
"There's not one iota of fear in me about it. I wouldn’t have you stay for anything. But I can't think too hard about the world I've bequeathed to you, or the gulf between your childhood and mine or I start to feel guilty about it."
smokeyshouse's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This was a very well-paced book (a page-turner), with sympathetic characters and unforeseen plot twists. Also, the setting was beautifully described. Publishers Weekly stated that it is "ultimately and strangely hopeful", which excellently captures the arc of this story and its ending.