Scan barcode
holliejoy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness
egroetsema's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide
kayamckergow's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Infertility
Minor: Gun violence
sarz's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Infertility, Sexism, and Suicide
luelle_'s review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Grief
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Terminal illness, Suicide, and Murder
azrah786's review against another edition
3.0
CW: virus/pandemic, (mass) death, infertility, mention of suicide, starvation, violence
A well-written debut that I think has both benefited and been hindered by its time of publication.
Through the accounts of various, predominantly women characters The End of Men is an account of a pandemic that wipes most of the male population off of the planet, spanning from a few days before to a couple of years after.
Having been written from 2018 it was quite scary to see just how the fictional events in the book mirrored what has been occurring with the coronavirus in reality. I feel like if this book had been published at a different time it would have perhaps been a hard-hitting read however, it would not have had as much of an impact emotionally as it does now.
That being said with the speed that events were occurring in the book, having real world experience of very similar happenings I couldn’t help but feel they sometimes felt a little unrealistic. One thing I do wish though was that the government in the real world had starting dealing with our pandemic a lot faster like the one in the book.
I really liked the narrative choice of the author to tell the story through various points of view from around the world and the short snappy chapters were great for the pacing.
What I had a problem with though was that I felt most of the characters didn’t have a distinctive voice. Other than all having different circumstances and relationships a lot of them felt the same which made it a little confusing to keep track of all the storylines. Even when the point of view jumped to a character in a different country the characterisation felt very surface level.
Also despite a handful of medical terms there weren’t that many elements of science so I personally wouldn’t class this book as a sci-fi but more a contemporary novel with a dystopian-esque setting. Though maybe this comes down to how the setting felt so close to reality that I can’t see it as a dystopian.
Nevertheless this was a thought-provoking read and I look forward to seeing what Christina Sweeney-Baird writes next.
Final Rating - 3/5 Stars
Moderate: Child death, Death, Infertility, Suicide, and Violence
milliep's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Sexism
Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder
mirandawrites's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Infertility
Minor: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, and Suicide