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Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Vomit
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Gaslighting, Pandemic/Epidemic
"There's something horribly unfair about dying in the middle of a good story, before you have a chance to see how it all comes out. Of course, I suppose everyone ALWAYS dies in the middle of a good story, in a sense. Your own story. Or the story of your grandchildren. Death is a raw deal for narrative junkies."
I've been meaning to try Joe Hill's writing for years now, and I even had more than one physical book waiting to be read on my shelves. I ended up picking up The Fireman on a whim, deciding to get my 600+ pages book in early to avoid more deadlines in the final months... I don't exactly read a lot of dystopian stories, but there was just something about this one in particular that had me curious. And what a ride it turned out to be! I'm actually kind of grateful I waited this long to read it, because I feel this story has an even bigger impact after everything that happened during the worst of the COVID pandemic. The Fireman is set in a dystopian world that takes place just after the Dragonscale pandemic hits. The world is LITERALLY going up in flames, and we are along for the ride... I still don't know how it escaped my notice that Joe Hill is actually the pen name of Stephen King's son, but I could definitely see his influence in this story. The Fireman is a big one at 762 pages, and it takes us on a meandering yet urgent journey as people try to survive in this new reality. The pace was a tad slow at times and the plot overly descriptive (something you often see in King's longer books as well), but somehow the plot still kept me engaged. The Dragonscale disease was fascinating to read about, and the human reactions on both sides scarily plausible. The cast of characters was quite big, but not too difficult to keep apart and you will soon find yourself rooting for them. There were some stupid decisions that were frustrating, but as a whole The Fireman was definitely a winner for me. I can't wait to pick up more of his books soon!
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Alcohol
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death
Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexism, Torture, Death of parent, Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Religious bigotry
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexism, Religious bigotry
Graphic: Death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Torture, Death of parent