Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Actual rating 4.5
Wow. I bought this book because it involved bigfoot and what I got was a survivalist story with bigfoot horror/thrilled aspects. A pleasant surprise! Max Brooks always has such a wonderful way of building up suspense and I truky grew to care about this community and their safety.
If you are a fan of survivalist books and you don't mind some more mythical based thriller aspects I cannot recommend Devolution enough!
Wow. I bought this book because it involved bigfoot and what I got was a survivalist story with bigfoot horror/thrilled aspects. A pleasant surprise! Max Brooks always has such a wonderful way of building up suspense and I truky grew to care about this community and their safety.
If you are a fan of survivalist books and you don't mind some more mythical based thriller aspects I cannot recommend Devolution enough!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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:
No
Loved the concept of this book, the execution and the ending (argh the ending!!) But there were far too many parts that were slow and dull. Almost no likeable characters either. Although I guess that was the point - but it does make it less troubling when they’re sasquashed.
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
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
When it's slow, it's a snail's pace. When it's fast, it's too fast with too much going on. The pacing was a nightmare and I ended up skipping a chapter about war in Yemen. It just didn't seem relevant in the Bigfoot creature feature.
There just wasn't enough action until the final 40 pages.
The book felt much more a meditation of green-living, the beauty of nature and human + interspecies politics.
The mixed medium approach of the book also worked against itself when the MC (Kate) was writing in a journal using a narrator's voice, rather than someone actually experiencing it and reacting in real time.
There just wasn't enough action until the final 40 pages.
The book felt much more a meditation of green-living, the beauty of nature and human + interspecies politics.
The mixed medium approach of the book also worked against itself when the MC (Kate) was writing in a journal using a narrator's voice, rather than someone actually experiencing it and reacting in real time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture, Vomit
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was alright. A short, quick read that kept me engaged throughout. However, it doesn't even hold a candle to WWZ. Granted, it's not a sequel to that story and is its own book, but it's impossible to not make comparisons, especially when the author's previous book was as good as it was.
The characters suffer the classic idiot ball affliction. The book tries to justify this by acknowledging the stupidity of some of the actions of the characters but what use is that if they're just going to continue making the same mistakes? I know people aren't perfect. They make mistakes, overlook what should've been obvios, let their emotions take hold of them. But there's a limit to how many lapse in judgement you can realistically sneak in before you exceed the reader's capacity for suspension of disbelief.
Maybe I'm being too nitpicky. It's an okay book really, but it's clear that Max Brooks didn't put nearly as much thought into writing this as he put into World War Z.
The characters suffer the classic idiot ball affliction. The book tries to justify this by acknowledging the stupidity of some of the actions of the characters but what use is that if they're just going to continue making the same mistakes? I know people aren't perfect. They make mistakes, overlook what should've been obvios, let their emotions take hold of them. But there's a limit to how many lapse in judgement you can realistically sneak in before you exceed the reader's capacity for suspension of disbelief.
Maybe I'm being too nitpicky. It's an okay book really, but it's clear that Max Brooks didn't put nearly as much thought into writing this as he put into World War Z.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I thought this was an intresting book. I have never read a book about big foot before so this was a first! I liked the way it was told through journal entries, podcast interviews, and news segments. I found that it gave a realistic feel to the story and added to the tension and suspense. I also think the basis of the plot wasinteresting how the chararcter were so out of their element but were under the pretense of safety until the disaster struck. I also thought the character growth and development was intresting to notice. For instance the way the main character's marriage was having some trouble and how her husband was depressed to see the way their marriage changed and how he found a sense of purpose in devasiton and tragedy was interesting. I also liked some of the side characters and found the dynamics of their community was intresting. Mostly I found the theme of people natures and how they react in tragedy intresting. I also just thought the basic bigfoot plot line was fun and exciting. This book got a lot darker than I anticipated which wasn't a bad thing. I liked how the book ended on a what happens? aspect. My only issue really is I felt like around the 3/4 Mark of the book the tension started to leave pretty quickly and result to more regular action which just changed the tone of the story a bit. Overall I really enjoyed the book and found it a fun read plus the audiobook was really good and had a full cast of narrators which made the listening experience so much better.
Solid 4.5 stars for me. I love how it was written with the accounts from the diet and the additional entires from other experts. It made it very spooky. The added disaster from the mountain, being cut off and then surrounded. The author really made the Sasquatch scary when most of the things I’ve seen don’t always make it so. Just flew through the book. Loved the main character and Mostar as well. I, however, now really want to go emergency prep lol. The only thing that i docked points on was the very ending. I thought it was done well I just wanted it a little spookier. I still think it was wonderful though.
dark
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
I read this one as part of a book club and it was a great book for that purpose. There was a lot for us to discuss! Overall, I enjoyed it, but my main complaint is similar to something I read from a book critic about the book: it's hard to tell what/who is satire and what/who is not. Some characters, like the Durants, are very obviously being satirized from start to finish. Other characters seem to only sometimes be satirized. However, it makes me uncomfortable to think about the two characters who are survivors of genocide (Mostar and Palomino) being satirized, mostly because I don't understand what the point of the satire would be. I don't *think* they were, but I'm honestly not sure, which is a problem in a book that is ultimately a satire.
That being said, I do think the main part of the satire worked pretty well. A high-tech community in a remote location where there are regular grocery deliveries by drone? Perfect. A couple who has a "pied a terre" in Seattle to get away from the remoteness of the community? YES. There is no emergency plan for what happens if the internet goes out? Absolutely would happen. It's a more specific version of the "clueless but confident man versus nature" story, featuring terrifying sasquatches in the role of "nature."
I think if you don't mind just letting the story be what it is and don't ask too many questions about what a person can realistically do with their smart home with an iPad and no training, this is an enjoyable read.
That being said, I do think the main part of the satire worked pretty well. A high-tech community in a remote location where there are regular grocery deliveries by drone? Perfect. A couple who has a "pied a terre" in Seattle to get away from the remoteness of the community? YES. There is no emergency plan for what happens if the internet goes out? Absolutely would happen. It's a more specific version of the "clueless but confident man versus nature" story, featuring terrifying sasquatches in the role of "nature."
I think if you don't mind just letting the story be what it is and don't ask too many questions about what a person can realistically do with their smart home with an iPad and no training, this is an enjoyable read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Genocide
Two of the characters are survivors of genocide and war. One character talks a little about her experience, but not in a lot of detail.