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bearystarry's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This felt very… meandering? Feels like 80% of the book was just descriptions of people running away and/or travelling to other places and how starving or mean or “silly” they are. Pretty sexist and racist; making reference to indigenous american people when talking about violent invading aliens was certainly A Choice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, War, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Violence, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism
typedtruths's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and War
Moderate: Gore, Alcohol, Animal death, and Death
Minor: Sexism and Ableism
➸ Trigger warnings for period-typical sexism and ableism, dead bodies, alcohol consumption, presumed death of a wife, death of a friend, gun violence, whipping, near-drowning incident, stampede, building collapse, boating accident, military violence and battle scenes, and animal death (off-page, horse).wai's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is an interesting book and it's easy to see why H.G. Wells is a classic in science fiction literature. It's incredibly novel for the period of time that it was written and intensely imaginative given their level of technology and scientific knowledge. I was also surprised because I didn't realize how much horror and suspense was involved. Even for a short book it is rather slow going, largely because of the limitations of the narrator - there is a large amount of running around, and a large portion of the book detailing weeks of hiding. which is realistic but not necessarily compelling. The narrator is also not the most likeable character. He exhibits minor prejudices common with the 19th century but not necessarily excessive, just occasional mentions of women as weaker than men, as well as some ableism as he meets other characters that are so terrified they "descend into madness" and how they are weak for that. This is why I only rate it 3.75 stars, because otherwise the concepts that Wells introduced into the scifi genre are really compelling and interesting, particularly the demise that the Martians meet. Plus the fact that there is a relatively happy ending (for the narrator at least) is a nice ending contrast to the rest of the tone of the novel, which is largely meant to cause the fear, anxiety and panic that the characters were feeling.
All in all, a great read for a scifi nerd but may fall flat for people not interested in this genre.
All in all, a great read for a scifi nerd but may fall flat for people not interested in this genre.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Death, and Animal death
Moderate: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, and Blood
Minor: Sexism and Ableism
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