Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

153 reviews

spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Medical content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Car accident, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence

jg34's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I’ll start by saying that science fiction/dystopian is not really my usual genre so I think the areas that fell flat for me is due to that. There are a lot of characters and it was hard to keep track of all their storylines. I think I may have enjoyed it more if it focused in depth on one or two characters instead of these snippets from multiple people. I wanted to know more about Jeevan, maybe learn more about the people in the troupe or how Kirsten came to join them. Maybe could have snuck in a bit of a love story?? At first I also felt a bit unsatisfied with the ending but I think I’m coming around to it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Pedophilia, and Animal death

This story is about a post epidemic world and all the survivalism stuff that comes with living in a collapsed society

bdingz's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

From what I’d previously heard about this book, I was expecting more horror or thriller elements. Once I realized that wasn’t accurate, I had to set those expectations aside and enjoy the story for what it was. I liked how the stories all intertwined, although I liked reading about some characters more than others. I would’ve liked a bit more focus on Kristen and the Symphony. 

Annoying trope of

disabled people killing themselves because they’re a burden—not once, but twice.

Still, I loved the writing style. I hope to read more from Emily St. John Mandel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic and Death

Moderate: Gun violence and Violence

Minor: Suicide, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape

brindolyn's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, and Murder

maevebm's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Human, consequential, and anxiety-inducing, lol. Considering that the book was written well before covid, I find Mandel’s understanding of human behavior in the face of uncertainty and death remarkable. I loved the connections between the characters  and the pacing of the story. The central theme/connector of the fine arts was most compelling. It is important to remember that arts matter and may be the last bit of humanity when everything else goes away.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Murder and Gun violence

analenegrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

I'd known of the HBO show but I hadn't ever watched it, and I'm glad I haven't. This book is so engaging, beautiful, and made me think so much about what makes humanity. 

It's simultaneously an easy read because of how well-written it is, but also so hard to read in a post-2020 world where COVID fundamentally changed so many things. So much of the book was familiar; Mandel has a keen understanding of how we as a society react to things. Some of the standouts include a dedication to theater and the arts, a dedication to preservation, and relying on religion to the point of madness. All of these things were seen in our pandemic as well as in this book. 

I cannot recommend it enough, and I will probably be thinking about it for a long time after reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Alcohol, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical trauma, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Violence

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, and Gun violence

Minor: Suicide, Drug use, Child death, Rape, and Death of parent

musicalpopcorn's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

When a plague strikes the world, the people who survive are left to survive as best they can.

I quite enjoyed this book. Emily St John Mandel is fast becoming my favourite author. I like the way she weaves her stories and ties things together with neat but emotional little bows. I quite liked how this was a little different than a standard post-apocalyptic book in that it was based more on relationships and less on the nitty-gritty of survival. I also liked how there was a lot of speculation about how people would reminisce and find different memories of technology to fixate on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Suicide, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Medical content, Blood, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Mental illness, Alcohol, Abandonment, Rape, Pedophilia, and Panic attacks/disorders

mlovesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I'm in love with Emily St. John Mandel's writing. This is my second book by her that I've read and I plan to get through the rest of her published works this year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Death, and Blood

Minor: Rape and Pregnancy

indigosl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious medium-paced

3.75

The post-pandemic context was exciting and the world building was interesting. I thought it brought up some fascinating ideas of cultism, community, and the arts. However, key observations of the implications of this new-world and the associated themes seemed to, at times, fall flat. Nonetheless an enjoyable read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Death, and Murder

Minor: Gun violence, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail