Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Devolution by Max Brooks

8 reviews

maddie_can_read's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Really interesting book. the audiobook acting was fantastic with Judy Greer and Nathan Fillion.
 I randomly picked it out from my library only knowing it was science fiction. Loved the structure. 

I really loved how the relationship between Katie and Dan changed over the course of the events unfolding and

really liked Dan's development and the idea that adversity brings out people's true nature and that Dan's floundering in regular life was more a reflection on the crushing nature of our capitalist society and not his inherent value as a person. Absolutely loved how him and Katie grew closer in the tragedy.

There were only a few things I didn't love: I found some of the parts, especially parts where a lot of stuff was happening, difficult to visualize,

like the fight scenes, what green loop looked like, what the eruption Iooked like

the green loop residents were a little overdone at some parts

I really hated why the neighbours had to be so stupid at the beginning of the crisis except this does lead us to one of the most disturbing scenes I've ever listened to in a book with Vincent and Bobby!

, I wish more was done with Tony and Yvette

especially after they "lost control".

Also I really liked Mostar and wouldve liked to know more about her

like from what we knew about her, it's hard to believe that she wouldn't have been more prepared with her having all this like survivalist knowledge/ trauma. And I would've liked to know how she knew Tony and maybe more  about why she trusted him to protect them etc

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Stalking, Excrement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Torture, and War

Minor: Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting

kier__'s review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Violence, Gore, Blood, Death, Excrement, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Eating disorder, Car accident, Cancer, and Terminal illness

judassilver's review against another edition

dark informative tense medium-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Excrement, and Death

Moderate: Fatphobia

Minor: Grief, War, Antisemitism, Cancer, Eating disorder, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol

chasingpages1's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Grief, Torture, Animal death, Death, Murder, Confinement, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Violence, Death of parent, Excrement, Gore, and Stalking

Minor: War, Classism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Cancer

izypup's review against another edition

dark tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Violence, Torture, Gore, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Moderate: Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Confinement

Minor: Terminal illness, Cursing, Cancer, Child death, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Drug use, War, and Classism

shiran_fa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Medical content, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and Cursing

Minor: Cancer and Alcohol

escapinginpaper's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, Excrement, Genocide, Islamophobia, and Sexual content

ehmannky's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Overall, there was enough here in this book that I liked and found entertaining to keep reading. It's bloody and spooky, but not scary enough to give me nightmares, and I appreciate that. I liked the framing device of the journal and the interspersed excerpts of "interviews" and books. I actually think the excerpts were far more effective than the actual journal entries, and they felt like a strong call back to what makes World War Z such a strong novel. Maybe it's just because Kate's journal was just too novelistic. It was just a little too perfect.

I wasn't a fan that the Asian child was silent for much of the book, as I feel like that just calls on a tired trope. I did like that Brooks explicitly draws attention to the overall point that this is a town of privileged mostly white people copying Levittowns and that they were doomed from the start because of this. I also appreciated the fact that this book points out that the Disneyfication of nature is bad and it leads to people making careless decisions and dying. However, I didn't like the implication that   

Kate and Pal have "devolved" into some kind of savage, primitive creature on the off chance that they may be hunting the Sasquatch herd at the end of the novel. It just tickles something that I did not care for.

 There's also the implication given the description of some of their character's developments that their issues such as anxiety or hypochondria are just products of society and can be cured in a way by this intense situation, and that also just rankles me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Excrement, Gore, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cancer