Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

83 reviews

amsswim's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense

• 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 loved this book, wow. This is the 20th book I have read this year and my favorite one so far. A multiperspective book on a fast acting pandemic with time jumps before and after this apocalypse. That basic intro into the book alone would've had me by the chokehold, I knew it had to do with a post-apocalyptic society but nothing more. It was the little moments for me though, that really made this. WHile the plot overall I found very interesting, the environment and motivations were all very realistic to me which made the small moments in this world all the more meaningful. I must read from me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Terminal illness, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Suicide

Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, and Pedophilia

Minor: Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual assault

laarr's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A dystopian novel that follows stories of lives throughout and after a deadly plague strikes the world. I was intrigued by the way the different characters and storylines tie into each other as the book progresses - that sold it for me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Grief, and Kidnapping

vivvs's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

liked the premise, wish the main plot had a little more oomph

i found myself wishing for a bigger conclusion about the prophet storyline. i liked the ending and what mandel decided to include in the dialogue and what she left unwritten

but writing was good and interesting format 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Violence, Grief, and Death

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Cancer, Medical trauma, Suicide, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Child death

tremayna's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic and Infidelity

Moderate: Violence, Domestic abuse, Classism, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Religious bigotry, Death, and Gun violence

Minor: Child death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Suicide, Confinement, Rape, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Medical content, and Pedophilia

Written before the 2020 pandemic, this book about a fictional global viral event was disorienting to read in the year 2023, so closely following the eerily parallel events that came to pass in real life. Much of the real life pandemic is still in progress; its effects continue to leave their mark; the process of compartmentalizing memories of things surreal and too big to process without a biweekly therapy plan is still happening. Picking up this book jolted me back into the thick of pandemic thinking, creating a literal sense of disorientation where I was looking around me wondering how people could be sitting so close, maskless, touching everything without thought, when I hadn't seen the world that way in at least a year and a half. For that reason alone, I have to commend the writing. And at the same time, the author's delicate touch and the many moments of human normalcy, in both pre-event and post-event scenes, prevented the complete despair that could have pervaded this story. I felt St John Mandel balanced total devastation with enough possibility to keep the reader believing in the likelihood of meaningful survival without overdoing it and allowing the story to devolve into purely a feel good fantasy.

My one remaining frustration by the end was how little of Jeevan's growth we got to see. It was thankfully alluded to in enough detail to let the reader form a picture. But as the first point of view character, he was the one that had my investment from the start, and I slightly resented Arthur's story for edging it out, especially since Jeevan's story could also have neatly covered Tyler and Elizabeth's character development.

samburkhouse's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

Moderate: Kidnapping, Gore, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse and Rape

astridrv's review against another edition

Exquisite writing, a real page turner, neatly done. The author successfully made me marvel at the wonderful improbability of our lives. And the theme of fame and what remains of the narrative of our lives was a smart choice too. A well executed book that was a delight to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Death, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Suicide, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Sexual assault

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

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

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

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