Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

87 reviews

matcha_pages's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

"Survival is insufficient." 

Station Eleven is different from apocalypse books because it doesn't focus on the collapse & destruction of society. Instead it focuses on the things we need after survival - human connections, the arts, and appreciation for the everyday things we take for granted. 

I initially struggled with understanding how the various characters and timelines would eventually converge. But patience paid off as the book progressed and I really enjoyed how everything tied together towards the end. I felt the book was unbalanced at times, for example it'd focus a lot someone's pre-pandemic backstory but post-pandemic they don't play a big role.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Suicide and Rape

dryriver's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Rape

elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Suicide

Minor: Rape

kassidyreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Medical content, Rape, and Suicide

stellaperlic's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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

5.0

I love this book so much! Mandel always writes these eerie stories with so much character insight, interesting plot points, and hopeful/insightful endings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Trafficking, Religious bigotry, and Child abuse

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

kayleejanes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Violence

seforana's review against another edition

inspiring reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Death, Violence, Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Suicide

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.

kananineko's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, and Blood

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, and War