Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

12 reviews

s_p_a_r_k_s's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I really struggled with the star rating for this book. On the one hand, the writing is drop-dead gorgeous, the worldbuilding and epic sweep of the story are impressive, and the story does an incredible job of making you realize just how precious life as we know it truly is. On the other, the characterization is weak, the plot is full of contrivances, and many of the individual storylines feel underbaked (even if they contribute to a beautiful whole). I ultimately ended up giving 3.5 stars because, for all its flaws, Station Eleven is compelling enough that it still sticks with me to this day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

This story is about a flu pandemic that wipes out 90% of the population and human civilization along with it. Some main characters die of the virus. There are sequences where characters know they are infected and must chose how to spend their last days on Earth. Grief pervades every inch of this story. We see characters grieving relationships, careers, dead and dying loved ones, and the end of a world. One major character has been married three times, and every marriage has ended with him cheating on his wife with someone else.

We later read about his first wife's discovery of his infidelity from her point of view.

Another character is revealed to have cheated on her previous boyfriend. While her actions aren't *quite* portrayed in a positive light, it's also clear she feels very little remorse, and she's treated as a hero by the narrative for her other actions.

One chronically ill character, unable to travel, decides to take his own life so his brother will be free to escape the rapidly collapsing city they live in.

In the parts of the story set after the apocalypse, violence is relatively common. Several characters are killed with throwing knives, bows and arrows, guns, and other lethal weapons. There are references to sex, but no graphic sex scenes. The main villains of the post-apocalyptic timeline are a group of cultists. It is strongly implied the cult leader coerces female members of the cult to sleep with him, including minors. This is depicted as horrifying and completely wrong.

Two side characters are kidnapped by a band of cultists. One is ultimately rescued, but the other dies of wounds sustained during the kidnapping.

carolined's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Station Eleven made me feel intensely homesick because one of the characters had a very similar childhood to me on an island in BC Canada. Because the author is also from there she evokes it very vividly, the trees, the hippies, the stairs down to the sea, building dens in the woods. However it turned out to be just a bit of backstory and the rest of the story didn't make me feel much of anything. The challenge of any post apocalyptic fiction is whether it makes the survival of the human race seem worthwhile and this cast of luvies, cultists and suspicious midwesterners did not convince me of this. Maybe the rest of the world was faring better or maybe the octopuses should have their chance at being the dominant species.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Suicide

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual violence