Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

151 reviews

builtonbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

I read this on Easter weekend, a break from my cultural industries masters program, this somehow made more invested in my program. As a museum practitioner the scenes at the Museum of Civilization moved me so much. I binge read it from Good Friday to Black Saturday 2024 and somehow, as a lapsed Catholic, the timing felt right. 

Beautiful uncompromising writing with moments that gave me goosebumps. Reading this in 2024, year 4 post COVID-19 was a wild ride, and I'm glad I waited till now to read it. It also made me miss home, family, and the light and heat of my country.

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larissakoch's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


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curriedpeas's review against another edition

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

4.5


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nikelback's review against another edition

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

4.0


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pipercurda's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

poignantly eerie after having lived through an actual pandemic. i could read a series of ten more of these. some of the best as-you-go world-building i’ve read in a while. devoured in 36 hours. 

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erlenzi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

Unfortunately I saw the HBO limited series first, and actually prefer their adaptation.

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erikabites's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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lindsaylhunter's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective 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? No

4.0

I don't think I'll ever not enjoy what this author puts out there. She has an uncanny ability to write heartwarming stories that circle back again and again to stay with you.

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maddie_can_read's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I remember watching the TV show for a few episodes a few years ago so it's interesting seeing what I remember/ what they changed.

I really enjoy the structure of the book, where you follow characters over time and space.
And the fact that you don't necessarily know at the beginning which characters you are going to follow. Like it's so interesting going back in time to a character that we already know is dead and learn more about them, their hopes and dreams, their impact on others and then see their death from a totally different perspective. Very humanizing. Loved the "twist" of knowing who the prophet was and the parallels between his trauma and Kristen's trauma
. Also really enjoy the writing style. I like the feeling of not knowing where the author is taking you.

Loved all the Canadian and especially the Toronto references!

I have a difficult time visualizing some books but thought this book was written in a way that really facilitated visualizing what was happening, being familiar with Toronto also probably helped though.

I also enjoyed the tone of the book, it felt neither overly optimistic or pessimistic in imagining a post-apocalyptic world. 

One minor critique is that some of the side characters were difficult to distinguish between.
Specifically, Kristen's traveling symphony friends


I also kind of wished we had seen the reunion between Kristen and Jevin and if they 'd figure out how they knew each other

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sandysmith's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

3.5

So hard to decide where to start with the review of this one, published in 2014, the book explores a dystopia world of those who survive a flu that kills 99.6% of the population within 3/4 hours of contracting the virus. So within 20 years young people are unable to know a time when there was electricity, mobile phones, air travel the internet, cars and so forth and how different people react to this change. The book does hop around different times and different characters, of which there are many, my favourites being Kirsten a child actress, who was 8 when the flu hit. There is a travelling symphony that she d part of, which goes from town to town, in a circuit, giving shows of music with their orchestra or plays, including Shakespeare. On their wagons is the slogan, "Survival is inefficient." From Star Trek Voyager. For me, parts of the book were slow, and I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first, although it was a bit of a disappointing ending. But boy, does this book make you think and appreciate all of the things we have. I'm just glad I read this now and not when the global pandemic was at its peak. Interesting, thought-provoking, and well written.

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