Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

76 reviews

jdromsky's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

Survival is insufficient. This is the main premise of the book and my main thought when reading apocalypse novels. They typically show what happens in the immediate aftermath, but this addresses what happens YEARS later when the world is sick of just surviving. 
Ultimately, we must keep moving forward. We as human being are always moving forward looking for what’s next. 
This book perfectly captured that base need. 

It’s one of those books you want your English teacher to ask you to write an essay about I think. 

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Content Warnings

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

mari_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I made the mistake of/ had the fortune to read this book while on a 24hr travel day in 2023 - just three years after our world was changed totally by the pandemic. I had chills for the whole read while on the plane. It’s incredible to read so much of how I’ve felt about the past few years on a page. It was like historical fiction of our present challenges, though obviously COVID didn’t take our society as close to the edge as in the book. I highly recommend for anyone who wants a poetic, challenging reading of society in decay. Lots of trigger warnings for  many dark themes. At the end I was left feeling a deep sense of gratitude for how our world met our pandemic moment despite how deeply flawed, and the miracles of our modern technology. This is not for people who don’t like Shakespeare, this was probably maximum Shakespeare for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Blood, Kidnapping, Slavery, Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and War

rebeccarudisill's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

oriana095's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Infidelity and Death

Minor: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Child death, Rape, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Domestic 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

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