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sofielser's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
mariahistryingtoread's review against another edition
3.0
I almost didn't write a review for this book. I high key honestly don't want to but I wanted to spit a few lines out in case it's helpful to someone else.
This is really important going in and absolutely no one outside of some of the reviews here on Goodreads mentions it. It's not even interwoven into the synopsis: this is not a straight thriller, it is post apocalyptic fiction .
I very much feel this book has been completely miscategorized and/or misrepresented. Something got lost in translation somewhere because I had no idea. And I definitely would not have read this book heck I wouldn't even have picked it back when I still had Book of the Month if I had known.
I have no words for how anxious this book made me. And I absolutely could not quit because once I was in my anxiety spiral I was desperate to finish with a glimmer of hope or something, anything to make me feel better about how dire the circumstances were. There is something there but it almost feels delusional for the character involved to believe like they do.
If you have bad anxiety like I do and easily spin out into what ifs and your thought patterns endlessly cycle and branch off into more and more paths as you try to account for every possible avenue I'd recommend passing on this. Or at the very least be very careful going in. I found the implication of what was going on, the little asides and tiny morsels of info given to be an immensely triggering way of writing.
I wish it had been much more clear that this was not a simple mystery or thriller. So I'm giving anybody out there the heads up I didn't have.
This is really important going in and absolutely no one outside of some of the reviews here on Goodreads mentions it. It's not even interwoven into the synopsis: this is not a straight thriller, it is post apocalyptic fiction .
I very much feel this book has been completely miscategorized and/or misrepresented. Something got lost in translation somewhere because I had no idea. And I definitely would not have read this book heck I wouldn't even have picked it back when I still had Book of the Month if I had known.
I have no words for how anxious this book made me. And I absolutely could not quit because once I was in my anxiety spiral I was desperate to finish with a glimmer of hope or something, anything to make me feel better about how dire the circumstances were. There is something there but it almost feels delusional for the character involved to believe like they do.
If you have bad anxiety like I do and easily spin out into what ifs and your thought patterns endlessly cycle and branch off into more and more paths as you try to account for every possible avenue I'd recommend passing on this. Or at the very least be very careful going in. I found the implication of what was going on, the little asides and tiny morsels of info given to be an immensely triggering way of writing.
I wish it had been much more clear that this was not a simple mystery or thriller. So I'm giving anybody out there the heads up I didn't have.
jmrich's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
savaging's review against another edition
5.0
I could tell right away this would be a book where the eerie was tucked up into the normal. I knew it would be filled with rich sensory detail. I knew it would mess with my mind, to read about the opaque, banal horror of global catastrophe -- how the people inside them wait for an explanation that never comes.
But I didn't know that the book would be tender. With such an unlikeable bourgeois white couple at the onset, and their awful reaction to the Black homeowners, I was expecting a Jordan Peel horror story. But all things considered, this is a far more gentle apocalypse than it could be.
But I didn't know that the book would be tender. With such an unlikeable bourgeois white couple at the onset, and their awful reaction to the Black homeowners, I was expecting a Jordan Peel horror story. But all things considered, this is a far more gentle apocalypse than it could be.
mollyjones's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book and it was a super quick read but I kept reading expecting something more to happen and it just...didn't?
juliawo's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
bookph1le's review against another edition
3.0
I feel kind of...tepid about this book?
There are many things about this book I could praise. I thought it did an excellent job of portraying the characters as individual humans with individual emotions and motivations, though I did sometimes find it a little confusing to follow as it would jump from perspective to perspective within chapters. I thought it had a lot of interesting things to say about the unsavory aspects of our characters, our inherent racism and selfishness, the way we cling to technology. And I also thought it had a lot of good points about how we ignore the evidence that our planet is getting closer to the precipice, the way humans favor burying their heads in the sand to facing the reality of our situations.
Yet despite all this, I'm not sure I really liked the book. Admittedly, my reaction to it may have to do with where I am right now. Had I read this book at any time other than in the middle of a pandemic, I suspect I would have gotten more out of it. Part of my discontent with its message, one that I found rather nihilistic, is probably due to the fact that what's going on in the U.S. at this time lends credence to the idea that people are better at being fractious than they are at coming together in times of crisis.
That isn't the one and only thing I disliked about it, though. The writing was sometimes grittier than I wanted it to be, and that was off-putting to me. Also, every character except Amanda made sense to me. Her portrayal felt a little stereotypical, like she was the one "type" in the book while everyone else felt like a genuine human being with all their little flaws and foibles.
There are many things about this book I could praise. I thought it did an excellent job of portraying the characters as individual humans with individual emotions and motivations, though I did sometimes find it a little confusing to follow as it would jump from perspective to perspective within chapters. I thought it had a lot of interesting things to say about the unsavory aspects of our characters, our inherent racism and selfishness, the way we cling to technology. And I also thought it had a lot of good points about how we ignore the evidence that our planet is getting closer to the precipice, the way humans favor burying their heads in the sand to facing the reality of our situations.
Yet despite all this, I'm not sure I really liked the book. Admittedly, my reaction to it may have to do with where I am right now. Had I read this book at any time other than in the middle of a pandemic, I suspect I would have gotten more out of it. Part of my discontent with its message, one that I found rather nihilistic, is probably due to the fact that what's going on in the U.S. at this time lends credence to the idea that people are better at being fractious than they are at coming together in times of crisis.
That isn't the one and only thing I disliked about it, though. The writing was sometimes grittier than I wanted it to be, and that was off-putting to me. Also, every character except Amanda made sense to me. Her portrayal felt a little stereotypical, like she was the one "type" in the book while everyone else felt like a genuine human being with all their little flaws and foibles.
sarah_puschel's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
snydmf's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It had some really great imagery and metaphors but I struggled to connect them, honestly. It also didn’t have very much of a resolution at all which I understand may have been the entire point of the book, but there were too many loose ends.