Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

After the Revolution by Robert Evans

4 reviews

bheller77's review

adventurous dark funny hopeful sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Outing, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Death, Drug use, Excrement, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Vomit, Domestic abuse, War, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Dementia, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexism, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Body horror, Abortion, Cursing, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Car accident, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Trafficking

Definitely an R rated book that is very graphic at times, but it uses it to prove a point about the horrors of war.

fionamclary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.0

As devastatingly Evansian as I would have expected, being an avid Behind the Bastards listener, After the Revolution is an unflinching imagining of the future, neither optimistic nor pessimistic, simply extrapolating. And adding in some sci-fi elements for flavor, and to take the motifs to their most extreme logical conclusion. The book takes a brutally honest lens to trauma, following three POV characters who are all in different stages of PTSD. It shows the tragedy, in the literal sense, of trauma, war, and violence. The inevitable doom of it all and the shattering of morality. The way that the pain never goes away, you just have to learn to live with it, and the value of community in healing. On this last point, I thought that the war and grieving rituals of Rolling Fuck were some of the most creative and beautiful community practices I've ever read about in a novel.

This book was hard to read. Maybe the hardest I've ever encountered. Sometimes the onslaught of atrocity became too much and I had to put it down for a few days. I cannot imagine actually being in those characters' positions and not being able to escape the horror. I strongly recommend checking trigger warnings before reading, and know that the content is extreme. For me though, it was very much a worthwhile read. I'll most likely be alive during the time that the book is set, and I can't help but imagine and wonder what the world will look like then. I want to read more about leftist visions of the near future. While this vision certainly isn't hopeful, I'm always interested in what Robert speculates for the coming years and decades. If he ever writes more set in this world, exploring some of the other new nations and communities mentioned in passing, I'd absolutely eat that up.

My moderate quibbles: First off, part of why this book was so tough to read was because sometimes it really got into the military-tech weeds, and you could really tell that it's written by someone who's spent time in combat zones. This is my first ever military fiction, so maybe it's just not my vibe, but I did sometimes feel a bit bogged down by all the details of types of military gear. Second, there was a smattering of typos, enough to briefly distract me. I don't want to go too hard on a small press, but it'd be cool to get those fixed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Self harm, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Medical content, Suicide, War, Misogyny, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Sexual violence, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, and Trafficking

Minor: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Medical trauma

bwbuhse's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Drug abuse, Cursing, War, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Drug use, and Blood

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Racial slurs

alisoun's review

adventurous challenging informative tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Blood, Self harm, Sexism, War, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Alcohol, Child death, Homophobia, Car accident, Death, Religious bigotry, Racism, Suicide attempt, Vomit, and Violence