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Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, Classism
This book grabs your attention and leads you to wander what’s going to happen next. It’s a well written, post apocalyptic novel that addresses the conflict between maintaining power and telling the truth.
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Death, Blood
The book's biggest strengths are by far the worldbuilding and its characters. The setting and history of the world was so in-depth, realistic and really really engaging.
The characters were flawed, so interesting to join along in the story and so believably real. Every character was intriguing and each perspective was really enjoyable to read.
Another aspect that cannot be overlooked was just how well the book was written from a purely literary perspective. It was fun to read, engaging, and this was a huge reason as to why the story was as immersive as it was.
I am very glad that there was not a cliffhanger at the end of the book (as I was concerned there would be as I neared the end), the ending itself was really great and beautifully made the story - which was completely full of action - come to a really great end.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book a lot. All aspects of the story and how it was written was fantastic. I definitely want to continue to read into this universe and will pick up the sequels to read in the near future.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Graphic: Murder, War
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Blood
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Classism, Deportation, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Child death, Cursing, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, War
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
But, can I get a shred of character development? Or anyone's motivation? The main male love interest is blander than a piece of wonderbread. I was sitting there begging to understand what his interests were, why he was taking the angle he was, or just a scrap of context for his actions. It never came. It was so bad that
Same complaint for Juliette. I wanted to love her, but I needed more to get there. I watched the TV show first and felt similarly like the character was flat, but at least in the show, you can see facial expressions which add a speck of understanding of someone. The only character that I felt like I understood their motivation was the "crazy guy". He knew what he wanted and he was gonna stick with that.
I just didn't care about any of the characters. And when
I also felt like the "reveals" and "twists" were often way undersold in the book (I'm glad I watched the show first because they were so juicy there!) I think to have a proper twist, you first have the clearly set the expectations first. The reader can't go "holy cow, everything they knew was a lie!!" if we aren't sure about what they knew in the first place.
I know that was a good amount of criticism, but overall it was an enjoyable listen. It's no Hunger Games or Ready Player One, but it's worth a read if you're into the genre. And hey, maybe you like a little wiggle room with your characters to be able to use your imagination, so you'll really enjoy filling in the gaps yourself.
Graphic: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, War, Classism
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Genocide, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship