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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
“Then they set out along the blacktop in the gunmetal light, shuffling through the ash, each the other's world entire.”
Damn this one was bleak
Damn this one was bleak
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An utterly depressing tale that I expected to end in an edgy, even more depressing way with the father having to live on without his son. Doomed to walk the earth alone, similar to Caine from the old testament. But I was wrong, the whole saying of, "it's always darkest before the dawn" is true even in the most dire circumstances (albeit I expected the story to turn in a more positive direction several times). I wish I had more information about the world our two protagonists live in but, along with the writing style, it serves a greater purpose of telling the reader how much humanity has lost and will continue to lose. I also felt like the boy would be the type to ask "are we there yet?" if circumstances were different but I digress.
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is bleak. Like, soul-crushingly bleak. It’s slow, heavy, and depressing—but also weirdly beautiful? Definitely not a fun read, but one that sticks with you.
4.0 ⭐
4.0 ⭐
"Gde ljudi ne mogu da žive ni bogovi ne prolaze bolje"
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is one of the most bleak things I've ever read. That said, it remains compelling and, in an odd way (and in small ways for the most part) a bit uplifting. Recommended, but only if you know what you're getting into.
5/5 — Tears have been shed!
The novel reads like poetry, each brief scene chronicling the burdens of life — grief, desperation, responsibility, perseverance, mortality, love — sometimes straightforwardly, sometimes symbolically, sometimes with bicker, sometimes with silence.
I was particularly drawn to the son’s obsession with death; his reality driven only by fear. And yet, he was so deeply empathic? So sensitive to others’ suffering and desperation? I will be thinking about him for some time.
One of my favorite scenes, page 74:
“The boy sat tottering. The man watched him that he not topple into the flames. He kicked holes in the sand for the boy’s hips and shoulders where he would sleep and he sat holding him while he tousled his hair before the fire to dry it. All of this like some ancient anointing. So be it. Evoke the forms. Where you've nothing else construct ceremonies out of the air and breathe upon them.”
The novel reads like poetry, each brief scene chronicling the burdens of life — grief, desperation, responsibility, perseverance, mortality, love — sometimes straightforwardly, sometimes symbolically, sometimes with bicker, sometimes with silence.
I was particularly drawn to the son’s obsession with death; his reality driven only by fear. And yet, he was so deeply empathic? So sensitive to others’ suffering and desperation? I will be thinking about him for some time.
One of my favorite scenes, page 74:
“The boy sat tottering. The man watched him that he not topple into the flames. He kicked holes in the sand for the boy’s hips and shoulders where he would sleep and he sat holding him while he tousled his hair before the fire to dry it. All of this like some ancient anointing. So be it. Evoke the forms. Where you've nothing else construct ceremonies out of the air and breathe upon them.”