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16.3k reviews for:

The Road

Cormac McCarthy

3.92 AVERAGE

dark emotional fast-paced

Despite the great reviews, I put off reading this book for a long time because I was intimidated by how dark the post-apocalyptic story would be, but my Aunt Sharon convinced me to give it a try because of the gorgeous prose, and she was right.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Overall, I wouldn't say I enjoyed reading this. I would recommend it to those who like dystopia, but there are better books I'd recommend first. The plot was interesting enough, and the pacing wasn't too terribly slow. However, once I started the book and found it meh, I mostly finished it to complete another book in my challenge of reading 12 Pulitzers in 12 Months. I don't believe this book should have won the Pulitzer.

As for what I liked, I enjoyed the characters and found them well developed even though they were annoying sometimes. There was enough backstory for most of them and I found the flashbacks before the world ended enjoyable. There were some moving passages.

There was an overuse of sophisticated words in a manner I didn't find charming. It just got annoying instead of profound, meaningful, or even useful in terms of imagery or plot advancement. There were several descriptions that were somehow plain and detailed at the same time in that way, but the writing was generally simplistic. That makes it more approachable, which I appreciated, but it didn't increase my enjoyment overall. I did not like how the dialogue was written; in conversations you need to mentally keep track of who is saying what.

I don't think I'll read any other works by this author. You have my permission to skip this one.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

Still one of the greatest books I've ever read. Something about the harshness of the world in The Road just grabs me and doesn't let go. This is my second time reading this and I'll probably read it again someday.

There are a lot of canned peaches sitting around at the end of the world.
dark sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Very bleak, haunting and beautiful. A book about unconditional love and holding onto hope in the face of hopelessness.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced