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traciereads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Death, Grief, Dysphoria, Cancer, Ableism, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Self harm, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Abandonment
mmccombs's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Such an ambitious, heartbreaking, hopeful book. It’s sprawling and gets kind of weird but stays thematically grounded in the beautiful things humanity is capable of despite the equally terrible things that occur. The first third of the book was so hard hitting, so beautifully interconnected, but I did lose a bit of interest around the last third. It started to feel a bit repetitive and too on the nose, especially the last chapter/story. Despite the fall-off for me at the end, I’m walking away from this book deeply moved: nothing lasts forever, but our capacity to love, to connect, to help each other will get us through and help us reach higher together.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Ableism and Suicide
bookishplantmom's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I went into this book completely blind. All I knew about it was the title. So I was surprised to find that it was a collection of short stories about a pandemic. I was taken aback and genuinely unsure about continuing but after just a story or two I couldn’t stop. The collection presents a series of slice of life vignettes following a range of characters and moments through a global health crisis. This is incredibly beautifully written and gripping. It is grim and heart wrenching most of the time but also compelling. I thought the author wove together stories which became increasingly speculative in such a way that it took a moment to recall that this wasn’t real. The characters and the the world building were very convincing and indeed I found myself lost in them fully believing that this may well be a future we face as a species. I thought the final slice of life story was a fantastic way of ending the book. This was a tour de force of writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Cancer, Blood, and Ableism
emzireads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness
Minor: Suicide
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