Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

7 reviews

augie_'s review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic and Child death

Moderate: Medical content, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Confinement, War, Violence, and Xenophobia

baileybooks's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Drug use, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Suicide, Medical content, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Child death, Xenophobia, Infidelity, and Death

fraise's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Infidelity, Racism, Xenophobia, Child death, Cancer, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Terminal illness, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Pregnancy, Classism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Sexism

gotabookforeverysituation's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Suicide, Grief, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Racism, Medical trauma, and Child death

Moderate: Animal death

colie923's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Child death, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Infidelity, Xenophobia, Racism, and Medical trauma

unsuccessfulbookclub's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This #PlagueNovelPals book was surprisingly uplifting and in many ways a balm for our current world. It is super dark and sad - it is about a plague brought on by climate change - but it is also about humanity’s ability to persevere, to invent and to eventually overcome. It’s an epic story built through small human interactions. My friend Meg described it as a combination of Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy and Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves and I wholeheartedly agree with that assessment. I would also sprinkle a little bit of Chuck Palahniuk’s macabre zaniness and unlikeable narrators to the mix.

I enjoyed the format for this book - it’s a series of short narratives that are loosely connected rather than a straight through plot. In that way it is quiet and helps you experience the world Nagamatsu built in a very relatable way, through each character’s eyes. The stories end up being more connected than they initially seem but the end and that speaks to a beautiful restraint from Nagamatsu. The writing is impeccable. Each of the characters is interesting and understandable, and you visit many locations and situations on Earth and throughout the universe. I liked that this book was emotionally impactful and dealt heavily with grief and death but it wasn’t gory in the way some books like this are. It’s an emotional sledgehammer but it also puts you back together when it’s done.

👍🏻Recommended! Plague novel/science fiction fans will love this book. Please mind the CW, it is heavy content but in the end it is very hopeful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug use, Medical content, Xenophobia, Body horror, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

bookbuzzard's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad 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

3.5

I liked the idea of an event viewed over time from a multitude of perspectives, but it sometimes felt to me like there was a little too much going on,

a talking pig, a rift in someone's head, euthanasia theme parks, a generation ship and an alien that seeded life on earth...

it's a lot to keep in one's head all at one time, it doesn't really weave into a complete narrative for me. 
This book ended up being a lot more surreal than I had expected, though that was a bit of a relief as it kept me from reflecting too closely on the Earth's current predicaments...  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry