Reviews

A túlélő by Alexandra Oliva

Only show reviews with written explanations

lamisosoup's review against another edition

2.25

the writing on this one really did not work for me. I assume some of it was supposed to be deliberate to convey the attitude of the people filming the reality show, but the male gaze was soooo heavy early on that it kind of shocked me and put me off from the beginning, since I didn't expect it from a book written by a woman. the racism was similarly annoying but less of a surprise.

I understand the reason the book was structured the way it was, but I don't think the author executed it well and I had to stop myself from skimming most of the book. having more information than the protagonist at times meant that there were pages upon pages of text that were completely pointless, because they did nothing to further characterize anyone or build out the world and we as the reader already knew that they didn't matter.

I really did not enjoy the experience of this book, I just wanted to know what happened, which made the ending all the more frustrating. we had both too much information and not enough, and

brennan not forcing sam to listen to what he had to say about the dead body being a dog was SUCH a cop-out to create a more ambiguous ending for no discernable reason. he was also the only character whose fate I cared about

. I saw some people compare this to station eleven and I just have to say that while the premise may be somewhat similar, station eleven deserves better than to be compared to this. I'm not entirely sure why this book pissed me off so much since it's not really any worse than a lot of other things I've read and rated higher, I think it's because it was such hugely wasted potential of a premise I was excited for, as a competitive reality tv fan.

louisabooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

literary_liv's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

marisacarpico's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-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

Hunger Games meets Severance (book not show). Well-plotted and nasty. Surreal to read post-2020. Takes enough risks and goes enough dark places to earn certain beats.

skynevi's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

Parts of this book are incredibly well written. I gave it 2.5 stars because about half the book is wonderful to read. I felt a bit confused about the storyline. I was hoping to gain some clarity by the end, but was left even more confused. Very disappointed.

Content Warnings

bookph1le's review against another edition

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5.0

So, so good. I couldn't put it down. I was interested in everything that was happening in the book, and the juxtaposition of the reality TV show and the global pandemic was a fascinating idea, which really made the novel's structure work. I highly recommend this book if you like survival and apocalyptic stories.

flicklix's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

celtic67's review against another edition

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4.0

This book is set against a background of a reality TV show. Throughout the book alliances and emnities are forged and then are forever in flux. The unreality of the reality show and the reality of outside life begin to converge and intercect with each other and what is real and unreal becomes blurred. It is a book that keeps you guessing and forever changing your mind about what you agree or disagree with. It is a book populated with well fleshed characters. A harrowing and intense read that grips and keeps you turning the pages. Thanks to Lovereading . co. uk and the publishers for the ARC.

lorikim63's review against another edition

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adventurous tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

jenhurst's review against another edition

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4.0

I can see why a lot of people would hate this. The things I loved about it, are things most people would hate.
This is a post apocalyptic novel involving a reality tv show. If you’ve heard of the little eye, which is a British horror film about the world ending while some people live in the BB house. This is a similar concept, but the game show is more survivor or Naked and Afraid. I love reality tv and post apocalyptic novels so I was here for this. They also have Reddit posts talking about the show. I spend a lot of time talking about reality tv shows on Reddit, so this made me really happy.
I liked the main character and her figuring out how to survive. I do think we could’ve got more explanation or a deeper story but it worked for me.

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